William Buhl said he knew he was in the hunt as he stalked off the par-5 16th hole during the final round of the 113th Southern Amateur Championship at Chenal Country Club's Founders Course in Little Rock.
Buhl's birdie on 16, his fourth in five holes on the back nine, moved the University of Arkansas golfer into a tie for second place, two shots out of the lead.
Next for Buhl was the 205-yard par-3 17th, playing as the most difficult hole on the course Saturday with its back-right pin placement and lengthy carry over water.
Buhl, not totally comfortable with the left-to-right wind gusts, hit a 6-iron, and he knew it was bad as soon as he made contact.
"I thought it was the right club," he said, "then I hit the worst golf shot I've hit all week. Off the toe. It didn't have a chance."
Buhl's ball landed in the water. He ended up with a triple-bogey 6, and his dreams of winning the tournament were gone.
"I knew I was there," Buhl said. "That one will haunt me for a little bit. It really hurts."
What made it more difficult for Buhl was that he birdied the 491-yard, par-4 18th, a birdie that might have put him in the sudden-death playoff with AJ Ott and Noah Woolsey if he had simply parred No. 17.
"Exactly where I wanted to be," Buhl said. "Then one bad swing. I hadn't had it all week. Sadly, it had to come on the 17th hole today.
"Sometimes you've got to step up and hit the shot, and I just didn't. That's golf."
Buhl finished in a five-way tie for seventh place, and he was the only player with an Arkansas connection to finish the tournament under par.
Former Baylor golfer Garrett May of Hope finished tied for 27th at even-par 284 after closing with a 2-over 73.
Fayetteville's Luke Long (Houston) shot a final-round 75 to finish tied for 35th at 2-over 286.
Behind May and Long were Buhl's Arkansas teammates Tyson Reeder (6-over 290) and Julian Perico (7-over 291). Reeder came in tied for 50th, and Perico tied for 56th.
Greens keepers
Chenal Country Club already was in line to host the Southern Amateur on the Founders Course before the decision was made to go from bent grass to TifEagle Bermuda.
It's a decision being lauded by golfers, the Southern Golf Association and Chenal course superintendent Jed Spencer after four days of high-level amateur play in extreme heat and humidity.
"It's a game-changer," SGA Executive Director Andy Priest said of the switch from bent to Bermuda. "They are pure."
Unlike Bent grass, which cannot be cut to the same levels, the Bermuda complexes allowed Priest and Spencer to get the speed rolling up to 13.9 on the stimpmeter, a device that gauges green speed.
And the players took note.
"They're good, they're firm, like you'd want them to be," said Fayetteville's Luke Long, who plays at the University of Houston. "They're everything you could ever ask for."
UA golfer William Buhl, who finished tied for seventh, doesn't consider putting to be the strength of his game, but he thought the greens were one of the strengths of the course.
"What you see is what you get," he said. "There's no hiccups there. They roll as good as you can get. No complaints there."
Setting it up
Jed Spencer, Chenal Country Club's course superintendent, was beaming as he walked up the 18th fairway after the leaders in the final round of the Southern Amateur.
"I was really wondering how it was going to hold up, but all the changes we made -- to the greens and the course setup -- had a lot to do with it, too.
"I think the strength of some of our holes is that you can really make it a risk-reward challenge for these players."
On Saturday, for instance, the pin on the par-5 16th was moved up to the front, taking the severe slope in the middle out of play, making it the easiest hole on the course in terms of strokes.
Then there was the 205-yard par-3 17th, which required a shot over water, sometimes with the wind swirling. A tight right pin placement turned the hole -- the third-toughest all week -- into the toughest on Saturday.
"I think we presented a good platform to test them," Spencer said.
What's next?
Chenal Country Club has hosted the Southern Amateur twice in eight years, on both of its championship courses, and Southern Golf Association Executive Director Andy Priest said it's possible the tournament could return to Chenal.
But it will be sometime after 2027 because the SGA already has booked its next eight sites.
"There are many factors," said Priest, who gave Chenal high grades for its volunteers, ability to house players and hospitality. "Chenal is as good of a place as we go to, as far as all those things. Absolutely."
Tourney tidbits
Cooper Sears, a Middle Tennessee State player who opened his tournament with an albatross on the par-5 first hole, missed the two-day cut by three strokes. Sears, who finished with a two-day total of 6-over 148, posted 4 birdies, 18 pars and 13 bogeys on his remaining 35 holes. ... Hole No. 9, transformed into a par 4 for the tournament, played as the week's most difficult hole with a 4.40 average. At 512 yards, the hole yielded 29 birdies, 252 pars, 142 bogeys and 33 scores of double bogey or higher. ... The par-36 back nine ended up playing a half stroke easier than the par-35 front nine. Players averaged 36.16 strokes on the front (1.16 strokes over par) compared to 36.66 strokes on the back nine (0.66 strokes over par). ... Thirteen of the 71 players who made the two-day cut came from outside the United States. Participants from Australia (5) and New Zealand (3) led the way. There also were players from England, Argentina, Malaysia, Japan and Canada. ... On the college front, six players represented the Baylor Bears and played all four days. Arkansas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Arizona State each placed three in the top 70. ... Twenty-six of the players who competed this week are entered to play in a qualifier for the U.S. Amateur at Chenal on Monday.
Sports on 07/21/2019