Knost Chooses Q-School First Stage Over Masters, Wouldn't You?

Rex Hoggard has the details and repeated use of a quote nicely crafted by his handlers.

“Foregoing my invitations to their championships was a very hard decision. But I feel like now is the time to begin my professional career,” said Knost, who ends his amateur carrer [sp] No. 1 in the Golfweek/Titleist Amateur Rankings.

“I hope to play in many of their championships in the years to come.”

I guess it would have been tacky if he said toon-a-mint. 

Update on 2007-09-25 03:23 by Geoff

Reader Brian notes that Colt Knost could have remained an amateur all through Q-school, and on the off chance he didn't qualify, could have retained his amateur status through the Masters.

Colt Knost Unswayed By Masters Pairing With Just A Midwestern Guy From Cedar Rapids; Decides To Turn Pro In Time For Fall Finish

Love this comment to Art Stricklin:

"I will make my announcement this week, but I've been told to stay quiet until then," Knost said. "It's been very hard. Do I take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play in the Masters as an amateur? Or do I end my career as the No. 1 amateur in the world having won the U.S. Amateur and the Walker Cup with my team? I've been going back and forth."

"We are treated to an intimate glimpse into the souls of those participating."

John Huggan celebrates the beauty of team golf. Well, except for the ugly American antics he witnessed at the Walker Cup.

For example, two days at Newcastle told me everything I will ever need - or want - to know about the current US Amateur champion, Colt Knost. A highly talented golfer, one who already looks good enough to make the perennially hazardous transition into the professional ranks, Knost is, on the evidence of this Walker Cup, an arrogant and boorish so-and-so.

His reaction to not winning his singles match on the second day, when his opponent, Daniel Willett, holed a 20-foot putt on the final green to clinch at least a half point (Knost followed him in from perhaps a yard) was disappointing to say the least. After 'treating' Willett to one of those limp-wristed, no eye contact handshakes one always hates to see at the end of any match, Knost strutted around the putting surface for an unhealthy length of time shaking his head and staring up at the heavens. The implication was clear: How dare this obviously less gifted chopper make such an outrageous putt and deprive me of my pre-ordained victory? For Knost, his match was clearly all about himself and not about what he could do to help his teammates. Let's hope, given time, that this spoiled young man will mature to the point where his character matches his ability.

And on the beauty of team events... 

All of which - the good and the bad - is part of the inherent attraction of team golf. Win, lose or draw, we are treated to an intimate glimpse into the souls of those participating. Which is also, of course, one of the great things about match play. In a head-to-head contest it isn't possible to coast along, finish tied for sixth and pick up a nice cheque. Oh no. In match play there are winners and losers. And no one likes to be a loser. Or admit to being a loser. Somehow it's easier to start a post-mortem with, 'I came fourth' rather than, 'I lost.'

The best news is that, over the course of this month, we are going to be treated to a host of to-class team matches. This week I'm popping down to Dunbar to watch the ladies Home International matches, where the cream of the British Isles' female amateurs will be on display.

Then there is the Solheim Cup in Sweden, where Europe and the US will be going perm-to-perm in the ladies equivalent of the Ryder Cup. And less than two weeks after that, the Americans will be taking on the International squad in the Presidents Cup while, across the water, Great Britain & Ireland's professionals will be facing up to their mates from the continent of Europe for the Seve Trophy.

Okay, the Seve Trophy? In that group? Uh no. 

Proving He's No Monty, McEvoy Demonstrates Perspective, Wisdom

Lewine Mair reports on the mature insights and realistic perspective of the now former amateur golfer.

Peter McEvoy, the former Walker Cup captain, does not exonerate himself from blame when he accuses amateur officialdom in the UK of "negligence."

Though he believes that the golf on offer to the elite squads in GB and Ireland is nowadays on a par with that at an American university, he worries that there is no educational process going hand in hand with the sport. "Negligence," said McEvoy, "is not too strong a word in that we are requiring people to play full-time in the knowledge that there isn't room for them all to make a living. We're helping to eliminate everything else from their lives."

McEvoy points to how more and more youngsters are seeing the elite programmes as an option to university in that they can sign on for a single year. In contrast, someone like the 22-year-old Rhys Davies, who was playing in the Walker Cup at the weekend, will have spent four years at his American college.
advertisement

McEvoy feels duty-bound to remind these young men that they are taking a risk. "What," he asks, "will they do with themselves if they pick up an injury or lose interest?"

"I've never seen such naked courage on a golf course before."

Mike Aitken reports on the thrilling U.S. Walker Cup win at Royal County Down.

If GB&I couldn't, in the end, overcome the handicap of enduring a 4-0 whitewash in the morning foursomes, it hardly seemed fair to summarise their 5-2 fightback in the singles as heroic failure. The determined and sure-footed quality of the home side's golf at the end perhaps deserved better than losing 12-11. As Peter McEvoy, the former captain of GB&I, observed: "I've never seen such naked courage on a golf course before."

Oh I don't know, have you seen those streakers at the Open Championship?

There is also this Craig Smith story on the USGA's official site, these notes and John Mummert's images from the day.

Update on 2007-09-10 14:01 by Geoff

The Principal says Trip Kuehne and Lloyd Saltman represented America with class but that, not surprisingly, Colt Knost and Dustin Johnson put on a sportsmanship and spitting exhibition that did not exactly impress.

Walker Cup Day 1

John Huggan says the first day of Walker Cup play was enthralling

David Normoyle focuses on the United States' lone morning foursome's win.

While this unbylined game story has all of the results and Sunday lineups.

The USGA offers a photo gallery from the day and it looks like things got pretty intense out there. They also posted these notes.

Walker Cup Captain's Picks

The U.S. Amateur finalist and British Amateur Champion were passed up for younger players...

FOWLER AND STANLEY COMPLETE USA TEAM
FOR WALKER CUP MATCH AT ROYAL COUNTY DOWN IN IRELAND
 
Far Hills, N.J. (Aug. 27) – Rickie Fowler, 18, of Murrieta, Calif., and Kyle Stanley, 19, of Gig Harbor, Wash., have been selected to complete the 10-man squad that will represent the United States of America for the 2007 Walker Cup Match. The Match is scheduled for Sept. 8-9 at Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Northern Ireland.  
 
Chosen by the International Team Selection Committee of the United States Golf Association, the squad will face an amateur team representing Great Britain and Ireland.
 
The USGA had earlier announced eight members of the team. They are: Billy Horschel, 20, of Grant, Fla.; Dustin Johnson, 23, of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Chris Kirk, 22, of Woodstock, Ga.
 
Also previously named were 2007 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Colt Knost, 22, of Dallas, Texas; Trip Kuehne, 35, of Irving, Texas; Jamie Lovemark, 19, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Jonathan Moore, 22, of Vancouver, Wash.; and Webb Simpson, 21, of Raleigh, N.C. All but Kuehne are collegians or recent graduates, who are playing on their first Walker Cup team.
 
The alternates to the team, in rank order, are Michael Thompson, 22, of Tucson, Ariz.; Drew  Weaver, 20, of High Point, N.C., and Alex Prugh, 22, of Spokane, Wash.
 
The Walker Cup Match consists of 16 singles and eight foursomes (alternate shot) matches. The USA reclaimed the Cup with a one-point victory at Chicago (Ill.) Golf Club in 2005. Great Britain and Ireland’s team had won the three previous Matches, in 1999, 2001 and 2003, twice by scores of 15-9 and by 12½ -11½ in 2003. The USA leads the series overall, 32-7-1.
 
Fowler won the 2007 Sunnehanna Amateur in Johnstown, Pa., by one stroke, finishing at 8-under-par 272 for his four rounds. He followed with a win at the 2007 Players Amateur in Bluffton, S.C., where he was 24 under par for 72 holes. He also was a quarterfinalist at the 2006 U.S. Amateur.
 
At the Sunnehanna, he was in the 60s for three of the four rounds. At the Players, his four rounds in the 60s included a 63 and 64.
 
He won the individual title at the 2007 Southern California High School Championship and the 2006 California State High School Championship. He is currently in his first year at Oklahoma State University.
 
Stanley won the 2006 Southern Amateur in Birmingham, Ala., as part of a resume that includes five top-10 finishes in highly regarded amateur events over the past two summers. In winning the Southern Amateur, he posted a 9-under-par total of 275 for 72 holes to win by a single stroke. He reached the second round of match play at the 2007 U.S. Amateur.
 
He was individual runner-up at the 2007 NCAA Championship, where he had a 65 in the third round. He was invited to play in the PGA Tour’s 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
 
Stanley, a sophomore year at Clemson University, will be playing in his first Walker Cup Match.
George “Buddy” Marucci, 55, of Villanova, Pa., who played on the USA Walker Cup teams of 1995 and 1997 and was runner-up to Tiger Woods at the 1995 U.S. Amateur, will serve as team captain.
 
“I couldn’t be more pleased to lead this Walker Cup squad to Ireland,” said Marucci. “It is an honor to be involved with this competition and these fine young men who will represent the USA. I appreciate the commitment on the part of our players who were chosen and those who were considered.”

Anyone who follows amateur golf closely care to weigh in? On paper, it seems odd to pass up the first American to win the British Amateur in ages when you will be playing links golf. 

U.S. Amateur Final Set

I was wrong when I posted that Colt Knost wants to be the next Tom Scherrer. He wants to be the next Chris Patton. Holy guacamole is he, well, uhhh...let's just say I hope they pad that U.S. Walker Cup budget so Buddy Marucci can meet Colt's dietary needs.

Ryan Herrington blogs about Colt's so-called Masters dilemma, and Colt says no matter what there is no chance he's remaining an amateur to the U.S. Open should he win Sunday.

Meanwhile there is this unbylined game story on Saturday's matches, while Dave Shedloski also looks at Knost, Ken Klavon writes about the other finalist Michael Thompson and Alex Miceli posts notes.

U.S. Amateur Saturday and Other Olympic Club Observations

I'm a little behind because the matches are underway, but for those tuning Saturday at 1 on NBC, a few stories will acquaint you with the final four.

Beth Murrison has the Friday game story summing up the day's play with a nice overview of the semifinalists.  Art Spander writes about Jhonattan Vegas, whose impressive game I got to see some of Friday. There's also Dave Shedloski on Colt Knost and Stuart Hall on Michael Thompson.
A big gallery follows the Vegas-Pan match Friday (click to enlarge)

As for the event, it was my first U.S. Amateur and if you've never been, it's one of the great spectating experiences in golf. Very few ropes dot the property and you get the chance to roam a great golf course watching elite golfers. Until you see it, you forget how unique it is to get so close to such high quality play in today's game.
(click for a word from USGA sponsors)

As for Olympic, it remains one of my very favorite places in golf thanks to the atmosphere, singular design and fond memories from playing USF's collegiate event there. I was a both thrilled and disappointed in how the course looks. On the sensational side is the extensive tree removal work since the U.S. Junior Amateur that has left mostly Monterey Cypress and some pines. Vistas have been opened and the Cypress look more impressive than ever. The view from the clubhouse of No. 3 green is particularly eye-catching.

View from behind No. 8 (click to enlarge)The fairways and greens looked to be in fine playing condition, but outside the main playing areas, the course looks worn out. And there is a difference between looking natural and rugged, and appearing beat up.

Here it was the U.S. Amateur, with very limited galleries and it looked like Tuesday after a PGA Tour event. The many fescue native areas that looked so good during the U.S. Junior Amateur now look less appealing, with too many non-native weeds and a less than satisfying appearance.

Bunkers were recently resodded so it's hard to say how the sod will settle, but right now the bunkers have lost some of their gracefully aged look. Give them time and play and I suspect they'll settle back into their classic antique look.
New tee on No. 3 stretches it to 247 (click to enlarge)

Several new tees were in play since my last visit, and while the third and fourth were conceptually fine, the execution was uninspired and in the case of the third, they appeared to have been done very close to the Amateur. Two new modern and even less inspired practice greens right below No. 3 don't exactly add much ambiance either. I have a feeling this overall feel may be the reason Olympic has slipped a bit in some of the recent course rankings.

And just to be the broken record I am, the fairway widths were incredibly depressing. On a course where the slopes and trees are such a prominent part of the design, the confining widths just seem to keep errant balls in play instead of taking missed shots to greater trouble. When firm and a lot wider, Olympic is infinitely more interesting to play or watch. I would contend that when it is firm enough, as it was Friday, it is far more difficult the wider it gets. I have played it when it's wider and it was exhausting! In a good way.

Rough around and behind No. 6. What a contrast to Southern Hills (click to enlarge)Two narrow fairway examples come to mind: No. 2, with it's beautiful helping slope to the right and steep fall off to the left was reduced to a meaningless sliver, while No. 6, at a paltry 22 yards wide and featuring the lone fairway bunker, offers nothing but rough over that bunker, even though a player should want to hug the hazard and the left side to get at right side hole locations (and tee shots missed left trying to secure this angle find serious trouble).

Of course it would help if the guys weren't hitting wedges into a 440-yard hole, but that's an issue for another department in Far Hills. I hope that by the 2012 U.S. Open some of the fairways are tweaked.

Still, for overall tournament golf atmosphere, I don't think there are many better places than The Olympic Club. 
One of the game's great scenes, No. 18 at Olympic Club (click to enlarge image)

U.S. Amateur Quarterfinals Set

Ron Balicki offers this story at Golfweek.com while Ryan Herrington sets up the four Friday matches, that include one player whose identical twin also played this week.  And Golfweek offers this slideshow courtesy of our friends in Fairhaven.

U.S. Amateur Blogging

Ryan Herrington is blogging from Olympic Club and considers the plight of recent U.S. Amateur champions who haven't fared too well after turning pro. There are also blog entries at USAmateur.org.

Colt Knost Contemplates Becoming The Next Tom Scherrer

Ron Kroichick reports on the uh, dilemma that the current U.S. Amateur Public Links champion faces...

Knost, unlike so many ambitious young golfers, already has qualified for next year's Masters. He can drive down Magnolia Lane, stay in the Crow's Nest, stroll alongside the azaleas, walk across Hogan Bridge and try to keep his ball out of Rae's Creek.

And he's not sure he will.

Knost, 22, recently completed a standout college career at SMU. He's coming to San Francisco next week for the U.S. Amateur, which begins Monday at the Olympic Club, and soon thereafter, he will travel to Ireland to represent his country in the Walker Cup.

All the while, lingering in the back of Knost's mind - and sometimes in the front - will be Augusta National. He won the U.S. Amateur Public Links last month outside Chicago, landing him a berth in next year's Masters. His name is right there on the tournament's Web site listing 2008 invitees, wedged between Jerry Kelly and two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer.

Here's the caveat: The Public Links champion must remain an amateur to keep his spot in the Masters. All along, Knost planned to turn pro after the Walker Cup in September and pursue his PGA Tour card at qualifying school.

"Everyone who plays golf dreams of playing in the Masters, and now I have a chance," Knost said in a telephone interview. "And playing in the Masters as an amateur would be such a different experience - they treat amateurs extremely well.

"It definitely would be difficult to pass that up. You never know what could happen. I could never make it there again."

History tells Knost few players turn down a Masters invitation - Tom Scherrer, the 1992 U.S. Amateur runner-up, was the last to decline. Scherrer didn't make it to Augusta National until 2001 and he hasn't been back since then (Scherrer now plays on the Nationwide Tour).

Knost recently talked to Phil Mickelson, who praised his talents, encouraged him to turn pro and predicted Knost will qualify for the Masters several times in the future. But therein lies the risk: What if he doesn't make it back? What if his career sputters and skipping the '08 Masters becomes a lifelong regret?

Well, he'd really, really hate Phil Mickelson for starters.

Walker Cup captain Buddy Marucci bluntly told Knost he would be crazy to pass on a whirl around Amen Corner.

I think so too. You all?
 

"No, Weaver didn't qualify for the US Open. He qualified for the British Open, which will forever be older, richer in flavor, and better in scope than the US Open."

Thanks to reader Brian for noticing this Jim McCabe rant:

Oh, they've got two picks left and can easily make amends, but US Golf Association officials have committed a terrible oversight. Shame on them for overlooking Drew Weaver with one of the first eight picks for the upcoming Walker Cup team.

Weaver is merely the best amateur golf story of the year, a quality kid with a superb game. The problem is, USGA officials merely look at a small, insulated picture that revolves around their own tournaments.

No, Weaver didn't win the US Public Links Championship. Colt Knost took that honor. He won something miles more impressive: The British Amateur.

No, Weaver didn't qualify for the US Open. He qualified for the British Open, which will forever be older, richer in flavor, and better in scope than the US Open.

No, Weaver doesn't have the luxury of the plush, inner-circle network connections such as Trip Kuehne. He merely has hard-earned results under trying circumstances.

As a sophomore at Virginia Tech, Weaver was within a couple of hundred yards of the tragedy that unfolded April 16 -- a gunman opened fire and when the bloodshed was over, 33 people were dead. In the aftermath of such horror, it would have been easy to crumble emotionally, but Weaver didn't. He saw in golf a chance to help heal deep wounds and even though snobbish amateur tournaments in the United States didn't open up for Weaver, he was undaunted. He did what many American kids would never consider -- he took on the challenge of questionable weather and links golf.

As for how he met the challenge, take note that Weaver won, which got him into the British Open at Carnoustie where he nearly made the cut. Oh, and for added reference, he and his Virginia Tech teammates found the inner strength to finish as co-Atlantic Coast Conference champs a short time after the massacre.

All of it made for a compelling human story, only when you come out of the private clubhouses that make up the USGA world, you don't have any feel for what is real. Instead, you tighten the tie and straighten the blue blazer and ask for the list of those young men who did things the "predetermined right way" and played well in closed-shop tournaments called the Azalea, Sunnehanna, Porter, and Monroe, and, of course, let's not forget someone who 13 years ago reached the US Amateur final.

Let's see, the British Amateur champ is such a coveted title that it earns you a spot into the Masters -- but not into the Walker Cup? What in the name of Bobby Jones is that about? (As a reminder to those picking the Walker Cup team, Jones thought enough of the British Amateur to make it part of his historic Grand Slam in 1930.)

Sure, Weaver can still make the team, but officials have more or less forced him to win the US Amateur, scheduled for Aug. 20-26 at The Olympic Club. Maybe he only has to make the final, or the semifinals, or the quarterfinals, or even match play. Who knows? But the fact that he's been overlooked with one of the first eight picks is a shame.

It's enough to make you root like heck for Great Britain & Ireland when the Walker Cup tees off at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland. I'm sure Francis Ouimet -- who devoted his golf life to the Walker Cup -- would forgive you.

Kimberly Kim Shoots 62

Uh, she's 15 and she did it at the U.S. Girls Junior, tying a USGA scoring record held by Christina Kim.

And of course Kimberly already has a U.S. Women's Amateur trophy on the shelf.

First American To Win British Amateur In 28 Years...

Drew Weaver of Virginia Tech is the man, as Alistair Tait reports for Golfweek.