FRENCH LICK, Indiana (Sept. 30, 2014) — A 2-
under-par 70 from
2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur
champion Michael McCoy was complemented by
a 1-under 71
performance from
teammate Gene Elliott on Tuesday to give Iowa
a two-stroke lead
over Florida, Virginia
and Louisiana following the first round of the
2014 USGA Men’s
State Team
Championship at the par-72, 6,891-yard Pete
Dye Course at
French Lick Resort.
The Men’s State Team Championship consists of
54 holes of
stroke play, with the two
lowest of three individual scores counting as the
team total for
the round. The team with
the lowest aggregate score following the final
round is the
champion.
The championship is conducted biennially by the
United States
Golf Association. The
men’s and women’s competitions are held in
alternating years.
Each state is responsible
for selecting its team and the players must
reside in that state to
be eligible. All 50
states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico
are represented
in the 2014 field.
Iowa, which finished second in 2012, posted a
first-round score of
3-under 141. Elliott is
the only member of the 2012 squad who is
competing this year.
“J.D. [Anderson] is a really good player and
Mike is probably the
best mid-amateur in
the country, so if I can make some birdies and
contribute, I think
we should be a pretty
strong team. I’m just trying to hold up my part,”
said Elliott, who
birdied the first two
holes of his round and was 3 under through
seven before making
four bogeys on the
next eight holes. “It’s kind of a nerve-wracking
golf course. You’re
not sure where to hit
it at times. You’ve got to hit it where you’re
looking or it’s going
to be a long day. A big
number can snap up at any time on this golf
course, it’s a little
scary.”
McCoy, competing in his seventh Men’s State
Team, had an up-
and-down round, carding
five birdies to three bogeys. He was 1 over on
his round before
closing with three
birdies in his last seven holes.
“I hit a couple of good iron shots and hit it pretty
straight, and
that’s big out here,” said
McCoy, the low amateur at this year’s U.S.
Senior Open. “You
have to be in play [here].
If you hit it out of the fairway, you’re going to
have a bad stance,
because there’s such
severe slope.”
Anderson, who represented Iowa in the 2005
Men’s State Team,
shot a non-counting 77.
Brandon Aydlett, of Louisiana fired a 4-under 32
on his inward
nine en route to a 4-under
68, matching Virginia’s Justin Young for the low
score of the day
among individuals.
After an uneven start to his round, Aydlett,
found a variety of
ways to score coming in.
He made a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 10 and
then hit a pair of
stellar iron shots on Nos.
12 and 13. He knocked his approach to the par-
4 12th to 4 feet
before nearly holing his
tee shot on the par-3 13th. He made a 15-foot
putt for birdie on
No. 15 and two-putted
the par-5 18th hole for his seventh birdie of the
round.
“I think I started getting a little more
comfortable with the lines
on the back nine, with
the course being as narrow as it is,” said
Aydlett, of Metairie, who
competed in his first
USGA championship earlier this month at the
U.S. Mid-Amateur.
“I was able to keep it in
the fairway and give myself some scoring
opportunities. I just
hung in there and felt like
I was driving the ball well. I knew I could be a
little more
aggressive with my putts and
could break out [on the inward nine].”
Aydlett’s 68 propelled Louisiana to a team score
of 1-under 143,
with John Talley’s 3-
over 75 as the second counting score. Patrick
Christovich, who
reached the quarterfinals
of the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur, posted a non-
scoring 79.
A late rally buoyed Young, who began his round
on the inward
nine. Playing in his first
USGA championship, he made three straight
birdies on Nos. 6-8,
and along with Scott
Shingler’s 75, Virginia shot 143. Virgina won the
inaugural Men’s
State Team in 1995.
Florida also matched Louisiana and Virginia,
thanks to a 2-under
70 from 17-year-old
Sam Horsfield. While the Sunshine State has
never claimed a MST
title, it has finished
runner-up twice, most recently in 2010. Fellow
17-year-old
Gabriel Lench added a 1-over
73 Florida.
Horsfield, a semifinalist in the 2014 U.S. Junior
Amateur, went
out in 2-under 34, and
shot even par on the inward nine despite a pair
of three-putt
bogeys. He put an
exclamation point on his round with a 20-foot
birdie putt on No.
18.
“I just didn’t make as many putts on the back
nine as I did on the
front nine, but overall
I played good and I’m happy with my round,”
said Horsfield. “[The
course] doesn’t
reward long players. Where the bunkers are
placed, you have to
either hit it short of
them or take on some long carries.”
Missouri, Tennessee and Texas are tied for fifth
after shooting
even-par 144.
West Virginia’s Sam O’Dell, a dentist who played
collegiate golf at
Marshall University,
was the third player to post a sub-70 score,
firing a 3-under 69
that included five
birdies. His score helped West Virginia to a
share of eighth place
at 1-over 145.
Defending champion New York, which arrived at
French Lick with
three different players
from 2012, is in a tie for 15th at 148, with Sam
Bernstein and Jim
Scorse each posting
rounds of 2-over 74.
Host state Indiana, looking to improve on its
high finish of a tie
for third in 1997,
finished tied for 19th, posting a score of 5-over
149. Kenny Cook,
the 2011 U.S. Mid-
Amateur runner-up, led the way for the Hoosier
State with a 2-
over 74.
TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
The location may be best known as the
hometown of
basketball legend Larry Bird of the Boston
Celtics.
But during the warm months of the season,
French
Lick boasts some wonderful golf. This week
some of
the country's best amateurs will be there playing
the
biennial USGA Men's State Team Championship.
It's hard to pick a winner in the unique
"three-count-two" format, where a hot
golfer (and even better two hot golfers) can
seriously
impact a team's performance. In 2012, for
example,
New York won the title and Joey Saladino's
scores
never counted. And if you follow the amateur
game
you know that Saladino, 34, is an excellent
player
with many titles in the Met section under his
belt.
But young guns Max Buckley and Mike Miller
were
firing on all cylinders that week in New Jersey.
This year, players will compete at the Pete
Dye
course at French Lick Springs Resort. More than
a
few of our readers have asked about the criteria
to
be part of a team, given some of the youthful
competitors in the 2014 field. Contrary to
popular
belief, the State Team is not a mid-amateur
event; it
merely excludes players currently enrolled in
college
from being part of a "state's team."
Some states might have the philosophy of not
bringing teenagers to the event, but others
obviously
do not.
That means that Florida has hotshot Sam Horsfield on the team.
If
he's on his game (he once shot 59 at the Orlando
City and won the 2013 Florida State Am by 11
shots,
setting a low age record too) look for some low
numbers from the England-born player. The
same
goes for Will Grimmer of Ohio, the
youngest competitor in the 2014 US Open at age
17.
If you're anywhere near French Lick, Indiana
and want to enjoy watching the best in the
amateur
game practice their craft, we suggest making a
day
trip this week to watch the USGA State Team.
Please
read on for a USGA fact sheet and state-by-state
team breakdown.
They’re All
Here: For the third consecutive time,
and
seventh time in the 11 playings of the
championship,
all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico have entered a team.
11 For 11:Keith
Decker, of
Virginia, is the only competitor to have played in
all
11 USGA Men's State Team
Championships.
Average Age of
Competitors: 35.7
Oldest Player In
Field: John
Sajevic, Nebraska- 58 (3/5/56)
Youngest Player In
Field: Andrew Chin, Hawaii- 15
(12/1/98)
Father/Son Teammates In
Field: John and Andrew Sajevic,
Nebraska
USGA Champions In Field (4):
Michael McCoy, Iowa (2013 U.S. Mid-
Amateur); Nathan Smith, Pennsylvania (2003,
2009,
2010, 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur); Tim Hogarth,
California (1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links);
Scott
Harvey, North Carolina (2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur)
USGA Men’s State Champions
In Field (4):Keith Decker, Virginia
(1995);
Sean Knapp, Pennsylvania (2009); Nathan
Smith,
Pennsylvania (2009); Bryan Norton, Kansas
(2010)
USGA Runners-Up In Field (7):
Bill Williamson, Ohio (2013 U.S. Mid-
Amateur); Todd Mitchell, Illinois (2008 U.S. Mid-
Amateur); Tim Spitz, New York (2009 U.S. Mid-
Amateur); Tim Hogarth, California (2010 U.S.
Mid-
Amateur); Brad Nurski, Missouri (2014 U.S. Mid-
Amateur); Kenny Cook, Indiana (2011 U.S. Mid-
Amateur); Bryan Norton, Kansas (2003 U.S. Mid-
Amateur; 2014 U.S. Senior Amateur)
Recent Championship
Experience: 57 players in the field
competed in at least one USGA championship in
2014, with the U.S. Mid-Amateur having the
most
Men’s State Team competitors in the field
(34).
2014 U.S. Open Competitors In
Field
(1): Will Grimmer, Ohio
2014 U.S. Senior Open
Competitors
In Field (3): Tom Brandes,
Washington;
Michael McCoy, Iowa; Bryan Norton,
Kansas
USA Walker Cup Competitors In
Field
(2):Nathan Smith, Pennsylvania
(2009,
2011, 2013); Todd White, South Carolina (2013)
World Amateur Team
Championship
Competitors In Field (3):Erick J.
Morales,
Puerto Rico (2004, 2012); Jeronimo Esteve,
Puerto
Rico (2012, 2014); Edward Figueroa, Puerto Rico
(2014)
Player Notes (By State):
Alabama:
Matt Gourgeot, 28, of
Decatur, played for the University of North
Alabama
in 2008 when the Lions finished runner-up in the
NCAA Division II Championship. The Men’s
State Team ishis first USGA championship. The
top-
ranked mid-amateur in Alabama in 2013,
Gourgeot
has never had a hole-in-one, but has recorded
three
double eagles.
Steve Hudson
, 56, of Birmingham, played
for
the University of Alabama and made the 36-hole
cut
at the 2010 U.S. Senior Open. He has been
named
the Alabama Golf Association Player of the Year
three
times.
Alaska:
Kevin Daniels, 24, of
Anchorage, is a four-time Alaska Junior Amateur
champion. He has aspirations of becoming a
Major
League Baseball umpire. He has been umpiring
games since he was 12. He was an all-
conference
honoree during his collegiate days at American
International College in Massachusetts.
Greg Sanders, 50, of
Anchorage, won the 2014 Alaska State Amateur
by
18 strokes. Sanders, a 28-year Anchorage
resident,
is a member of the U.S. Mid-Amateur
Championship
Committee.
Arizona:
Trey Martin, 37, of
Phoenix, was selected in the eighth round of the
1995 Major League Baseball Draft by the
Montreal
Expos. He pitched three seasons in the
organization’s minor league system. Martin,
who competed in both the U.S. Amateur and
U.S.
Mid-Amateur in 2013, now works as a real
estate
agent. He was the 2013 Arizona Golf Association
Player of the Year.
Ken Tanigawa, 46, of
Paradise Valley, won the 2014 Arizona Mid-
Amateur
Championship. The Kobe, Japan, native played
golf
at UCLA before embarking on a professional
career.
He was reinstated as an amateur in 2012. He
advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2013 U.S.
Mid-
Amateur.
Arkansas:
Wes McNulty, 45, of
White
Hall, is playing in his fifth Men’s State Team.
A farmer by trade, McNulty is a five-time
Arkansas
State Amateur Player of the Year. He played golf
at
the University of Arkansas.
Trey Schaap, 38, of
North
Little Rock, is a sports radio talk show host for
Little
Rock’s ESPN affiliate and the play-by-play
voice of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock
women’s basketball team.
California:
Jason Anthony, 31, of
Fairfield, played professionally on the Canadian
Tour
and Golden State Tour. After regaining his
amateur
status, Anthony advanced to the Round of 64 in
the
2013 U.S. Amateur. He was an All-Western
Athletic
Conference performer at Fresno State
University.
Tim Hogarth, 48, of
Northridge, won the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public
Links
Championship and was the runner-up to Nathan
Smith in the 2010 U.S. Mid-Amateur. Hogarth,
who
works in health food sales, played in the 1997
Masters as a result of his APL victory. He has
won
numerous titles at the state level.
Dan Sullivan, 47, of Pasadena, was the 2013
Southern
California
Golf Association Player of the Year. He advanced
to
the Round of 16 in both the 2013 Mid-Amateur
and
the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links. His wife,
Lindsay, is the director of marketing for Fox
Sports.
He volunteers at The First Tee of Pasadena in his
spare time.
Colorado:
Steve Irwin, 41, of
Arvada,
is the son of five-time USGA champion Hale
Irwin.
Steve, who competed in the 2011 U.S. Open,
played
at the University of Colorado, where Hale had a
decorated football career as a defensive back.
Jon Lindstrom, 47, of
Broomfield, was the 2008 Colorado Mid-Amateur
of
the Year and won both the Colorado Mid-
Amateur
Match Play and Colorado Four-Ball
Championships in
2012. This is Lindstrom’s fourth time
competing in the Men’s State Team. He is a
vice president for Wells Fargo Insurance
Services.
Connecticut:
Kevin Josephson, 24,
of
New Britain, has played in three USGA
championships, most recently the 2013 U.S.
Amateur. He played for Central Connecticut
State
University, earning All-Northeast Conference
honors.
He is on the executive committee for The Stan
Trojanowski Northern Junior tournament, an
annual
junior golf tournament held in New England.
Delaware:
Ed Brown, 44, of
Lewes,
earned All-America honors as a quarterback for
West
Chester (Pa.) University. Brown spent 16 years
as a
golf course superintendent before getting into
the
insurance business.
Jay Whitby, 28, of
Wyoming, played for Delaware in the 2009 Men's
State Team. He was the 2013 Delaware Open
champion and the 2006 Delaware Amateur
champion.
District of Columbia
:
Kevin McDonnell, 45,
once
rescued a man from a burning car before the
vehicle
exploded. He will be competing in his fourth
USGA
Men’s State Team Championship for the
District of Columbia.
Florida:
Sam Horsfield, 17, of
Davenport, won the 2013 Florida State Amateur
by
11 strokes, becoming the youngest champion in
96
years. Horsfield was a semifinalist in the 2014
U.S.
Junior Amateur, and also qualified for match
play in
the U.S. Amateur Public Links and U.S. Amateur.
He
was born in England, and his family moved to
the
United States when he was 4.
Jon Veneziano, 43, of
Mount Dora, is competing in his 21st USGA
championship and fourth USGA Men’s State
Team Championship. He was a semifinalist in
the
1988 U.S. Junior Amateur, defeating David Duval
in
the Round of 16.The Hartford, Conn., native has
won
numerous championships on the state level in
New
England and Florida, most recently the 2013
Florida
Mid-Amateur.
Georgia:
Cameron Hooper, 27,
of
Atlanta, played golf at Coastal Carolina
University,
where he was the teammate and roommate of
PGA
Tour pro Dustin Johnson. When Johnson’s
original caddie could no longer work due to a
back
injury in the 2012 Tour Championship, Johnson
called on Hooper mid-round to caddie for him.
Hooper won the 2013 Georgia Mid-Amateur
Championship.
Jeff Knox, 51, of
Augusta,
is a member at Augusta National Golf Club who
has
played as a non-competitive marker at the
Masters
Tournament the past several years.. In April, he
was
paired with 2011 U.S. Open champion Rory
McIlroy
in the third round. Knox bettered McIlroy by a
shot,
shooting an unofficial 2-under 70. He has
competed
for Georgia in the Men’s State Team on three
previous occasions, and is a two-time Georgia
Mid-
Amateur champion.
David Noll Jr., 42, of
Dalton, has tied orange ribbons to his golf hat
since
2003, when his father died just before the U.S.
Mid-
Amateur. The orange signifies his father’s
love for the University of Tennessee. Noll is a
six-
time Georgia State Golf Association Player of the
Year who won the Tommy Barnes Award
(state’s overall top player, male or female) in
2008.
Hawaii:
Andrew Chin, 15, of
Honolulu, is the youngest competitor in the
Men’s State Team. He was born in Singapore
and holds Canadian citizenship.
Tyler Ota, 20, of Alea,
made a hole-in-one on a par 4 at Ala Wai Golf
Course in April. Ota, who is ambidextrous, is
competing in his first USGA championship.
Idaho:
Darren Kuhn, 47, of
Pocatello, didn’t play golf until he was 20
years old and didn’t have his first formal
lesson until he was 32. Kuhn started a wholesale
bread delivery business after high school. The
company, Idaho Bread, is in its 29th year of
operation. He won the Idaho Golf
Association’s Tournament of Champions in
2012.
Illinois:
Todd Mitchell, 36, of
Bloomington, was runner-up to Steve Wilson in
the
2008 U.S. Mid-Amateur and is representing
Illinois
for the fourth time in the Men’s State Team.
Mitchell was an all-Missouri Valley Conference
shortstop at Illinois State, and was chosen in
the
14th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by
the
New York Yankees. He played two seasons in the
minor leagues before retiring and getting into
the
insurance business.
Indiana:
Brett Widner, 34, of
Avon,
won the 2013 and 2014 Indiana Mid-Amateur
Championships. Born and raised in Wabash, Ind.,
he
played collegiately at Franklin College, where he
was
the 2004 Heartland Collegiate Athletic
Conference
Most Valuable Golfer.
Sean Rowen, 40, of
Greenwood, won Indiana’s Tournament of
Champions in 2012 and 2014, both times edging
out
Indiana teammate Kenny Cook, and finished
fourth
in the 2014 Indiana State Amateur. He won the
2011
Indiana Mid-Amateur Championship. He played
at
the University of Iowa and led the Hawkeyes in
scoring average in the 1994-95 season.
Kenny Cook, 34, of
Noblesville, was the runner-up in the 2011 U.S.
Mid-
Amateur Championship. He met his wife, Lisa, at
Ball
State University, where they both played
collegiately. Kenny and Lisa have competed in
several U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Women’s
Mid-Amateurs, including 2014 when the events
were
held the same week in early September. Cook
also
competed for Indiana at the 2012 Men’s State
Team, the same year in which he was named
the
Indiana Golf Association’s Player of the
Year.
Iowa:
Gene Elliott, 52, of
West
Des Moines, was the stroke-play medalist in the
1999 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf
Links, and reached the quarterfinals of the 2006
U.S.
Mid-Amateur. A 2012 Iowa Golf Hall of Fame
inductee, he won the 2011 Iowa Amateur with
his
son, Sam, serving as his caddie.
Michael McCoy, 51, of
West
Des Moines, won the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur,
becoming the second-oldest winner in the
championship’s history. He was the low
amateur in the 2014 U.S. Senior Open, finishing
in a
tie for 26th. An 11-time Iowa Golf Association
Player
of the Y
ear, McCoy is a member of the Iowa Golf
Association Hall of Fame. His son, Nate, is a
professional golfer who spent 2014 competing in
PGA
Tour Canada events.
Kansas:
Zac Burton, 36, of
Manhattan, played quarterback at Kansas State
University for legendary coach Bill Snyder,
graduating in 2000. He won the 2014 Kansas
Public
Links Championship and lost in a sudden-death
playoff at the Kansas Mid-Amateur. He also
represented Kansas in the 2012 Men’s State
Team Championship.
Bryan Norton, 55, of
Overland Park, was the runner-up in the 2014
U.S.
Senior Amateur, and was runner-up in the 2003
U.S.
Mid-Amateur to Pennsylvania team member
Nathan
Smith. The 2014 Kansas Amateur champion was
part
of the 2010 Kansas squad that won the Men’s
State Team Championship, finishing as the low
individual in the championship at Mayacama Golf
Club in Santa Rosa, Calif. A reinstated amateur,
he
has competed in four U.S. Opens.
Kentucky:
Tom Campbell, 44, of
Lexington, won the 2014 Kentucky State
Amateur
Championship, edging Men’s State Team
teammate Denver Haddix Jr. by one stroke in
June.
He spent four years as the head men’s golf
coach at Centre College in Danville, Ky., where
he
was also an assistant coach for the women’s
basketball team, before accepting the position of
head women’s basketball coach at Sewanee
(Tenn.) College, where he will begin his first
season
this fall.
Denver Haddix Jr., 34,
of
Lexington, won the 2014 Kentucky State Match
Play
Championship and reached the quarterfinals of
last
month’s U.S. Mid-Amateur. Upon graduating
from Morehead (Ky.) State University, Haddix
became a teaching professional, where one of
his
students was current PGA Tour player Josh
Teater, a
former college teammate. Last November,
Haddix
was diagnosed with sudden sensorineural
hearing
loss, which resulted in 85 percent hearing loss in
his
left ear.
Kyle Leach, 28, of
Louisville, played collegiately at Bellarmine
University (NCAA Division II). In 2008, he
advanced
to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Public
Links
Championship, defeating future PGA Tour pros
Scott
Langley and Rickie Fowler in match play. While
at
Bellarmine, he was a four-time All-Midwest
Region
honoree by the Golf Coaches Association of
America.
Louisiana:
Patrick Christovich, 36,
of
New Orleans, reached the quarterfinals of the
2014
U.S. Mid-Amateur. He won four
consecutive Louisiana Mid-Amateur
titles
(2010-13) and won the 2012 Louisiana State
Amateur. He represented Louisiana in the 2010
and
2012 Men’s State Team Championships.
Maine:
Ricky Jones, 42, of
Thomaston, is a nine-time Maine State Player of
the
Year. He has won the Maine Amateur three
times
(2003, 2004, 2013) and the Maine Mid-Amateur
six
times (2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2013).
This is
his sixth Men’s State Team and 17th USGA
championship.
Maryland:
Patrick McCormick, 24,
of
Baltimore, played at Loyola (Md.) University and
won
the 2014 Maryland Open in a five-hole playoff
over
2014 U.S. Amateur semifinalist Denny McCarthy.
McCormick was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes
at
the age of 15 and uses an insulin pump to
control his
blood-sugar levels.
Joseph Rice IV, 25, of
Dunkirk, is competing in his first Men’s State
Team Championship after qualifying for both the
2014 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur,
where he
fell just short in a 9-for-3 playoff for the final
match-
play spots. The former University of Maryland
standout also qualified for the 2012 U.S.
Amateur.
Massachusetts:
Herbie Aikens, 32, of
Kingston, has competed in nine USGA
championships, including the 2012 Men’s
State Team. He reached the Round of 16 in the
2011
U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. The
2014
Massachusetts Public Links champion owns his
own
electrical business, which he started at the age
of
20.
Doug Clapp, 47, of
Walpole, is representing Massachusetts for a
third
time. Clapp was a second-team Division III All-
American at Amherst College in 1989. He has
competed in 14 USGA championships, including
the
2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur, and works as an
attorney
for the firm Holland & Knight, LLP.
Matt Parziale, 27, of
Brockton, is a firefighter for the Brockton Fire
Department. A reinstated amateur, Parziale
qualified
for the 2006 U.S. Amateur and 2013 U.S. Mid-
Amateur. He tied for second in the 2014
Massachusetts Open, losing in a four-man
playoff.
Michigan:
Tom Werkmeister, 46,
of
Kentwood, was a semifinalist in the 2014 U.S.
Mid-
Amateur, falling to Brad Nurski in 19 holes. The
three-time Michigan Player of the Year and 2013
Michigan State Open champion is a member of
the
Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. By his own count, he
has
bowled eight perfect 300 games.
Minnesota:
Jesse Bull, 39, of
Hopkins,
was a member of the University of North Dakota
men’s hockey team that won the 1997 NCAA
Division I national championship. He is the
reigning
Minnesota State Amateur champion.
Mississippi:
Eddie Brescher, 29, of
Hattiesburg, is an assistant coach for the
University
of Southern Mississippi men’s golf team. He
won the 2013 and 2014 Mississippi Open
Championships and played at the University of
Southeastern Louisiana. He is representing
Mississippi for the second time.
Missouri:
Richard
Berkmeyer, 40, of
Wildwood, has played in eight U.S. Mid-Amateur
Championships, earning medalist honors twice.
Berkmeyer, who owns a trophy business, is a
three-
time Missouri State Amateur champion. His
mother,
Barbara, was the 2002 U.S. Senior Women’s
Amateur runner-up.
Brad Nurski, 35, of St.
Joseph, was the runner-up in the 2014 U.S. Mid-
Amateur to Scott Harvey. The left-hander has
had
great success at the state level, capturing the
2010
Missouri Amateur as well as the 2011 and 2013
Missouri Mid-Amateur titles. He is a
conductor/switchman for BNSF Railway. He is
representing Missouri for a third consecutive
time in
the Men’s State Team Championship.
Montana:
Brian Beach, 24, of
Missoula, won the Championship Flight of the
Golf
Channel Amateur Tour in 2012. He fired a 63
during
the 2013 Montana Open on his way to a runner-
up
finish.
Nebraska:
Ryan Nietfeldt, 38, of
Elkhorn, serves on the board of directors for the
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Nebraska. Nietfeldt
was
named the Nebraska Amateur Golfer of the Year
in
2002, 2003 and 2013, and is representing
Nebraska
for the fourth time in the Men’s State Team
Championship. He has competed in nine USGA
championships, reaching the Round of 16 in the
2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Andrew Sajevic
, 24, of Fremont, is a three-
time
Nebraska Amateur champion (2010, 2011,
2013). He
played at the University of North Carolina-
Charlotte
and the University of North Carolina. He was
named
the Nebraska Amateur Golfer of the Year in 2010
and
2013 and earned All-Atlantic 10 honors twice
while
playing for UNC-Charlotte. He is competing in
the
Men’s State Team Championship with his
father, John.
John Sajevic, 58, of
Fremont, is competing for Nebraska in the USGA
Men’s State Team Championship for the ninth
time. He is a two-time Nebraska Amateur Golfer
of
the Year (1989, 1996) and won the first two
Nebraska Senior Amateur Golfer of the Year
Awards
in 2012 and 2013. He was inducted into the
Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.
Nevada:
Josh Baskins, 23, of
Reno,
is a volunteer assistant coach for the University
of
Nevada men’s golf team. He last played for
the Wolfpack during the 2013-14 season and was
named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-American
Scholar.
He reached the Round of 16 in the 2014 U.S.
Amateur Public Links Championship.
Kenny Ebalo, 31, of
Las
Vegas, manages PGA Tour player Ryan Moore, a
three-time USGA champion. Ebalo, who is
competing
in his fourth USGA championship and first
Men’s State Team Championship, also has
caddied for U.S. Open champions Gary Player
and
Lee Janzen. He is the reigning Nevada State Mid-
Amateur champion and reached the Round of 32
at
last month’s U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Jeremy May, 38, of
North
Las Vegas, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in
2013. The Men’s State Team Championship is
his first USGA championship.
New Hampshire:
Ryan Kohler, 30, of
Chesterfield, picked up the game after
graduating
from Keene State in 2007. He ordered 4,000
range
balls from eBay and spent the entire winter of
2007
hitting golf balls into his parents’ field from a
hole he dug in the snow. The following spring, he
broke par for the first time. He competed for
New
Hampshire in the 2012 Men’s State Team.
Craig Steckowych, 55,
of
Greenland, is a two-time New Hampshire State
Amateur champion (1990, 1998) and New
Hampshire Mid-Amateur champion (1991, 2003).
Steckowych, a three-time New Hampshire Player
of
the Year, is competing in his fifth Men’s State
Team and has played in 11 USGA
championships,
including the 2009 U.S. Senior Open.
New Jersey:
Trevor Randolph, 41,
of
Franklin Lakes, competed for Rice University
from
1992-96 and was among the first to qualify for
the
2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Amateur with
partner
and fellow Congressional C.C. member Keith
Unikel.
He won the 2013 New Jersey Mid-Amateur and
qualified for match play at the 2014 U.S. Mid-
Amateur.
New Mexico:
Nick Geyer, 27, of
Albuquerque, played at the University of New
Mexico
before becoming the senior director of rules and
competition for the Sun Country Golf
Association,
which encompasses New Mexico and portions of
west
Texas. The left-hander advanced to the Round of
32
at the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur.
New York:
Sam Bernstein, 22, of
New
York City, played golf at Yale University, earning
Ivy
League Player of the Year honors in 2013 and
Rookie
of the Year honors in 2011. He founded the
Harlem’s Children Zone Golf Program, which
helps inner-city students learn the game.
Bernstein
competed in the 2013 U.S. Amateur at The
Country
Club in Brookline, Mass., and on Aug. 13, was
among
the first three teams to qualify for the inaugural
2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship with
partner Gregory Shuman.
Tim Spitz, 40, of
Pittsford,
was the runner-up in the 2009 U.S. Mid-Amateur
Championship, losing in the championship match
to
Pennsylvania team member Nathan Smith. Spitz,
who played at Furman University, won the 2012
New
York State Mid-Amateur, defeating New York
teammate Jim Scorse in the championship
match. He
has qualified for the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-
Ball
Championship with Scorse, and he played for
New
York in the 2010 Men’s State Team
Championship.
North Carolina:
Bo Andrews, 24, of
Raleigh, shot a course-record 7-under-par 63 at
Charles River Country Club during the second
round
of stroke-play qualifying in the 2013 U.S.
Amateur.
Andrews graduated in May from Georgia Tech,
where
he earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors
in
2012. He has reached match play in the last two
U.S. Amateurs.
Scott Harvey, 36, of
Greensboro, won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur
Championship, defeating Brad Nurski, who is
competing for Missouri, in the 36-hole
championship
match. His father, Bill, played in 23 USGA
championships, including 15 U.S. Amateurs. He
has
won the last three Carolinas Golf Association
Player
of the Year Awards (2011-13), and is competing
for
North Carolina in his fourth Men’s State
Team.
North Dakota:
Rick Kuhn, 44, of
Mandan,
was the 2007 and 2010 North Dakota Player of
the
Year and has won the state’s stroke-play
championship three times, most recently in
2014. He
will be representing North Dakota for the fourth
time
in the Men’s State Team.
Greg Melhus, 38, of
Fargo,
will be competing for North Dakota for the fourth
time in the Men’s State Team. He also
competed for Minnesota in 2012. He was named
the
North Dakota Associated Press Athlete of the
Year in
2000. He played golf for the University of North
Dakota.
Ohio:
Will Grimmer, 17,
of Cincinnati, was the youngest competitor in the
2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. A senior at
Mariemont High School, Grimmer was the 2013
Ohio
Division II state runner-up. He reached the
quarterfinals of the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur
and
also competed in the U.S. Amateur in August. He
carded an 11-under-par 59 at Pinehurst No. 1 in
the
2013 North & South Junior Amateur. Grimmer
is verbally committed to enroll at Ohio State
University next fall.
Jeffrey Scohy, 37,
of Bellbrook, spent seven years on active duty
as a
U.S. Air Force acquisitions officer, rising to the
rank
of captain. Scohy now serves in the Air Force
Reserves as a major, and has made several trips
to
Iraq on temporary duty. The Columbus native is
a
three-time winner of the Armed Forces Golf
Championship. This will be his third time
representing Ohio in the Men’s State Team
Championship (2010, 2012), and he has
competed in
10 USGA championships.
Bill Williamson, 37,
of Cincinnati, was the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur
runner-up, losing to Michael McCoy, a member
of the
Iowa team, in the championship match. Two of
his
three career holes-in-one came on back-to-back
days at Golden Ocala Golf Club while playing for
the
University of Akron. He won the 2009 Ohio Mid-
Amateur Championship. An attorney, Williamson
has
completed four half-marathons.
Oklahoma:
Heath Myers, 30, of
Kingfisher, is the brother-in-law of PGA Tour
player
Charles Howell III. He represented Oklahoma in
the
2010 Men’s State Team.
Kirk Wright, 53, of
Oklahoma City, is a battalion chief for the
Oklahoma
City Fire Department and was on duty during the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in
1995.
Wright won the 2013 Oklahoma State Senior
Amateur and won the 50-and-older competition
of
the 2012 United States Police and Fire Golf
Championship.
Oregon:
Jesse Heinly, 22, of
Bend,
began his collegiate career at Concordia
University
before transferring to Xavier University in Ohio
after
the 2011-12 season. Heinly reached the Round of
32
in the 2014 U.S. Amateur, falling to eventual
runner-
up Corey Conners.
Pennsylvania:
Sean Knapp, 52, of
Oakmont, has competed in more than 40 USGA
championships. He lost to eventual-champion
Tiger
Woods in the Round of 16 in the 1995 U.S.
Amateur
and was paired with Tom Watson in the third
round
of the 2012 U.S. Senior Open. He has won
numerous
championships at the state level and is a three-
time
Pennsylvania Golf Association Player of the Year.
In
2009, he helped Pennsylvania win the Men’s
State Team Championship with four-time U.S.
Mid-
Amateur champion Nathan Smith. Knapp was
best
man at Smith’s wedding.
Nathan Smith, 36, of
Pittsburgh, is a record four-time champion of the
U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (2003, 2009, 2010,
2012), and has represented the USA on three
Walker
Cup Teams (2009, 2011, 2013). Smith clinched
the
deciding point in the 2013 Match. He has
competed
in the Masters four times. The investment
advisor
advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2014 U.S.
Amateur and helped Pennsylvania claim the 2009
Men’s State Team Championship with 2014
teammate Sean Knapp.
Puerto Rico:
Jeronimo Esteve, 33,
of
Guaynabo, is a cancer survivor, having been
diagnosed with lymphoma in 2011, the same day
he
won his club championship. Esteve, who played
at
Dartmouth, won the 2014 Puerto Rico Golf
Association Championship to earn a spot in the
2015
Puerto Rico Open, a PGA Tour event. Esteve has
twice represented Puerto Rico in the World
Amateur
Team Championship (2012, 2014).
Erick J. Morales, 31, of
Sabana Seca, won the 2009 and 2011 Caribbean
Amateur Championships. Morales played at
Rutgers
University and represented Puerto Rico in the
2004
and 2014 World Amateur Team Championships
and
the 2010 Men’s State Team. He competed in
the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open in 2010 and
2014.
Rhode Island:
Charlie Blanchard, 49,
of
North Providence, is the head men’s golf
coach at Bryant University. He played lacrosse
at
Ohio Wesleyan University and professionally for
the
Boston Blazers. He also coached lacrosse at
Bryant
University. The left-hander is a seven-time
Rhode
Island Golf Association Player of the Year,
having
won numerous state championships. He reached
the
U.S. Mid-Amateur Round of 16 in 2012, defeating
his
Rhode Island teammate and fellow southpaw,
Brad
Valois, in the Round of 32.
Bobby Leopold, 29, of
Coventry, has advanced to the Round of 16 in
the
U.S. Amateur on two occasions, most recently in
2012. Leopold, a two-time Rhode Island Golf
Association Player of the Year, won his state’s
amateur championship in 2009 and 2014.
Brad Valois, 27, of
Warwick, earned All-America honors as a
member of
the University of Rhode Island golf team. He has
won
four Rhode Island Amateur titles and was the
state’s player of the year in 2006 and 2013.
Valois was the stroke-play medalist in the 2012
U.S.
Mid-Amateur.
South Carolina:
Rick Cloninger, 57, of
Fort
Mill, has represented Florida (1995), Georgia
(1999,
2001) and South Carolina (2007, 2014) in the
USGA
Men’s State Team Championship, and has
won each state’s mid-amateur championship.
A former all-conference quarterback at Wofford
College, Cloninger advanced to the semifinals of
the
2014 U.S. Senior Amateur.He is the reigning
South
Carolina Senior Amateur champion.
Lee Palms, 45, of
Greenville, was the 1991 NCAA Division III
Individual
champion while playing for Emory University
(Ga.).
Palms, a two-time South Carolina Mid-Amateur
champion, is an insurance executive who
coaches
and mentors young golfers in his spare time.
Palms’ father served as president of the
University of South Carolina.
Todd White, 46, of
Spartanburg, represented the USA in the 2013
Walker Cup. He was inducted into the Furman
University Hall of Fame in 2003, where he
played
collegiately, and is a four-time South Carolina
Golf
Association Player of the Year. The high school
history teacher was a semifinalist in the 2012
U.S.
Mid-Amateur, and played in the 1995 U.S. Open.
He
is representing South Carolina for the fifth time
in
the Men’s State Team Championship.
South Dakota:
Jeff Meyerink, 34, of
Mitchell, won the 2014 South Dakota Two-Man
Championship with Brandon Sigmund. He is a
competitive billiards player who was part of a
team
that won the state championship.
Tennessee:
Todd Burgan, 45, of
Powell, is competing in his fourth Men’s State
Team Championship for Tennessee. He was the
2011
Tennessee Golf Association Player of the Year
and a
semifinalist in the 2010 U.S. Mid-Amateur. He
works
as a pharmacist.
Matt Cooper, 35, of
Memphis, is a director of marketing for Kemper
Sports. Cooper played golf at the University of
Memphis from 1998-2002 and qualified for his
first
U.S. Mid-Amateur in September. He lost in the
Round of 64 to Trevor Sauntry. His younger
brother,
Kyle, is a retired United States Marine who
served in
Iraq and was awarded a Purple Heart.
Texas:
Zach Atkinson, 32, of
Colleyville, advanced to the Round of 16 in the
2003
U.S. Amateur before falling to future PGA Tour
player
Bill Haas. He lost in the Round of 16 in the 2013
U.S.
Mid-Amateur to eventual champion Mike McCoy.
Atkinson was a two-time All-Sun Belt Conference
performer at the University of North Texas. He
also
won the 2004 Texas Amateur.
Aaron Hickman, 36, of
Tyler, was an All-Western Athletic Conference
selection in 1999 at Texas Christian University in
Fort
Worth. He is representing Texas for the third
time in
the Men’s State Team Championship, and has
competed in eight USGA championships,
reaching
the Round of 16 in the 2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Utah:
Dan Horner, 36, of
Sandy,
was the 2008 Utah Golf Association Player of the
Year and has won more than 50 events in the
state.
Horner has competed in 12 USGA championships
and
will be representing Utah for the fifth time in the
Men’s State Team. He played golf at Rutgers
University.
Darrin Overson, 39, of
Provo, won the 1998 Utah State Amateur
Championship despite having never previously
competed in match play. He is competing in his
third
Men’s State Team Championship. It took him
34 years to get his first hole-in-one, and has
now
had four in the last three years. He played at
Colorado State University.
Jon Wright, 44, of Salt
Lake City, is a former professional golfer who
competed on what is now the Web.com Tour
before
regaining his amateur status in 2006. The two-
time
Utah State Amateur champion is a founding
board
member of the Utah Autism Foundation. He
earned
All-Western Athletic Conference honors while
playing
for the University of Utah.
Vermont:
Garren Poirer, 34, of
Killington, started his own photography business
in
2006. He grew up in a military family and lived
in
several locations in the United States, as well as
Germany and Greece. After playing for Temple
University, Poirier put down his golf clubs for
four
years before starting again in 2005. Poirier will
be
playing on his fourth USGA Men’s State
Team. He is the 2012 Vermont Mid-Amateur
champion.
Bryan Smith, 29, of
Jay,
was the runner-up in both the 2013 and 2014
Vermont Amateur. Smith is playing in his first
USGA
championship. A reinstated amateur, Smith was
the
2009 and 2010 Vermont PGA Player of the
Year.
Virginia:
Keith Decker, 54, of
Martinsville, is the only player to have competed
in
all 11 USGA Men’s State Team
Championships. Decker helped Virginia claim the
inaugural Men’s State Team title in 1995. He
is a seven-time Virginia Player of the Year and
three-
time Virginia State Open champion. Decker
earned
All-America honors twice while playing golf at
Elon
(N.C.) College. He has set course records on at
least
four different courses, two with scores of 58 and
59.
Scott Shingler
, 42, of Haymarket, won the
2011 Virginia State Amateur and 2010 Virginia
Mid-
Amateur. He is playing in his fourth USGA
Men’s State Team Championship. Shingler is
a two-time Virginia State Golf Association Player
of
the Year. He and teammate Keith Decker won
the
Virginia Four-Ball Championship in 2012.
Washington:
Tom Brandes, 58, of
Bellevue, did not start playing golf until the age
of
35. He was the 2013 British Senior Amateur
runner-
up. He has competed in the U.S. Senior Open on
four
occasions and advanced to the Round of 16 in
the
2014 U.S. Senior Amateur.
Mike Haack, 35, of
Bellevue, is competing in his third straight
Men’s State Team. He won the 2010
Washington Mid-Amateur Championship, the first
year it was contested, and was named
Washington’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year
in 2013. He played collegiately at the University
of
Nevada.
Erik Hanson, 49, of
Kirkland, pitched for four Major League Baseball
teams from 1988-98 and was named to the
1995
American League All-Star Team as a member of
the
Boston Red Sox. He is competing in his sixth
USGA
Men’s State Team Championship. Hanson
advanced to match play in consecutive U.S. Mid-
Amateurs (2012-13). Hanson played college
baseball
at Wake Forest.
West Virginia:
Sam O’Dell, 36, of
Hurricane, was a two-time Academic All-
American
while playing for Marshall University. O’Dell is
a three-time West Virginia Mid-Amateur
champion
and the 2013 West Virginia Amateur champion.
He
works as a dentist.
Wisconsin:
Matt Behm, 35, of
Janesville, was the 2006 Wisconsin State Player
of
the Year and will be competing in his second
USGA
Men’s State Team, having previously played
in 2007. Behm’s parents recently adopted a
girl from China who is blind. His father lost his
sight
when he was 16.
Tom Halla, 46, of
Colgate,
is a veteran USGA championship competitor. He
has
been paired with his son, Charlie, in the final
grouping of two Wisconsin state championships,
and
recently took up curling.
Wyoming:
John Hornbeck, 56, of
Saratoga, is a two-time Wyoming State Player of
the
Year, the oldest player to receive the award. He
reached the Round of 32 in the 2014 U.S. Senior
Amateur. This is his third time representing
Wyoming in the Men’s State Team.
Mark Isakson, 57, of
Sheridan, is playing in his third Men’s State
Team. Isakson, who has competed in three U.S.
Mid-
Amateurs, made a double eagle in the 2014
Wyoming Mid-Amateur, holing his second shot
from
262 yards out.
Compiled by Dan Scofield and Scott
Lipsky of the USGA. Scofield is a
communications
intern at the USGA. Email him at
dscofield@usga.org. Lipsky is the manager of
websites and digital platforms for the USGA.
Email
him at slipsky@usga.org.