PINE VALLEY, N.J. (Sept. 16, 2018) –
Patrick Duffy’s list of golf titles is mostly confined to Nebraska. The 46-year-old from Omaha is a three-time Nebraska Mid-Amateur champion and a perennial contender (and winner) at the Omaha Country Club Championship. Duffy’s game can travel, too, and after four hard-fought matches at Pine Valley Country Club, Duffy can add a prestigious Crump Cup title to his resume.
Duffy, a past president of the Nebraska Golf Association, didn’t get one break over the weekend as he fought through a 16-man match-play bracket loaded with the top mid-amateur talent from around the country. He went the full 18 holes with Seth Sargent in the first round, then drew
Danny Simmerman on Saturday afternoon. That match went three extra holes before Duffy gained a pass to Sunday.
In the semifinals, Duffy knocked off
Denny Bull on the 18th green then faced off against
Brad Nurski, a three-time Missouri Amateur champion and the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up, in the final. While the two players are both Midwest natives, the Crump Cup final marked the first time they had gone head to head.
Nurski, for his part, had a decidedly different experience in the lead-up to the final than Duffy did. Nurski didn’t see the 18th hole in his first three matches. Duffy took him the full round before beating him on the 19th hole. The St. Joseph, Mo., native struggled off the tee during the final match, and ultimately that led to his demise.
Despite Nurski's wild tee ball, he and Duffy spent most of the final match neck and neck. Duffy took a 2-up lead to the 16th tee, which was the biggest lead of the match. Nurski won the hole even though both players found trouble off the tee.
Nurski won No. 18 with a conceded birdie to send the match to the extra hole. Duffy won when Nurski three-putted from 20 feet.
"He’s just consistent, he doesn’t make many mistakes," Nurski said in reflection of Duffy's game. "He’s not the longest guy off the tee but his short game is incredible.”
In the senior division, two seasoned veterans went head-to-head in the final match on Sunday afternoon, but
Gene Elliott showed why he is AmateurGolf.com’s top-ranked senior. Elliott, an Iowa Golf Hall-of-Famer, closed out
Jeff Burda, 5 and 4, to earn a Crump Cup distinction. Elliott became just the fourth player to win the open division and the senior division in the tournament’s 94-year history. Elliott was the overall winner in 2013 when he beat Matthew Sughrue in the final match, 5 and 3.
Related: Crump Cup: Big Names Fall as the Final Four is Set
Related: Crump Cup: Hagestad medals as match-play brackets set
Related: Crump Cup: Berkmeyer, Nurski Lead After Round One
ABOUT THE
Crump Cup
The George A. Crump Memorial Tournament --
named
for the
hotelier and course architect most famous for
building
Pine Valley -- is arguably the premier mid-
amateur
event in the United States. The invitational field
is
made of of top players from around the United
States
and the UK. The format for the four days is two
rounds
of stroke play qualifying, followed by four
rounds
of
match play. Players are flighted according to
their
qualifying position, and a separate Senior flight
includes three of those flights. Jay Sigel has won
the
event the most times, with nine victories
between
1975 and 1993.
Normally, the public is invited to attend the Sunday
final matches but that tradition has been suspended.
View Complete Tournament Information