Wheaton Ennis (Arizona Golf Association Photo)
Wheaton Ennis captured the 100th Arizona Amateur Championship at Phoenix Country Club with a 3&2 win over
Carl Miltun. After six days of golf against the state’s best amateurs, Ennis closed the door on the championship match with consecutive 30-plus foot putts on holes No. 15 and 16, respectively.
“It feels great,” Ennis said of winning the 100th Arizona Amateur Championship. “I’ve wanted to win this tournament for a long time. To get it done at a place like this was awesome. It was a great week.”
Ennis won the 2023 AJGA Invitational alongside Jasmine Koo in the girl's division.
In the championship match, Ennis jumped out to a 1-up lead on the 143-yard second hole, where he spun his tee shot to four feet and tapped in for a birdie. Miltun tied the match for the final time on the third hole before Ennis’s putter caught fire; he won back-to-back holes and never relinquished the lead.
“Since the match was only an 18-hole format, I knew it would be important to get out to a big lead,” Miltun said. “Unfortunately, (Ennis) got up on me early and never really let off the gas. He had a lot of good putts. I was able to battle with a few birdies in the mix, but ultimately, the hot putter is hard to beat.”
Ennis, who shot 65-65 during two rounds of qualifying stroke play and earned Stroke Play Medalist honors, climbed an uphill battle to get to the championship match. The 18-year-old Texas A&M commit overcame Greg Cesarek, former PGA Latinoamérica player Hans Reimers, and Phoenix Country Club member Richard Hearden.
In the quarter and semifinals, Ennis bested Grand Canyon University’s Warner Beach and two-time Arizona Amateur Champion Jake Chanen in 19-hole playoffs. Ennis credited his poise and patience with carrying through his wire-to-wire victory, in which he bested a 142-player field and six days of triple-digit temperatures, which peaked at 117 degrees on Friday afternoon.
“I just try to stick with my game plan, try to commit to the shots. My caddie did a great job locking me in all week during match play,” Ennis said. “It’s easy to not be focused, especially in the afternoons when the weather was hot as it was. I just tried to stay committed and execute shots the best I can.”
By winning the 100th Arizona Amateur Championship, Ennis also earned an exemption into the 2024 U.S. Amateur Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. Currently, the American Junior Golf Association’s fourth-ranked player, Ennis, also received a 10-year exemption into the Arizona Amateur Championship.
ABOUT THE
Arizona Amateur
The event will play host to a maximum field size of 156
players for qualifying rounds, with the field cut to the
top 64 players for the match play championship, all
competing in one division. The event will consist of a
36-hole qualifier, followed by a 64-player match play
championship.
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