Could a career round of golf come down to a simple chicken sandwich from a popular fast-food joint?

Nick Barrett’s two fellow competitors, Jason Sigler and Andy Matthews, for Saturday’s first round of the 43rd U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at stroke-play co-host Independence Golf Club, in Midlothian, Va., certainly wanted to know what the Catonsville, Md., resident had for dinner the previous evening.

“Chick-Fil-A,” said the smiling 31-year-old UPS driver after carding a 6-under-par 64 on the 7,216-yard public venue that once was the headquarters for the Virginia State Golf Association.

Barrett’s 64 was matched by 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Scott Harvey, 46, of Greensboro, N.C., at the 7,250-yard, par-71 Kinloch Golf Club, which will be the site for all of the matches beginning on Monday. The 64s were one off the 18-hole championship record held by Jim Wilson (2000 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.). In previous Mid-Ams, five other 64s have been posted.

With his wife of less than a year, Julia, and a couple of family members walking the fairways, Barrett produced a personal-best round by “four or five strokes”, one that seemingly came out of nowhere. His summer competition schedule has included one 18-hole round in the Maryland Amateur (missed match play), one 18-hole round at U.S. Open local qualifying and the 68 he shot in his U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier Aug. 19 at Wyncote Golf Club, in Oxford, Pa., to share medalist honors.

Otherwise, he’ll sneak out for an occasional round at Turf Valley Resort, in Ellicott City, Md., or find an hour or so to hit balls. Prior to Saturday’s round, Barrett’s only other USGA experience has been the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Winged Foot Golf Club, in Mamaroneck, N.Y., when he and partner/good friend Connor Flach shot 9 under in stroke play before losing in the Round of 32 to eventual runners-up Brandon Cigna and Ben Warnquist, 1 down.

On Saturday, a clutch 5-foot par save on No. 11, his second hole of the round, gave Barrett an early confidence boost. He wound up making birdies on the two statistically hardest holes on the course, Nos. 8 and 12, both 20-foot putts. His lone blemish came at the par-4 13th when an offline drive forced him to cut a 6-iron from a penalty area just short of the putting green. He then missed a 10-footer for par in what otherwise was a stellar putting performance.

“It’s the best round I’ve played by far,” said Barrett, who did not attend college but worked in a golf pro shop shortly after high school. “In competition, I never even sniffed that…I just got the putter going early and I just kept that same feel for the majority of the day.”

One person no stranger to going low is Harvey. The North Carolinian not only claimed this title in 2014, but was the runner-up two years later in an epic 37-hole final against Stewart Hagestad at Stonewall, in Elverson, Pa. That came a year after he was named to the USA Walker Cup Team. But lately, Harvey has curtailed his competitive golf to spend more time with his teenage son, Cameron, and his nearly 6-year-old son, Gavin. Harvey’s only USGA event this year has been the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Philadelphia Cricket Club, with partner Todd Mitchell. The duo won that championship in 2019 at Bandon Dunes, four years after making the semifinals in the inaugural competition.

At Kinloch, Harvey made eight birdies against one bogey. He birdied seven of his first 13 holes before later recording the lone blemish at the 340-yard sixth hole. He then finished up with a birdie on No. 9, his 18th hole, a dangerous 417-yard, par-4 with a lake lurking to the left.

“Score-wise I would say so,” said Harvey when asked if this was one of his better stroke-play rounds in his 15 U.S. Mid-Amateur starts. “But again, I got pretty lucky and fortunate with some bounces. On the 10th hole (his first hole) I blocked a 7-iron and landed on the fringe, and it bounces down there. I made a 65-footer on the fifth hole. Lot of fortunate breaks, but I played some good golf too.

“I drove it really well. I missed two fairways, and they were both on the really short par 4s. They were the only fairways I missed trying to play safe. But drove it really well and made some putts. I played solidly.”

Because he no longer plays a full summer amateur schedule, Harvey, the winner of 10 Carolinas Golf Association titles who is a property manager, doesn’t physically recover as quickly from rounds like he once did.

“I am worried about my body at this point,” said Harvey. “I told my [oldest] son I am feeling a little sore. He said go see a chiropractor. I said, ‘No, I think it’s a different kind of sore.’ I need to rest and just preserve my energy as best I can.”

Connor Lyon, 27, of Canada, is one stroke back after posting a 6-under 65 at Kinloch. Former University of California-Berkeley golfer Stephen Hale, 35, of Bakersfield, Calif., and ex-Villanova standout Andy Butler, 28, of Philadelphia, Pa., each posted 66s at Kinloch and Independence, respectively.

In all, 35 competitors finished in red figures on the final summer day of 2024 (Sunday at 8:44 a.m. is officially the start of fall).

Lyon, who was paired with 2017 U.S. Amateur runner-up Doug Ghim in U.S. Open final qualifying this year in Canada, closed his round with an eagle-3 on the 594-yard 18th hole. He was 1 over through three and played 7-under golf the last 15 holes. He hit a 4-wood to 18 feet to set up the eagle.

“It kind of goes the other way,” said Lyon of his confidence level after the opening round. “Am I going to be the first guy to shoot 65 and not qualify for match play? It does help, maybe not put as much pressure on me tomorrow [at stroke-play co-host Independence Golf Club] to go out there and fire at every single pin but at same time I want keep my foot on the gas.”

Butler, a consultant who attended the same high school in Lancaster, Pa., as 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk (Manheim Township High), had a wild day of seven birdies, eight pars and three bogeys. He was 6 under for his round until a pair of late bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8.

He birdied four consecutive holes from No. 17 (he started on No. 10) and had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch before the two late blemishes.

Butler arrived in Virginia fresh off a disappointing finish in the two-day Pennsylvania Mid-Amateur at Moselem Springs Golf Club, where he followed a first-round 68 with a 75.

“I kind of wanted to play smart golf,” said Butler, who missed the cut in last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur. “For a lot of the year, I have been shooting myself in the foot.

“You can’t really make more than a bogey in [stroke play] or you’re going to have to dig yourself out of that. I just wanted to avoid the big numbers.”

Hale made a recent attitude adjustment, telling himself to have more fun on the golf course, and it has paid off, at least for the first round.

“I have been too hard on myself,” said the reinstated amateur. “It’s something that held me back when I was playing professionally. I am still trying to figure it out. Today was one of those days where I was really easy on myself.”

What’s Next

Competitors will swap courses on Sunday for the final round of stroke play, after which the field will be trimmed to the low 64 scorers for match play exclusively at Kinloch Golf Club. Should a playoff be necessary to determine the final spots in the draw, it would be conducted on Monday morning at Kinloch.

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