June 17, 2010

So what does a Royals golfer do for an encore after a fourth place finish at state? Well, he employs the help of his brother (for driving and an 18 year old presence) and that of a fellow teammate (Jordan Rykal on the bag) and heads 45 miles east of Madison, WI for a US Junior Amateur Qualifier. Leaving straight from Bunker Hills following yesterday's comeback second place finish, the trio spent the night in Madison, WI before arriving at Watertown CC for the first of two 18 hole rounds and an 8:30 a.m. tee time.

On on course he's never seen and after a short nights sleep, Mac's day began with two bogeys and a triple on his first four holes. The MN Junior Am Qualifier is held at Victory Links GC in Blaine so why travel five and a half hours only to have your hopes to advance to US Junior Amateur Championship squashed in the first hour?

The summer tournament schedule is a complicated matrix of qualifiers, opens, and what-if scenarios. This was the only option and it wasn't starting out very well. Mac traded a birdie at 14 (he started on the back nine) with a bogey at 16 before birdieing five of the next nine holes to get back to even par. A finishing bogey left him at one over 71. Watertown CC is a Par 70 - 6400 yard layout.

After round one, Mac stood one off the lead behind local favorite and a national top JGS 150 player, junior Matt Ross of Hartland, WI. Also in the hunt and in a tie with Mac was Michael Schoolcraft (Oklahoma recruit), another top 150 player from Englewood, CO.

The second round started a little better but no birds and two bogeys on the front nine (statrting tees were switched for round two) and Mac was perilously close to finishing no better than just that - close. Birdies at eleven and twelve got him back to even and he went on to finish with another one over 71. He had to wait about a half hour to see how the 142 held up.

Two individuals advance to the US Championship. Matt Ross was already in at 70-71. It appeared Mac's fate would come down to one other player, Wisconsonite Ben Skogen. Ben shared the first round lead at 70. But Jordan Niebrugge's two under 68 forced a tie with Mac as did Skogen's 72. A three player sudden death playoff ensued for the right to play in the 63rd US Junior Amateur at Egypt Valley CC in Ada, MI July 19-24.

Mac has gone on record saying he hates playoffs - and he must. He didn't waste any time and quickly ended the drama with a birdie on the first hole. "I was in the fairway off the tee", he said, "and was able to reach the par five in two."

The US Junior Amateur is for juniors who haven't reached their 18th birthday before the registration deadline. So even though Colton was not eligible to play, he was quick to point out, "I drove the car well today. Kept it down the middle and out of trouble."