Puttering way to title
Frodigh puts work in, wins first crown
MASS AMATEUR
At one time, Patrick Frodigh considered putting one of the weaker aspects of his game. That came before committing to improve with the putter.
Yesterday, Frodigh was rewarded for his efforts, rolling the ball beautifully all week, and the result was the 110th Massachusetts Amateur championship.
Frodigh had 13 1-putts and did not 3-putt, helping him lead from start to finish in a 4 and 3 victory over Herbie Aikens in the 36hole final at George Wright Golf Course in Hyde Park. He was 3-under par with seven birdies.
“This is the best putting day I’ve had in recent memory,” said Frodigh, the 23-year-old from Westwood. “I just felt so good over the ball. I just put my putter down and felt like it set up perfectly and committed to a good stroke.”
Frodigh said the putter was one he got in April, and while usually he rotates through them, the feel of this one was different. He stuck with it.
His most important putt of the day may have been one for bogey. After having a 4-up lead cut to 1-up after Aikens made a birdie on the 26th hole (the par-3 eighth), Frodigh hooked his drive into the woods. He punched the ball ahead and his third landed under a tree to the left of the green, short-siding himself to the flag and was left facing about 25 feet coming back.
“As soon as it left the face it was breaking pretty decently right to left,” he said, “and it barely stayed up kind of lipped in the left side, but I hit it with just enough pace, I guess.
Aikens, who had been in the center of the fairway off the tee, had all of his momentum drained away by settling for a halve.
“If I could have turned at even, maybe it’s a little bit of a different match, but that putt he poured in was great,” said Aikens, who was 1-over for the day. “I made the mistake on playing a little too conservative (on the approach shot) and got in the bunker and then got on the other side of the hole, which was a tough nine-footer that had a ton of break on it. That was a bummer to miss that.”
Frodigh grabbed a 2-up lead on the 28th hole (the par-4 10th) as Aikens had the day’s only 3-putt.
Frodigh rolled in a 10foot birdie from above the hole at the 30th hole (par4 13th) to go 3 up and then made the match dormie at the 31st (par-3 14th) with his second spectacular upand-down of the day.
In the morning, Frodigh flew the green with a 6-iron and hit the flag stick with a 56-degree wedge to make par, while in the afternoon he came up way short with a 7-iron on a hill to the right of the green, but chipped close and made the par putt as Aikens made a bogey.
The match ended at the par-5 15th as each made par.
“This is the best. This is what every amateur golfer strives to do,” said Frodigh, who just completed his college career at Elon University in North Carolina. “To finally do it, hopefully my last year for however long I can sustain playing professionally if I do, this is a really good feeling.”
The only times Frodigh advanced to match play in his six years in the tournament he reached the final. He lost in 2015 to Nick McLaughlin, 4 and 3.
In the morning, Frodigh had a chance to go 5 up with a birdie at No. 12, but had a rare miss from about five feet. Aikens then got within 1 down by the end of the morning round by winning No. 13 with a par and Nos. 15 and 16 with birdies.
“You never run away with it in the morning,” said Frodigh, who had a 2 up lead after six holes in 2015. “Granted, it was only my second time playing a 36-hole match, but I learned that pretty quickly that you can be up early and in a blink of an eye you can be back to around even. You really need to stay patient, and that’s what I did well today.”