Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Hagestad pulls off epic comeback for crown, books spot in Masters
EAST NANTMEAL >> Twenty three years after making its debut, Stonewall played host to the 36th United States Middle-Amateur Championship, and became the first Chester County venue to ever host a USGA event in the process.
And if that wasn’t exciting enough, Thursday’s final match was off the charts, as Californian Stewart Hagestad staged an epic comeback victory over Scott Harvey, capturing the crown on the 37th hole of the day to culminate a streak of wins on four of the last five holes played. It wound up being the largest U.S. Mid-Am comeback since the tournament was expanded from an 18- to 36-hole final in 2001.
“That is a very special statistic,” Hagestad said. “Scott is one of, if not the, shining standard in Mid-Amateur golf. I am happy I don’t have to go out there and put myself in that position again because as far as closers, he is one of the best.”
Down 4 with five holes to play, Hagestad even amazed himself with the late surge. What looked for most of the day like a runaway for Harvey — the 2014 U.S. Mid-Am champion — turned dramatically down the stretch.
“I think am still in shock, but it is beginning to hit me,” Hagestad acknowledged. “I know I am going to cry later. This is something I’ve worked for my entire life.”
The truly historic finish notwithstanding, the six-day national championship for age 25-and-over amateurs was a big deal for Stonewall. Both of its courses took center stage on Thursday as — for the first time in USGA history — the stroke play co-host North Course was used in the morning round of the 36-hole championship match, and the Old Course hosted the afternoon session.
“I thought it was a tremendous setup and tremendous courses,” Hagestad said.
After making a furious comeback to get into position to extend the match, Hagestad won it with a short-sided tee shot into the par-3 213-yard 9th that landed 14-feet beyond the pin. After Harvey’s unsuccessful birdie effort, Hagestad completed the shocking rally by making his left-to-right birdie try.
“I just kept chipping away at it,” Hagestad explained. “I wanted to
go to sleep tonight knowing I left everything I had out there.
“I thought if I could just see a couple putts got into the hole, I felt like I could get things rolling. I’m proud of the way I grinded back and competed.”
His back to the wall, Hagestad had to win the 35th and 36th holes of the day on Stonewall’s finishing holes in order to continue, and he made it happen. First came an 8-foot birdie on the par-3 17th, followed by a conceded seven-foot birdie at the par-4 18th that came after Harvey hit it into the greenside bunker, failed to find the green from there and eventually conceded the hole to Hagestad. That set the stage for the extra-hole win.
“I will remember the putt on 17 for a really long time,” Hagestad admitted.
The comeback wouldn’t have happened, however, if Hagestad hadn’t initiated his big move with clutch birdies on the 32nd and 33rd holes of the day, to go from 4-down to within striking distance. And he first began to wrestle momentum
away from Harvey with two earlier birdies that were the result of desperation. He nearly drove the shortened, par-4 26th hole, and then found the green on the par-5 29th hole green in two, and 2-putted.
“I chose small targets, I made committed golf swings and I made I played cautiously aggressive,” Hagestad said. “Being 4-down with five holes to play is not where you really want to be. I just wanted to be in a position where if I hit a good shot, I had to force him to hit a better one.”
At age 38, fatigue may have been a factor in Harvey’s late fade, and the 25-year-old Hagestad certainly had a jump in his step down the stretch.
“It’s one thing to completely give it away, and it’s another to get beat like that,” Harvey said. “(Hagestad) just made some incredible birdies coming in. Nothing I can do about it.”
Left for dead when he dropped 5-down early in the afternoon round, Hagestad exhibited all kinds of internal fortitude as he roared back with a series of clutch putts
that netted six birdies in an astounding 11-hole finishing stretch for the ages. Not bad for a guy that had to survive an eight-man playoff at a U.S. Mid-Am qualifier just to earn a spot into the 264-player field.
Looking to become just the sixth multiple winner of the U.S. Mid-Am, Harvey dominated the morning session on the North Course, and opened a 4-up lead through 17 holes. Hagestad trimmed it to 3-up with a birdie at the 18th, but dropped two of the first three holes in the afternoon on the Old Course to go 5-down.
As the Mid-Am champion, Hagestad earns his way into the 2017 Masters. And both finalists are now exempt into the 2017 U.S. Amateur at Riviera Country Club, in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
“I was lucky enough to play it my senior year (at USC),” Hagestad said of Augusta National.
“It’s such a special place, I can’t even think about it right now. I am over the moon and so overwhelmed with every emotion you can imagine.”