From Upstate NY to Erin Hills, Wis.
Matt Campbell, who’s father lives in CP, qualifies for Open
It’s U.S. Open week. While the big names will grab the headlines — Dustin Johnson’s defense; Sergio Garcia going for his second straight major; Steve Stricker trying to win his first major in his native state; Phil Mickelson’s decision to go to his daughter’s high school graduation; the first U.S. Open in Wisconsin on an unknown track; Fox back with the broadcast — I will spend every minute I can tracking Matt Campbell.
Who’s he? Matt is why it’s known as the “Open.” He’s why it’s open. Campbell, 28, from Rome, N.Y., entered qualifying for the first time this year. He won a four-man, four-hole playoff at Shaker Ridge CC on May 17 and then, on June 5, after 36-holes, he won a two-man, two-hole playoff for the fifth and final spot from the 80-player Sectional field.
That got him into the 156-man field at Erin Hills. Campbell’s father moved to Clifton Park two years ago for a job with O’Brien & Gere Engineering. He is trying to cut a business trip in Shanghai short to make it in time to Erin Hills in time to see his son on Father’s Day weekend.
“I can’t put it into words,” Campbell, a 2007 Rome Free Academy graduate, told me when we talked the day after he made a six-foot par putt on the second playoff hole at Canoe Brook in N.J. to qualify. “I’m just so happy. I have so many friends that are coming out to watch too, that are flying up. My buddies and roommate from Florida are flying up; my best friends from up here; my mom; my dad’s going to try and cut his trip over in China short to see me; my uncle’s flying out; my aunt. I can’t wait to get out there and just enjoy every minute of it.”
Due to both his game and physique, Campbell’s been called “Little Berliner,” a reference to area standout Scott Berliner, the six-time Northeastern New York PGA Player of the Year: “But it looks like he might have lost a
little bit of weight so I might be a little bigger than him now,” Campbell joked.
At Shaker, Berliner was eliminated first. Later, Campbell made a 30-foot birdie putt to advance, eliminating Jim Gifford of Mohawk Golf Club. (Side note: Gifford, as first alternate, got into a Sectional field in Memphis but finished 20 strokes behind the medalist, whom he had a beer with after the round: Steve Stricker.)
“I kind of enjoy playoffs, honestly,” Campbell said. “I’ve always enjoyed them growing up, I’m comfortable with them.”
Well, the ultimate playoff is this week, the U.S. Open. He’s never even been in a Web.com Tour event and now he’s in the toughest test. A long way from when he first picked up a club at age four.
“I used to play with plastic clubs and sticks up where I used to live and there was this little hole in a tree,” he told me. “I just remember pretending that was my cup and trying to hit the little ball through the hole at the bottom of the tree.”
Campbell is a member of Teugega Country Club and has attorney Lou Viviani on the bag.
“Louie’s ... been a great, great guy to me,” he said, adding, “He’s played with me through the last five or six years, we’ve gotten to be really close. He’s just a positive guy, he’s got that positive energy.”
THIS WEEK
Once known as the Edison Invitational, a top-notch tournament for local amateurs, the inaugural Edison Open is set for this Saturday, June 17. It is a bestball format with scratch, men’s, women’s and senior divisions. Entry: $120/tandem. All divisions, except the scratch division, offer net prizes. Call 399-2992 for more information. It may be a nice warm-up to next week’s CC of Troy Invitational (June 23-25). Also this weekend, June 16-18, it’s the annual Schenectady Classic at Schenectady Municipal Golf Course. This year, for the first time, there will be a women’s division (tworounds).
And this Friday, the New York State Open local qualifier is Friday, June 16, at Normanside Country Club.
CORRECTION
Wrong last week, the Saratoga County Amateur is actually June 23 with the full field at Van Patten and June 24 at The Edison Club for low-12 and ties in each division. It’s open to all Saratoga County residents with a new, lower entry fee of $60. The entry deadline is Saturday, June 17. Contact Adam Catanzarite (VPGC) 877-4500 or Brad Gardner (Edison Club) 399-2992.
BIG ACE
Congratulations to Doug Evans, the Northeastern New York PGA tournament director. Playing in his first round of the season at Berkshire Hills CC, he tallied his first career hole-in-one on No. 3 using a wedge from 122-yards.
THANKS
Eight years (nearly to the day) I was trusted with your golf news, succeeding Mike Dyer, I offer my thanks to those who let me to tell their story and have supported this column. It was a pleasure.
If you want further golf content, you can find it at Capitalareagolf.com. Hit ‘em straight.