Merry goes out on top at home golf course
Recent NMSU grad wins NM-WT Am by nine strokes
As for playing in his final Sun Country Amateur Golf Association event, you could say Isaac Merry went out on top. It’s also safe to say, he had the home-course advantage.
Merry, who graduated from New Mexico State University last month, won the New Mexico-West Texas Amateur Championship on Sunday by nine strokes at Red Hawk Golf Club, a course with which with he’s quite familiar.
“Being from here and Red Hawk being my course obviously gave me a huge advantage,” said Merry, via telephone, who shot 72-67-68 for 9-under par 207 on the 7,250yard layout in Las Cruces. “I’m just comfortable out here. It’s a very demanding golf course. Being able to be comfortable really gave me the opportunity to score well. It was fun to go out and execute under tournament conditions. The changes are there even though you are familiar with the course, so it was nice.”
Merry is planning to turn pro later this summer and is eyeing the New Mexico Open, Sept. 11-13 at Sandia Golf Club, as his first pro event.
By winning the New Mexico-West Texas Am he automatically qualified for the Pacific Coast Amateur at the Olympic Club in San Francisco
July 24-27.
Merry, who was the Aggies’ No. 1 golfer this past season, said he will play in the U.S. Amateur qualifier at UNM Championship Golf Club July 9-10.
The U.S. Amateur is at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Aug. 13-19. Merry would like that to be his final amateur event.
Merry also went out on a high note at NMSU. He said he struggled in the fall after dealing with swing changes last summer. But his game took off this past spring. He posted seven top-20 finishes and came away with second place at the Western Athletic Conference Championship. The Oñate High alumnus carried a scoring average that hovered around 72.5.
He entered Sunday’s final round with a five-shot lead after carding a 5-under 67, which tied the tournament low, on Saturday.
Greg Yellin of El Paso finished second at 71-73-72—216. Sean Carlon, of Albuquerque and a UNM alum, was tied for third at 1-over 217 (74-72-71).
Merry’s name will be added to the trophy alongside past winners like Tommy Armour III, Bart Bryant, Rich Beem and D.J. Brigman.
“I have always wanted to win this,” Merry said. “It’s the best event that the section puts on. I finished third a few years back at Isleta. That was the closest I got to it. It was nice to finally be able to win.”