Playoff pals
Ott outlasts new friend on 2nd extra hole
AJ Ott and Noah Woolsey got to know each other quite well off the course this week at the Southern Amateur Championship, dining each night with their host families.
On the course, Ott of Fort Collins, Colo., and Woolsey of Pleasanton, Calif. — who were playing in Arkansas for the first time for the Southern Amateur — played two holes together at Chenal Country Club’s Founders Course in Little Rock, and those came in a playoff to determine the prestigious tournament’s 113th championship.
Ott secured bragging rights on the second extra hole.
After finishing regulation tied at 10 under, the pair made par on the first playoff hole, the 18th, then hit nearly identical tee shots and second shots into the 18th green on the final playoff hole. Ott’s 10-footer fell in for birdie, while Woolsey pulled his 9-foot birdie attempt slightly to the left, securing Ott’s victory.
With the championship, the Colorado State senior won the first-place medal, engraved Calamity Jane putter and a five-year exemption into future Southern Amateurs.
“One of the advantages playing in a match-play situation like that is going first,” Ott said. “Making my putt put a little pressure on him, and I was lucky he missed. Noah’s a good guy. We really got to know each other this week.”
Ott was 1 over after two rounds, making the cut by two strokes. He got into contention Friday with a 7-under 64 to pull within three shots of the lead. His front-nine 32 Saturday left him at 9 under, where he stayed until making
back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th. His second shot on the par-4 18th found the sand trap left of the hole. His blast ran by the cup, leading to a two-putt bogey to leave him at 10 under.
Woolsey was one shot out of the lead going into the final round but seized the lead with birdies on the first two holes. While Ott was making his run on the front side, Woolsey cooled off to make the turn at 9 under after a bogey at the 8th. A birdie at the par-4 13th got him to 10 under, but a wayward tee shot on the par-4 14th led to bogey before a birdie at the par-4 16th left him 10 under.
“I was very fortunate to just come out of 14 with just a bogey,” said Woolsey, a junior at the University of Washington. “I was pleased how I played overall. Just one bad putt I pulled there on the second playoff hole.”
Walker Lee, Wilson Furr and Philip Barbaree nearly made it a five-man playoff, finishing one stroke behind at 9 under. Lee, tied for the lead with John Keefer coming into the final round, left his birdie attempt on the 18th inches short to leave him 9 under. Minutes earlier, Furr — who made a charge on the back nine with a 4-under 32 — left his birdie putt from the collar on the back of the 18th green one revolution short of falling, which would have put him at 10 under.
“If it goes by, it runs downhill,” said Furr, a junior at Alabama from Jackson, Miss. “The last thing you want to do is leave it short in the heart of the hole. Didn’t help things getting off to a bad start, then trying to turn the tide at the end.”
Barbaree started the day at 7 under and got it to 9 under with birdies on Nos. 4, 5 and 7 after a bogey at No. 3. A birdie on the 12th offset a bogey at the 10th, but the LSU standout could only manage pars the rest of the way.
William Buhl (Arkansas Razorbacks) also got to 9 under after four birdies in five holes on the back nine, but a triple bogey at the par3 17th ruined his chances. He finished in a five-way tie for seventh place at 7-under 277.
Ott said he was fortunate to win the championship in this week’s heat, especially during the final round with temperatures in the mid-90s, a heat-index rating of over 100 and very little breeze.
“Yeah, being the first time in Arkansas, it was rough out there,” said Ott, who won the Colorado state match-play championship last month. “The heat did take a toll on me.”
Woolsey said he’s glad to be finished with his first trip to Arkansas.
“This heat, I’m glad I’m done with it,” he said. “It was a fun week. Just glad to be done with the heat.”