Champ claims Trans-Miss at Prairie Dunes, four Oklahomans in top 15
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The way Cameron Champ was playing, the only thing that could stop him was a thunderstorm.
That’s what happened Thursday on the final day of the 114th Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship. Severe weather with lightning and thunderstorms washed out the final round. Champ, a 22-year-old Texas A&M senior, won the championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club with a 54-hole score of 9-under-par 201. The Sacramento, Calif., native won by four shots over Stoney Crouch from Mount Juliet, Tenn., and Collin Morikawa from La Cañada Flintridge, Calif.
After completion of the third round Thursday morning, play during the final round was suspended at 3:56 p.m. for a dangerous situation. Lightning and thunderstorms were barreling down on Prairie Dunes. Champ, who led the prestigious championship by one shot after 36 holes, stretched his lead to four on Thursday with five birdies and an eagle on his way to a 4-under 66 in the third round. Before play was suspended, his game was on cruise control. He had birdied four of his first six holes in the now-negated fourth round.
And now he’s a Trans-Miss Amateur champion, joining the likes of Jack Nicklaus (1958, ’59), Ben Crenshaw (1972), Deane Beaman (1960), Bryson DeChambeau (2013) and Charlie Coe (1947, ’49, ’52, ’56)
Hayden Wood of Edmond finished tied for 10th after a round of 71 Thursday morning. Austin Eckroat of Edmond closed with a 69 and was tied for 14th, along with Cody Burrows of Chickasha and Draegen Majors of Tulsa. Majors closed with a 65.
NOTES
LOW MID-AM: Stewart Hagestad from Newport Beach, Calif., was the championship’s Low Mid-Amateur. With rounds of 74-70-67, he finished at 1-over 211 and tied for 10th place overall.
Playing in his first Trans-Miss Amateur, Hagestad is the reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champ. He also finished as the Low Amateur at the 2017 Masters. Out of a total of 15 mid-amateurs in the starting field, Majors was only other mid-am to survive the 36-hole. Majors finished tied for 14th place with rounds of 76-71-65.
FINAL PD NUMBERS: When all was said and done, the par-70 Prairie Dunes played to a stroke average of 73.94. The 477-yard, par-4 fifth hole was the most difficult hole all week. It played more than a half-stroke over par at 4.62. Eighteen of the week’s 20 total eagles came on the 512-yard, par-5 seventh hole, which plays downwind.
STAYING POWER: There have only been three head professionals in Prairie Dune’s illustrious 81-year history. They are:
- Russ Wilson, 1936-1971
- Charles Craig, 1971-2002
- John Lanham, 2002-present
NICKLAUS-PALMER CHALLENGE: In the summer of 1962, Prairie Dunes invited Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer to play an exhibition match in front of the membership. As the story goes, the members passed the hat and pooled $10,000 to offer as a challenge to them.
All they had to do was shoot even-par for 18 holes. Easy enough for the two greatest golfers of that era, right?
Not so fast.
Nicklaus was 1-under through eight holes with the par-4 ninth jumped up and bit him. He pulled his drive into the left heather grass and needed several swipes to recover. He took a quadruple-bogey 8 and finished a 77.
Palmer, meanwhile, stood on the 18th tee at even-par. A birdie on the closing hole meant he’d take home the money. With the wind at his back and in quintessential Palmer style, he tried to drive the green. His ball ended up tangled in tall grass right of the fairway. He took four shots from there reach the green and one-putted for his 6.
As the scorecard of the match in the Prairie Dunes clubhouse’s Grille Room shows, the golf course won again.
| 114th Trans-Miss Amateur Championship Prairie Dunes Country Club Hutchinson, Kan. |
| July 13, 2017 FINAL RESULTS Cameron Champ, Sacramento, Calif. – 70-65-66–201 Stoney Crouch, Mt. Juliet , Tenn. – 67-69-69–205 Collin Morikawa, La Canada, CA – 70-68-67–205 Chandler Phillips, Huntsville, Texas – 69-73-64–206 Tyler Strafaci, Davie, Fla. – 72-70-66–208 Franklin Huang, Poway, Calif. – 71-65-72–208 Spencer Soosman, Westlake Village, CA – 70-71-69–210 Matthew Perrine, Austin, Texas – 72-72-66–210 Isaiah Salinda, S. San Francisco, CA – 72-71-67–210 Hayden Wood, Edmond, Okla. – 70-70-71–211 Will Zalatoris, Plano, Texas – 73-70-68–211 Stewart Hagestad, Newport Beach, CA – 74-70-67–211 Wes Artac, Kingwood, Texas – 74-71-66–211 Austin Eckroat, Edmond, Okla. – 75-68-69–212 Douglas Ghim, Arlington Heights, Ill. – 77-66-69–212 Benjamin Shipp, Duluth, Ga. – 75-70-67–212 Garrick Higgo, Stellenbosch, WC – 75-69-68–212 Draegen Majors, Tulsa, Okla. – 76-71-65–212 Cody Burrows, Chickasha, Okla. – 74-68-70–212 Ruben Sondjaja, Ames, Iowa – 72-69-71–212 Jeff Swegle, West Des Moines, Iowa – 70-72-71–213 Matt Hutchins, Naples, Fla. – 76-66-71–213 Brandon Wu, Scarsdale, N.Y. – 73-70-71–214 Brandon Bauman, Las Vegas, Nev. – 73-70-71–214 Scottie Scheffler, Dallas, Texas – 73-70-71–214 Cameron Young, Scarborough, N.Y. – 72-73-69–214 Jamie Cheatham, Rancho Santa Fe, CA – 70-71-73–214 Daniel Sutton, Sutton Coldfield, WMD – 69-73-73–215 Hunter Richardson, Clarksville, Tenn. – 67-75-73–215 Austin Squires, Union, Ky. – 75-72-68–215 Yechun (Carl) Yuan, Lake Mary, Fla. – 75-70-70–215 Matthew Walker, Ottumwa, Iowa – 68-74-73–215 Stratton Nolen, Austin, Texas – 75-70-70–215 Daniel Wetterich, Cincinnati, Ohio – 77-69-70–216 Luis Gagne, Orlando, Fla. – 75-69-72–216 Jake Fendt, Suwanee, Ga. – 74-70-72–216 Sulman Raza, Eugene, Ore. – 70-75-71–216 Sean Carlon, Albuquerque, N.M. – 74-71-71–216 Kyle Michel, Kialla, VIC – 75-72-69–216 Gray Townsend, Winston Salem, N.C. – 73-71-72–216 Kaiwen Liu, San Diego, Calif. – 74-71-72–217 Reese Ramsey, Austin, Texas – 71-75-71–217 Eric Ansett, Spokane, Wash. – 73-74-71–218 Lawren Rowe, Victoria, BC – 74-74-70–218 Daniel Gale, Castle Hill, NSW – 71-77-70–218 Daniel Connolly, San Francisco, Calif. – 77-71-70–218 Peter Kuest Jr, Fresno, Calif. – 73-74-71–218 Parker Coody, Plano, Texas – 73-75-70–218 Andrew Alligood, Saint Johns, Fla. – 75-73-71–219 Kiran Day, Perth, WAU – 72-72-75–219 Rylee Reinertson, Gibbon, Neb. – 73-74-72–219 Jake Staiano, Cherry Hills Village, CO – 75-73-71–219 Chris Nido, Miami, Fla. – 74-70-75–219 Alex Springer, Olathe, Kan. – 72-76-71–219 Tanner Hughes, Livermore, Calif. – 71-77-71–219 Trevor Brown, Austin, Texas – 69-74-76–219 Blaine Hale, Dallas, Texas – 72-72-76–220 Denzel Ieremia, Ames, Iowa – 76-68-76–220 Wells Padgett, Wichita, Kan. – 75-73-73–221 Andy Spencer, Prairie Village, Kan. – 70-78-74–222 James Anstiss, Hammond, La. – 73-75-75–223 Dylan Perry, Aberdeen, NSW – 74-74-75–223 Ben Albin, Santa Fe, N.M. – 75-71-78–224 Garrett May, Hope, Ark. – 72-75-80–227 Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La. – 74-74-WD
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