CHASKA, MINN.—Twenty minutes. That’s how long it took from when John Kelly closed out his quarterfinal match Friday afternoon against Trip Kuehne to when his Missouri teammates Bud Reynolds, Ryne Fisher, Michael Unger and Trent Twaddle hopped into a Toyota Forerunner and were on their way from campus in Columbia, Mo., to Hazeltine National GC. After all, their buddy was trying to make some history at the 106th U.S. Amateur Championship and damned if they weren't going to be there to catch a glimpse.

“We just threw some stuff in a bag and hit the road,” Reynolds said. “Trent’s dad [Bruce] came too, so we had three deep in the back. How could we miss this?”

The golfers reached their destination at 2:30 a.m.—almost nine hours after they left—caught a little sleep and were out in force Saturday morning to cheer on Kelly in his semifinal match with Ryan Yip. Interestingly, while the 21-year-old Tiger senior looked quite poised en route to a 2-and-1 victory, the same couldn’t be said for his fan club.

“It was pretty tense out there,” said Reynolds, like his friends clad in Missouri black and gold. “I mean, you know what he was playing for.”

Just in case you don’t, by virtue of getting to the 36-hole final, Kelly earned an invitation to the U.S. Open and a likely one to the Masters (Augusta National traditionally invites Amateur finalists to the tournament).

Come Sunday, Kelly will face Scotsman Richie Ramsay for the Havemeyer Trophy and a spot in the British Open. If Kelly were to win, he’d also almost certainly secure a spot on the three-man U.S. squad that will compete in October’s World Amateur Team Championship in South Africa.

“It was great to see these guys,” Kelly said after the round of his road-tripping teammates. “It’s nice they would come all this way to provide this kind of support. It means a lot.”

What the Mizzou golfers did, though, was really just be good teammates. And isn’t this what college is all about anyway? Hanging with your friends, driving at all hours of night, making memories while laughing about the silliest, stupidest things.

“We watched the worst movie in the world,” said Peter Malnati, another Tiger who had been staying with Kelly all week (even though school started the previous Monday) after failing himself to advance to match play. “But the last thing I wanted him to think about was golf.”

So rather than bring up the possible appearances in the Masters or U.S. Open, Malnati swung the conversation with Kelly on Friday night to something else near and dear to college guys. “I just tried to tell him it’s got nothing to do [with the golf]. Think of all the girls you’re going to be able to get [being on TV].”

The Missouri guys were about ready to jump out of their shoes on the 16th hole, when Kelly had a five-foot par putt to close out the match. The ball lipped out of the hole, and no group of spectators looked more disgusted. Their anguish was replaced with ecstasy, however, on the 17th, when Kelly closed out the match with a par. The road trip would have been worth it even if Kelly hadn’t won, but it made things a whole lot more enjoyable.

“It’s remarkable,” said Missouri coach Mark Leroux, who flew in for the match but because of delays didn’t arrive at Hazeltine until just as the match concluded. “And unexpected. He’s not among the top ranked players out there. But he’s steadily progressed through out his career and this is another step.”

A big one at that.

CHASKA, MINN.—The golf gods looked kindly on Richie Ramsay Friday at Hazeltine National GC, perhaps because the 23-year-old Scotsman looking kindly on an unintentional blunderer who nearly got him knocked out of the 106th U.S. Amateur Championship.

Ramsay’s caddie, Thomas Buller, didn’t mean to cost his player the 17th hole in his quarterfinal match with Rickie Fowler. Yet when the high schooler touched the green on the 182-yard par 3 before Ramsay, 1 up in the match at the time, made his birdie try from 20 feet, the damage had been done. When rules official Dick Rundle talked to Buller and confirmed he had made the infraction, it was a loss of hole penalty for Ramsay, bringing the match to all square.

Buller, son of the host family that’s housing Ramsay this week was obviously shaken. So too was Ramsay. However, he didn’t let his emotions get the best of him.

“I just said to him, ‘Don't worry about it, it’s all right.’ I mean, he's touched the line. He's made a mistake. I've made mistakes. You've just got to think he's going to learn from it.

“It's tough, but I know he's feeling bad,” Ramsay continued. “If I turn around and say something to him, he's going to feel even worse.”

Credit Ramsay for such level-headed thinking. It also probably allowed him to hang in the match, as he rolled in a 12-foot par putt on the 18th to extend Fowler to extra holes before making a 15-foot birdie putt on the 21st hole to advance to the Saturday’s semifinal, where he’ll face Webb Simpson. The winner of that match will lock up invitations to the Masters and the U.S. Open.

Suffice it to say, Ramsay got his good break on the 19th hole, when he lipped out a 10-foot birdie putt, only to watch Fowler pull a five-foot birdie try that would have ended the match.

An Aberdeen, Scotland native who is finishing up his studies at the University of Sterling after playing on the GB&I Walker Cup team in 2005, Ramsay admitted he might not have handled the situation as well had it happened a year earlier. In 2006, he began working with a sports psychologist, Richard Cox, who help him maintain focus on the golf course.

“Some people, when I hit a bad shot I kind of talk to myself and some people quite rightly think that I'm nuts,” recalled Ramsay. “That's fair enough.”

When the incident occurred on 17, all I could think of was Ian Woosman and his tirade with his caddie at the 2001 British Open when a 15th club was discovered in his bag at the start of the final round. Without any hesitation in his voice, though, Ramsay said that Buller will be back on the bag versus Simpson and again Sunday if he were to advance to the 36-hole final. (The winner of the Ramsay-Simpson match plays the winner of the Ryan Yip-John Kelly semifinal.)

I wish I could say all the competitors here this week outside the Twin Cities would have reacted as gentile as Ramsay. Had he lost to Fowler, he would have accepted what happened and moved on. There is some justice, however, in the fact that Ramsay is the one who’ll tee it up again.

CHASKA, MINN.—I’m still trying to figure out what’s easier to digest … a player shooting 60 in the stroke-play portion of the 106th U.S. Amateur Championship or the same kid saying he’s not hitting his driver all that well?

Twelve months ago, Billy Horschel was hardly on anybody’s radar, a incoming freshman at the University of Florida who had been told by one coach he’d be better off to go to junior college and maybe they’d sign him in a couple years. Since then the 19-year-old from Grant, Fla., only posted one win and nine top-10 finishes in 12 starts as a Gator, earned first-team All-American honors and qualified for the U.S. Open.

Oh and now he can add U.S. Amateur medalist to his resume after shooting a five-under 138 total in stroke play that included the aforementioned 11-under 60 at Chaska Town Course (for a detailed look at the Monday round, click here).

The good news for anyone who might worry that shooting a 60 in a USGA event—two strokes lower than the previous record held by Cristina Kim (2001 U.S. Girls’ Junior) and Loren Roberts (2006 U.S. Senior Open)—is the latest sign of the end of the universe? The feat didn’t come at Hazeltine National GC, where the match-play portion of the oldest tournament in the U.S. will play out the rest of this week. On the contrary, the Brawny H has held up quite well against the top amateurs in the world thus far, with the scoring average for the 312 rounds play there in stroke play being a tidy 78.481. (Horschel could do no better than a 78 at Hazeltine day after his record round.)

In Chaska Town Course’s defense, the scoring average there was 73.741 for two days, hardly suggesting it was a pitch-and-putt.

Horschel, meanwhile, avoided the U.S. Amateur medalist curse with a 3-and-2 victory over Ray Sheedy during Wednesday’s first round. “The driver has been a little shaky,” Horschel said afterward. “It's been shaky for the last couple of days. I've been trying to work on it.”

Hate to see what he might shoot when he gets that thing fixed?

No doubt you’ve got to consider Horschel among the favorites to continue on here outside Minneapolis, although predicting the outcome of a match-play tournament is about as easy as watching soup with a fork. Others to keep an eye on (but don't hold me to it):

• Jonathan Moore—The NCAA champion who is arguably having the best summer of any amateur in the country (win at the Players Amateur, advancing to match play at the Western Amateur, qualifying for the U.S. Open) admits to struggling with match play in the past but made four birdies while dispensing with his first-round opponent Skip Berkmeyer.

• Bronson La’Cassie—An Australian who is a senior-to-be at nearby Minnesota and has as close to a home-course advantage as anyone in the field having played Hazeltine a half dozen times prior to this week. He’s brimming with confidence after winning the Western Amateur earlier this month

• Trip Kuehne—The most famous career amateur around is 12 years removed from his loss to Tiger Woods at the 1994 U.S. Amateur but has more experience in the tournament than any other remaining player, having played in the event 11 times. After defeating his first-round opponent, Chris Rogers, 5 and 3, Kuehne told Minneapolis Star-Tribune “Today’s the best I’ve hit the ball in 10 years. Maybe better than I ever have in my life.”

• Webb Simpson—The Wake Forest junior-to-be has had a standout summer, winning the Sunnehanna Amateur, finished second at the Northeast Amateur and at the Dogwood Amateur.

• Kevin Tway/Jon McLean —Famous offspring who are making names for themselves. Tway's father, 1986 PGA champion Bob Tway, watched from outside the ropes when Kevin won the U.S. Junior title in 2005 but is on the bag this week at a course where he finished T-26 in the 1991 U.S. Open and missed the cut at the 2002 PGA. McLean, son of noted instructor Jim McLean, is coming off a solid first year at TCU (two top-10s) and this summer lost in a playoff at the Sahalee Players Amateur and posted a top-10 at the Porter Cup.

• Pablo Martin—The Spaniard who won the 2006 NCAA player of the year was my pick to win it all here entering yesterday’s first round, and was even making me look pretty smart when he was 3 up on Tyrone Mordt with four holes left. It wasn’t until the 21st hole, though, that the 20-year-old junior-to-be at Oklahoma State finally ended the match. Maybe this is his “close call” en route to raising the Havemeyer Trophy come Sunday.

NORTH PLAINS, ORE.—Take a moment to click on this link, which gives thumbnail sketches of the eight players competing in this afternoon’s quarterfinals at the 106th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Notice anything interesting? Anything unusual? Anything scary?

How about the fact that three of the eight were BORN IN THE 1990s!

With 14-year-old Kimberly Kim, 15-year-old Lindy Duncan (pictured; photo courtesy of USGA) and 16-year-old Ayaka Kaneko still in the tournament, there is the potential that by day’s end three-quarters of field remaining at Pumpkin Ridge GC will have yet to attend a high school prom.

The past few days Carol Semple Thompson has been walking the Witch Hollow course watching various matches, including following the six players she captained two weeks ago on the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup team that made it her to match play. After seeing all but one of them—19-year-old Jennie Lee—be bounced out by the second round, Thompson was asked about what happened.

“There’s a lot of talent out there,” said the Grande Dame of women’s amateur golf, who missed match play herself earlier in the week. “A lot of young talent.”

Indeed, to get to the quarterfinals, 21-year-old Eileen Vargas, an almost ancient senior-to-be at Pepperdine, defeated 18-year-old Melissa Reid in the first round, 18-year-old In-Kyung Kim in the second round, 16-year-old Mina Harigae in the third round. To get to the tomorrow’s semifinals, she’ll have to knock off Kimberly Kim, the runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links earlier this summer.

Of course this is a trend well in the making. Last year at Ansley GC’s Settindown Creek course, the average age of the quarterfinalists was 17.6. The number is skewed to 18.75 this year, but only because 26-year-old Katharina Schallenberg of Germany forgot to read the memo that said no one who ever actually has sent a letter through the regular mail to a friend rather than text message him or her was allowed past the first round.

“I just wanted to make match play so I would be exempt for the Girls’ Junior [next year],” said Duncan about whether she expected to get this far in the tournament. “Those qualifiers are really tough.” The innocence in her voice when describing this plight was both refreshing and startling at the same time.

Meanwhile, all Kimberly Kim could do after her third-round victory Thursday was giggle while reciting lines from the new Will Farrell movie “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”

“My dad took me to see it, to try to get me to relax.”

Oh, these young players are relaxed alright.

And they're pretty darn good too.

NORTH PLAINS, ORE.—Being medalist after 36 holes of stroke play in any USGA amateur event is supposed to be a good thing, a cherished accomplishment. For your efforts, you receive a silver medal (as the label implies) and your name goes down in the USGA record books. You also get the honor of being the No. 1-seed entering match play, giving you the “easiest” path to the ultimate title.

Try telling all that, however, to Paige Mackenzie. The recent University of Washington graduate and member of the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup team shot a three-under 139 at Pumpkin Ridge’s Witch Hollow, one of just three players to break par at the 106th U.S. Women’s Amateur. With that, she got the “benefit” of facing the 64th seed in the first round of match play, a player who had to survive a seven-person playoff just to get the last of five spots available.

Mackenzie’s opening-round patsy? Collegiate All-American Leah Wigger of Virginia.

“I was like ‘Are you kidding me?’” said Mackenzie (photo right courtesy of the USGA). “ ‘What kind of a draw is that?’”

Indeed, so much for an actual reward for all the hard work.

But that’s just it. The way the brackets fall at USGA events is much different than in the NCAA basketball tournament. The possibility of a No. 1 seed facing a equally talented opponent in hoops is about as likely as Maurice Clarett being invited to speak to a church youth group. It's a clear cut advantage to being a lower seed during March madness.

At the Women’s Amateur, though, the No. 1 seed sometimes has to face a player who has won the Eastern Amateur and Arizona Silver Belle and finished runner-up at the 2005 NCAA Championship, whose 73.26 stroke average last year put her 12th in the Golfstat collegiate rankings.

Congratulations Ms. Mackenzie! Here's your "sacrificial lamb."

Observers of the game chalk it up to the vagaries of match play, the most useful cliché in amateur golf. There is no phrase more all encompassing when describing the strange circumstances that can occur at these events. “You’re going to draw tough players no matter what your seed,” Mackenzie noted. “Although this could have been the toughest 64th seed ever.”

Suffice it to say, the 23-year-old from Yakima, Wash., handled the situation well Wednesday. She won the sixth and 10th holes with pars to take a 2-up lead. She lost the 13th with some poor play around the green—her only real hiccup all day—but won the par-3 15th with birdie and the par-4 16th with a par to take the match, 3 and 2. (For full results, click here.)

“I feel good about the way I’m playing,” Mackenzie said after her round. “I’m happy with my game.”

And with that, Mackenzie went over to the scoring board to the left of the 18th green to find out who her opponent would be Thursday morning, prehaps the "breather" she might have figured would have come her way initially. 

So who will Mackenzie face in Round 2?

U.S. Curtis Cup teammate and NCAA runner-up Jennie Lee, of Duke.

Congratulations, again, Ms. Mackenzie!

School might be out for summer, but that doesn’t mean college golf teams are on vacation. On the contrary, coaches hit the recruiting trails in 2½-month window between the NCAA Championship and the start of the fall season, looking to influence the long-term health of their programs. Moreover, collegiate players (and recent high school graduates) are traveling the amateur circuits, in many cases building expectations for the coming year on some campuses—and in some instances leaving doubts about what to expect come September.

Here's a quick look at some teams on the rise and some that have their collective fingers crossed as the 2006-07 season approaches.

STOCK UP
CLEMSON men
You don’t have to ask Larry Penley how he feels about the upcoming season; the grin on his face speaks for itself. Then again, you too would be smiling if no fewer than four players on your 2006-07 roster have won significant amateur events in the last 10 weeks. It began with rising sophomore Phillip Mollica taking the Monroe Invitational title. Then sophomore Ben Martin won the Palmetto Amateur and junior Tanner Ervin claimed the Rice Planters.
    Most impressive, perhaps, has been the performance of incoming freshman Kyle Stanley. The 18-year-old from Gig Harbor, Wash., won June’s Sahalee Players Championship by eagling the 18th hole twice in a playoff and followed it up with a one-shot victory at the Southern Amateur last month.
    Meanwhile, sophomore David May finished fourth at the rain-shortened Northeast Amateur and promising sophomore Vince Hatfield is back with the Tigers in the fall. Toss in the fact that you’ve also got Sam Saunders joining the team as a freshman, and it’s not hard to see why Clemson looks to be in good position for the new year.

OKLAHOMA STATE men
As if to prove his late season heroics were no fluke, NCAA medalist Jonathan Moore has continued his torrid play with an appearance at the U.S. Open and a victory at the Players Amateur, where he shot a 22-under 262. Meanwhile, junior Pablo Martin, last year’s NCAA player of the year, just qualified for the U.S. Amateur and looks to be on form. Heck even assistant coach Alan Bratton is playing well, having qualified for the U.S. Amateur himself later this month after claiming the Oklahoma State amateur title. Suffice it to say, the Cowboys look like they’ll be in the hunt to defend their NCAA team title.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA women
The loss of graduating senior Irene Cho will be hard to overcome but incoming freshman Belen Mozo looks like she’s going to make things easier after winning the Ladies British Open Amateur. USC is no stranger to international standouts (see current NCAA champion Dewi-Claire Schreefel, back for her junior year), but the 17-year-old Spaniard looks like she might be particularly special. Meanwhile, Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup team member Melissa Reid could become a mid-season addition to the USC line-up, pending results from taking the SATs.

STOCK DOWN
UCLA women
There was talk at the NCAA Championship last May that junior-to-be Amie Cochran might not be long for the program, interest in pursuing a professional career acted on when she turned pro at the U.S. Women's Open. But with sophomore-to-be Jane Park set to do the same after next week's U.S. Women's Amateur, the Bruins once vaunted line-up has become suddenly thin, even with the addition of Sydnee Michaels in September.
    Making matters worse for coach Carrie Forsyth is the timing of the two announcements, which keep her from being able to add two more players with the scholarships of Cochran/Park. Essentially, UCLA will be using only four scholarship, unless the money is given to current walk-ons. It’s one of the perils of coaching that I wrote about last September, and it’s only going to continue being an issue as more young players having wandering eyes looking at pro golf.

GEORGIA men
It’s not that the Bulldogs have moved backward so much as you just haven’t heard much from All-Americans Chris Kirk, Brendon Todd and Brian Harman this summer. Among the few making headlines out of Athens is incoming freshman Hudson Swafford’s victory at the Dogwood Invitational. Hard to think the Georgia golfers won’t answer the bell come the fall, but they’ve just been conspicuous by their absence.

AUGUSTA STATE women/UC IRVINE women
Forget what the players on the Jaguars’ and Anteaters’ squads have done, it’s the loss of their inspirational coaches that will hurt these up-and-coming programs. Trelle McCombs goes from Augusta State to Tulsa after leading the Jaguars to their first ever NCAA regional appearance. Kelly Crawford literally built the UC Irvine program from scratch but after five years is off to Iowa this fall. Suffice it to say, the schools they leave behind will have a tough time resuming their roles as small schools with big hopes now that their respective coaches have moved on to other schools.