July 2008: Campus Insider: Golf Digest

Results for July 2008 Back to Campus Insider Index

Georgia's Harman on the DL

Thursday, July 24, 2008

An injured wrist that required surgery last week to remove a cyst has Georgia senior-to-be Brian Harman looking at a six-to-eight week recovery period, making play at next month's U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst (N.C.) No. 2 seem doubtful.

Harman withdrew prior to playing at the Players Amateur earlier this month in South Carolina, hoping that rest would help the wrist heal. However, the pain lingered, and Harman phoned the folks at the Porter Cup last week to let them know he would not be able to defend his title this week at Niagara Falls CC as the tournament celebrates its 50th anniversary.

A source said that the decision to have the surgery at this time was in hope that Harman, fully exempt for the U.S. Amateur thanks to playing for the 2005 U.S. Walker Cup team, would have recovered early enough so as not miss any action when he returns to college play this fall.

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Niagara Falls CC

Repeating Summerhays success in Columbus?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

When the Nationwide Tour announced in 2007 it would give exemptions into the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational, played at Ohio State's Scarlet Course, to all those named GCAA/Ping Division I first-team All-Americans, it quickly became one of the best perks for winning the honor. The college students could accept the exemptions even if they had turned pro, although with a year left in school at the time, BYU's Daniel Summerhays played in the tournament for pride, not pay. Four magical days later, he had become the first amateur ever to win a Nationwide Tour event and subsequently turned pro to capitalize on the tour card that would come with victory.

To see a repeat of Summerhays' performance this week when the second edition of the event is contested in Columbus, Ohio, might be asking a bit much, but seven first-team All-Americans will give it a shot:

Jonas Blixt, Florida State
Kevin Chappell, UCLA
Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma State
Rory Hie, Southern California
Sihwan Kim, Stanford
Jamie Lovemark, Southern California
Michael Thompson, Alabama

Blixt, Chappell and Thompson are playing as pros. Lovemark played in the event last year but missed the cut.

Passing on the exemption are Jorge Campillo (Indiana) and Joel Sjoholm (Georgia State), both of whom are playing in their native Europe, and Webb Simpson (Wake Forest), who finished second in last week's Nationwide Tour event but has an exemption into this weeks Canadian Open on the PGA Tour.

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Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational

UCLA's Francis dispells transfer talk

Monday, July 14, 2008

It wasn't the final round that rising UCLA sophomore Philip Francis was dreaming of to close the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic Sunday: a four-over 75 at TPC Deere Run in Silvas, Ill., left him at seven-under 277 for the tournament, dropping him from 11th to T-34. Still, my colleague John Antonini informed me that it was the third best finish of any of the 29 amateurs competing in PGA Tour events this year. Plus, the Bruin outpaced Jamie Lovemark, his crosstown rival from USC who finished T-74.

More importantly for UCLA fans looking for a repeat at next year's NCAA Championship was word from Francis that he will be returning to Westwood this September. The rumor mill has been cranking all summer that the 19-year-old AJGA standout was thinking of transferring to Arizona State, staying closer to his Scottsdale, Ariz., home.

"It's just talk," Francis told my colleague, Mike Johnson, this past weekend. "I've heard that too. I love UCLA. Me and coach [Derek Freeman] get along real well, and the team is awesome. We just won an NCAA Championship, so that's just talk."

Click here to link to photos of Francis and teammates being welcomed at the White House after winning their title.

Francis admitted to me at the NCAA Championship that it wasn't the easiest year for him as he made the transition from home-schooled high schooler to first-year college student on a large campus. At nationals in May, however, he seemed happy and sounded humbled, the 2006 U.S. Junior champion having learned that things aren't always going to come easy. Good to hear that rather than cut and run, Francis is going to stick around.

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Lovemark's game coming around

Monday, July 7, 2008

Matt Savage pulled off the upset win the 108th North & South Amateur yesterday, but runner-up Jamie Lovemark looks like he's back to his old self. The rising junior at USC claimed a share of medalist honors then stormed through his side of the bracket at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort last week and nearly claimed the prestigious amateur title despite the fact his putter betrayed him throughout Sunday’s scheduled 36-hole final.

While making a clutch 12-foot birdie on the 36th hole, one Lovemark had to hole to extend the match after Savage, 1 up at the time, was already in for par, the 2007 NCAA champ missed a three-footer on the first extra hole that would have closed out the match. Still, Lovemark's game appears to have bounced back from the poor form he showed at the NCAA Championship in June.

"I'm hitting the ball better than I ever have and my short game is really solid," Lovemark said Sunday. "I just putted poorly the last couple of days and that’s what certainly did me in."

Like many of the golfers in the field last week at Pinehurst, Lovemark was in attendance not just for the competition but to get an early look at the course that hosts the U.S. Amateur Championship next month. From that standpoint, it appears Lovemark accomplished his goal:

"I came here this year to see and get a feel for this golf course to help prepare for the U.S. Amateur," said Lovemark, who is exempt into the Amateur thanks to being on the 2007 U.S. Walker Cup team. "I think in that sense I got more than what I bargained for. I sure learned a lot and I know it will help me when I come back next month."

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