Pikulthong, Goyen and Lewis Punch Tickets to 122nd U.S. Amateur

By: Brandon Genson, AGA Communication Manager

MESA, Ariz.- After two rounds at Longbow Golf Club, Anawin Pikulthong, Brock Goyen and Trevor Lewis prevailed from a field of 70 to punch their tickets to the 122nd U.S. Amateur next month. Pikulthong and Goyen posted the field’s best round two scores to finish -10 and -9, respectively. Lewis made birdie on a playoff hole to earn the third and final qualifying spot.

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Coming into day one, Pikulthong and Goyen were in a three-way tie for third place. Throughout the qualifier, each of them kept to just a pair of bogeys. With back-to-back birdies on his final two holes, Pikulthong avoided a tiebreaker and eked out the one-stroke victory.

Neck-and-neck until the final hole, it is no surprise that the pair found similarities in their success at Longbow. On a course lined with a lot of desert and shrubbery that can easily ruin a round, they both cited the importance of staying on the fairway to come out on top.

“I struck it really well and drove it really well,” Pikulthong said. “I hit a lot of fairways, which is pretty clear out here because you don’t want to go into those bushes and desert. I struck it well, gave myself some good birdie looks and a couple of them dropped.”

Goyen credited good club selection with helping him stay on course throughout the qualifier.

“I didn’t really hit my driver a whole ton. I wasn’t feeling super confident with it, but I knew that I could get my 3 wood and 3 iron in play and that’s really all that is needed out here,” Goyen said. “The ball is going to roll, it’s firm, so just getting yourself on the fairway is the biggest thing and staying consistent.”

Lewis was the clubhouse leader after one round, shooting –6 despite record-setting temperatures on Monday. After qualifying for the U.S. Amateur last year, Lewis had high expectations for himself and admitted that nerves and some unlucky putts got the better of him in a +2 round two. That sent him to a playoff with Jeffrey Guan for the final qualifying spot and when it mattered the most, he regrouped and sank a birdie on the first hole.

Pikulthong, Goyen, Lewis- all Arizona natives- now look ahead to the U.S. Amateur in Paramus, N.J., beginning on August 15 at The Ridgewood Country Club.

Kamin, Weworski Capture AGA Mid-Am Titles

By: Brandon Genson, AGA Communications Manager

MARICOPA, Ariz.– After a weekend of competition in record-setting temperatures at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Course, Chris Kamin and Corey Weworski prevailed as the 2022 Mid-Am Champions. Kamin was the only player to shoot under par-72 (70-66-67-70) in all four rounds and finished with an outstanding gross score of -15. Weworski finished +5 and posted a second round score of 74 (+2), which marked the field’s best round two performance.

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On the men’s side, Kamin took the lead late during round two and never looked back. Despite the brutal heat, Kamin seemed to improve as the days went on and steamrolled the competition; he built an 11-stroke margin between him and second place finisher, Sean O’Donnell. Through 72 holes, he recorded a whopping 18 birdies.

“I’ve played well here. Sometimes not so well, but I’ve had a lot of success on this golf course and liked it,” Kamin said. “I hit a lot of greens, a lot of fairways and holed enough putts to get a win.”

Although Kamin’s final score makes it hard to believe he ever trailed, he spent the first day and a half chasing groupmate Kurt Watkins, who carded a 66 on day one with five birdies on the front nine and an eagle on 14. Watkins, Josh Fickes and Brad Wayment all held the lead at one point during a hectic round two, but Kamin shot a bogey-free round to claim the top spot at day’s end.

Going into round three, Kamin held just a one-stroke lead over Wayment, but remained unphased as high temperatures took a toll on the field and went into the final day with a seven-stroke lead.

O’Donnell, the reigning Arizona Golf Association Player of the Year, shot -3 in each of the final two rounds to climb the leaderboard for his second place finish. O’Donnell and Brian Blanchard (-2) were the only two players besides Kamin to shoot under par for the tournament.

For Kamin, he adds another Kachina to his mantle, as this is his second major win in a row after winning the 2022 Arizona Stroke Play Championship in April, where he also dominated with a nine-stroke victory.

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The women’s championship was decided by one stroke on the 18th hole.

Coming into the second and final round, Weworski trailed the day-one leader, Tori Totlis, by two strokes. To make matters even more tense, Weworski and Totlis were groupmates and watched each other create separation from the field and become the clear-cut leaders.

A playoff loomed as the pair rode their carts to the final hole with a tied score, but Weworski narrowly avoided a playoff and edged out Totlis by one stroke. Although she did the live scoring for her group, the win even came as a surprise to Weworski; she was more focused on her own game than Totlis’s score. Because she had to fight out of a bunker on 18, she did not watch Totlis’s final hole and figured she had lost the tournament.

Weworski’s second round featured three birdies on the first 11 holes; she credited a tweak in her short game as the difference maker and said that watching Totlis throughout the rounds helped her make the winning adjustment.

“I didn’t putt very well yesterday, but I watched Tori and kind of adjusted my putter and it really paid off today. I played a lot better, I made a few more putts.” Weworski said.

Mari Miezwa, who won the first two Mid-Am Women’s titles in 2020 and 2021, finished in sixth place. After a tough round one score of 84, she recovered on day two by carding a 75 in round two and finishing +15 overall.

By winning the Mid-Am, Weworski checked winning a tournament in Arizona off of her bucket list and looks forward to playing in next month’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in Anchorage, Alaska.

Recap: 2022 NCAA Championships at Grayhawk

An incredible two weeks at Grayhawk Golf Club finally came to an end Wednesday, when Texas defeated the Arizona State in an epic match for the men’s golf national championship. This is the farthest the Sun Devils Men’s golf program has advanced since 1996, when they won the national championship.

“You don’t get chances to win National Championships very often… when you do something like that, its forever part of history,” said ASU Head Coach Matt Thurmond immediately after the final match. “You have reunions and they celebrate you 25 years from now at a football game and you all come into town share the suite together. But when you’re runner-up, you don’t get any of that and this team deserves that. They’re such an awesome group of guys, the way they compete and care for each other. I would’ve loved for them to have that.”

Mason Andersen, 2017 AGA Player of the Year, was a standout for the Sun Devils during the Match Play portion of the NCAA’s, helping propel ASU to the championship match on the final day. Andersen went 3-0 against his match play opponents.

The University of Arizona men’s team also made the trip to Grayhawk, finishing 19th out of 30 teams, but failing to make the 15-team final round, or eight-team match play portion. Senior Chase Sienkiewicz shot a team best +10 (220) over three rounds of stroke play.

“While the season ended before we wanted to, I was proud to see us end it in Scottsdale,” Head Coach Jim Anderson said after the third round. “We achieved many of our goals this season, including winning NCAA Regionals and advancing to NCAA Championships.

“We accomplished some milestones this season that hadn’t been done in over a decade, and this season gave our program a tremendous foundation to build on and continue to develop next season.”
At the Women’s NCAA Championships, Arizona State advanced to the final round of stroke play, but finished one spot out of match play, in ninth place by two strokes. Freshmen Calynne Rosholt Grace Summerhays, along with Senior Alessandra Fanali, each finished in a tie for 40th at +9 overall.

“They kept fighting and we just needed a couple other teams to miss a few putts and it didn’t happen and that’s okay,” Head Coach Missy Farr-Kaye told Sun Devil Athletics. “They did really well, and I have a feeling they’re going to come back really hungry.”

The 2022-2023 season for both Arizona and Arizona State gets started this fall. Both programs hungry for another shot at a National Title in their home state.

Bradley, Moxness Lead Marilynn Smith Arizona Women’s Open

For Immediate Release
May 3, 2022

Media Contact:

David Bataller, Director of Communications
(602) 944-3035 | [email protected]

PAT BRADLEY, BARB MOXNESS (-11) TAKE FIRST ROUND LEAD AT INAUGURAL MARILYNN SMITH ARIZONA WOMEN’S OPEN

18^th hole eagle puts duo one stroke up on Pat Hurst and Wendy Ward heading into final round

MESA – World Golf Hall of Famer Pat Bradley and partner Barb Moxness posted a -11 (61) in the first round of the inaugural Marilynn Smith Arizona Women’s Open’s Senior Division Tuesday at Longbow Golf Club in Mesa. Playing a two-person Scramble format, Bradley and Moxness eagled the closing 18^th hole to take a one-shot lead over Pat Hurst and Wendy Ward into the final round.

“Barb hit a great drive, and she hit a great second shot in to about 20-25 feet,” said Bradley, the Team USA Solheim Cup Captain in 2000. “I stood over it and I told Barb, ‘I’m not going to be short on this.’ And I found the right speed and the right line and it went into the hole for eagle.”

Hurst and Ward recorded five birdies on each side to go out and come back in matching 31’s. Birdies on 17 and 18 gave the team solo second place and positive vibes heading into Wednesday’s play.

“Wendy and I definitely ham and egged it pretty well out there,” said Hurst, last year’s Team USA Solheim Cup Captain in Ohio. “We both hit it well, we both putted well, and if we were out on one hole the other one was in. We played pretty well together.”

The team of Brandie Burton and Sandra Palmer is currently tied for third with Lisa DePaulo and Rosie Jones at -8 (64). Burton and Palmer recorded back-to-back birdies to close out the round, giving the duo momentum going into tomorrow’s Four-Ball portion of the event. DePaulo and Jones made four birdies on each side on a clean scorecard for their 64.

But no one could keep up with the white-hot duo of Bradley and Moxness, a 10-year member of the LPGA Tour. They birdied holes five through nine to go out in 29, and then played the last four holes of their round in -4, capped by the eagle on 18. Building momentum and sustaining it was key to the standout round.

“I think we jelled really well – we stayed in the game together and gave ourselves choices, gave ourselves chances,” said Bradley, who has 36 professional wins in her illustrious career. “Barb made some beautiful putts on the front side, and then we got hot on the back with the last four holes.”

Named for LPGA Co-Founder Marilynn Smith, the Arizona Women’s Open’s Senior Division brought out 48 of the country’s best professional and amateur players, competing for a $10,000 first prize and $30,000 total purse. Bradley spoke for many of the players in detailing what brought her to Mesa for the inaugural event.

“Marilynn is one of our role models that we looked up to on the LPGA Tour,” said Bradley, a six-time major winner on the LPGA Tour. “She’s a Founder. If it wasn’t for Marilynn Smith and her friends, we would not have the careers that we had. So, we are grateful that the Arizona Golf Association put this together and put Marilynn Smith’s name upon it. We are both honored to be here in honor of Marilynn.”

“She’s one of our Founders and she has this vision for giving back to the game like we all do,” said Ward, a four-time winner on the LPGA Tour. “She’s taken it to a whole other level and raising money for scholarships for girls to get to have the same opportunities that we did, it just brings it full circle to be able to give back.”

The public is invited out to Longbow Golf Club to watch tomorrow’s final round free of charge. Click Here for a live leaderboard and final round pairings.

About Longbow Golf Club
Longbow Business Park and Golf Club is a 330-acre, mixed-use development, being developed by Daedalus Real Estate Advisors, that incorporates office, light industrial, retail, hotel and residential uses surrounded by desert vegetation, a main street transportation design and features the award-winning Longbow Golf Club. Troon managed Longbow Golf Club was originally designed by Ken Kavanaugh in 1997. In 2003, Daedalus commissioned Kavanaugh to execute a complete redesign of the golf course creating a complete refresh layout. For more information on Longbow Golf Club, visit longbowgolf.com or call (480) 807-5400.

About Arizona Golf Association

The Arizona Golf Association has been serving amateur golfers in Arizona since 1923 when it held the first State Amateur Championship. Today, it is licensed by the United States Golf Association to provide handicapping and course rating services to member clubs, to provide tournament and rules expertise and to oversee the application of amateur status.

What to Know about the First Major of the Year: the AGA Championship

The best amateurs in the state converge at Aguila Golf Course today as they tee it up for the first Major AGA Championship of 2022. Here is what you need to know about the event, field and venue. (Scroll to the bottom for fast facts).

The Event

One of Phoenix’s most popular municipal courses, Aguila Golf Course, plays host to the 33rd AGA Championship, formerly known as the AZ Publinks before changing names in 2018. The 72-hole event will be played in an individual stroke play format and conducted over four days, a new approach for every AGA major championship this year.

With tee times slated to go off at 7:00 am Thursday morning, players will get to take advantage of the cool morning temps, courtesy of the dwindling Arizona winter. There will be no shortage of competition as a 144-person field featuring old and new faces ready themselves to contend for the title. Players will be hoping to advance to Saturday’s third round as a cut to the low 60 players (plus ties) will take place after 36 holes.

The Field

Familiar faces in the field include three recent AGA award winners: Sean O’Donnell (2021 POTY recipient), Bryan Hoops (2021 Mayfair & Masters POTY recipient) and Brad Wayment (2021 Senior POTY recipient). O’Donnell, who’s coming off a win at last month’s San Tan Amateur, is returning to the same event and venue where he earned his first AGA Major victory in 2020. After shooting 70-70-66 for an overall 7-under 206. Surely, he is looking for the same winning outcome this week.

Other notable players in title contention are recent JGAA standouts Mahanth Chirravuri and Joseph Lloyd, as well as AGA Short Course Champion Shankar Natarajan, who is looking for his first AGA Major victory. Chirravuri, a recent JGAA grad, is currently committed to play Division 1 college golf at the University of Southern California while Lloyd is riding out the last semester of his freshman year with the University of Utah men’s golf team.

The Venue

The venue, Aguila Golf Course, situated eight miles southwest of downtown Phoenix at the base of South Mountain, will provide scenic views and a challenging championship level course for the 72-hole stroke play event.

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