Eight days after first arriving at Erin Hills for the US-Mid Amateur Championship, Ireland’s Hugh Foley and Matt McClean remain on track to clash in the final in the heart of Wisconsin.

Is it destiny? Who knows?

Scoring

The 16-year-old course’s logo is a three-leaf clover; cottages on the property are named for iconic Irish venues such as Ballybunion and Lahinch, and the pub has an Irish theme.

While the layout might not remind anyone of the historic links courses in Ireland, Hugh Foley, 25, and Matthew McClean, 29, have found the surroundings to their liking. And on a glorious Thursday – temperatures in the 70s with breezes in the 10- to 20-miles-per-hour range – the two Irishmen advanced to the semifinals in their first-ever appearance in this championship.

Foley (25) has been on a tear since July, becoming the first man since Darren Clarke in 1990 to win the North of Ireland and South of Ireland titles back to back before knocking McClean out in the semis of the AIG Irish Close at Headfort, where he lost in the final.

Foley eliminated 2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion Chad Wilfong 2 up in his quarter-final as Belfast man McClean (29), who represented Ireland in the World Amateur Team Championship in France two weeks ago, knocked out Scott Turner (38) of Florida 2&1.

They are joined in the final four by Bryce Hanstad (35) from Minnesota and Josh Persons (38) from Fargo North Dakota.

Interestingly, Hanstad was born in Fargo before his family moved to Minnesota when he was a toddler. Person eliminated a pair of U.S. Mid-Amateur champions on Thursday: defending and two-time champion Stewart Hagestad in the Round of 16, then 2014 winner Scott Harvey in 21 holes.

Foley and McClean are on opposites end of the draw, so there’s a chance these good friends could face each other in the 36-hole final. A victory by either one would give the U.S. Mid-Amateur its second international champion after Australia’s Lukas Michel in 2019 at Colorado Golf Club. The champion receives a spot in next year’s US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club and a likely invitation into April’s Masters Tournament.

In June, Padraig Harrington won the U.S. Senior Open, and Rory McIlroy (2011) and Graeme McDowell (2010) are past U.S. Open champions.

“We're getting looked after so well,” said Foley. “First by Greg [Zeeman] in Chicago, and then by Dan [Benedum], who lives 15 minutes away. There's a lot of Irish contingent out here who are looking after us, which is super. We're having a great time, such a great time.”

As for his reasons for playing, he said: “I've always known about it. I've heard about Stewart Hagestad, guys playing in the Masters, you see them, and I didn't know -- back home it's 30 for a Mid-Amateur, so when I turned 25 I was feeling kind of old, but this week I feel kind of young. It's like a paradox.

“Yeah, we heard about it. We knew we were exempt in the World Ranking, so it would have been tough to come out and qualify, but because we knew we were in, we decided to come and give it a go."

As for this run to the last four, he said: “It's great. Like I wasn't really -- I didn't know what to expect coming over. Just freewheel. Just keep going. Don't tighten up, just keep loose, and just -- I just feel used to it. It's not like -- I lost in the final of the Irish Amateur a couple weeks ago [and lost at the 20th after leading 4up through nine), so I've got to know not to get ahead of myself and just keep playing hole by hole. It feels comfortable.”

McClean has yet to win a big title but he’s been close on numerous occasions and he’s making sure he has plenty of memorabilia.

“I've spent a good bit of money in the pro shop already, with the shamrock [logo] and all that [merchandise]. It would be unbelievable [to win], really,” he said.  

“Yeah, it feels like we've been here probably two weeks as opposed to a week, so our practice round was on Thursday, and then is today Thursday? So we've been going for eight days, and there's still two days left, so it's going to be a 10-day tournament.

“No, it is, it's tough. I've been lucky enough to sort of have a couple caddies on the way around. Haven't planned anything. My girlfriend sort of pushed the bag for a few holes, and that's when I changed. I was 5-over through 8 holes, and she slept in, so that was her fault, 5-over through 8, and then I was 8-under for the rest of the stroke play when she pushed the bag, so I thank her for that.

“Then we've been accommodated very well by Dan, who's given us food, sort of kept us -- given us a roof, as well, and he supplied me with a good caddie today, as well, which makes all the difference with 36.“

Three times against Wilfong, a former Wake Forest golfer who played briefly on the Korn Ferry Tour before getting his amateur status back in 2016, Foley trailed by a hole before winning three consecutive holes from No. 12 to take a 2-up lead. Foley went to the par-5 18th with a 1-up advantage, and Wilfong eventually conceded the hole when he failed to get up and down for bogey after twice going over the green with pitch shots.

Foley was happy to get through his quarter-final in two-over figures.

“Yeah, we both hit great shots to 15,” he said. “First time I've ever given an eagle on a par-4. He hit it to like a foot. I hit 3-wood to like 15 feet. Birdied that. It was a bit of a pillow fight before. There were a lot of bogeys thrown on each other. I hope he doesn't mind me saying that. It was from both of us.

“Then yeah, hit a great shot into 16, holed a putt, and to be honest, the last two holes were downwind, and I thought, should we play a little bit easy, maybe I got a bit tense and hit two bad tee shots and got away with it on the last.”

While he’s won stroke play editions of the Close and West, he’s also won two matchplay titles in the North and South this year and reached the final of the Close, where he was 4-up after nine to Quentin Carew but lost on the 20th.

“Yeah, we play a lot of it back home, so we have six major championships,” Foley said of matchplay. “Top of my head, three of them are this format, 36 a day. Now, the hills around here make it tougher on you physically, but I'm quite used to it. I've played something like 25 matches this year, 36 a day. It takes a lot of getting used to, I think. Your feet start hurting, but you just keep going.

“I think today I was over par in both matches, so you can get maybe a bit of luck, luck of the Irish, that you don't get a guy who shoots 5-under and knocks you out. That's maybe why I'm still here. Need to capitalise on the luck now and turn it around tomorrow.”

He’s happy he has a caddie.

“Yeah, it's tough. At least I have a caddie. I have Dan (Benedum) carrying the bag. That's what it's like. He's a financial trader. I just met him through a friend of mine, Daniel Connelly, who played -- good friends with Dan, stayed with him. They invited us over for a barbecue, and little did he know we were bringing all our luggage with us, and we moved in. I had never met Dan until this week, and he's been great.”

McClean, who is an optometrist, broke open a tie match against Turner, the owner and operator of the Minor League Golf Tour in Florida, with consecutive birdies on the 11th and 12th to grab a 2-up advantage. The players tied the next five holes.

“I think I had 136, playing 132. I had sort of a nice wedge. I think it pitched maybe six foot short, took one hop and sort of stopped a foot away,” McClean said if his birdie at the 12th. “It was a pretty tricky putt, as well. It doesn't always happen like that, so the more you try it, eventually they go close.”

Hanstad, playing in his second U.S. Mid-Amateur, built a 3-up lead through four holes against Andrew Paysse, of Temple, Texas, the brother-in-law of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, only to see it evaporate by the turn.

Paysse took a 1-up lead with a par on the 176-yard 16th hole, but Hanstad hit a nice 7-iron approach on 17 to set up a winning two-putt par after Paysse found the fescue.

“Two bogeys on 18 sent the match to extra holes, where Paysse hit his tee shot into the penalty area, leading to a double-bogey 6. Hanstad, a consumer data analyst for OptumRx, played conservatively for a bogey that allowed him to advance.

“It'll be a fun day tomorrow,” said Hanstad, who eliminated Ryan Greer, 5&4, earlier on Thursday.

Persons had a chance to end his match against Harvey, 44, of Greensboro, on No. 18, but missed a short par putt. Three holes later, he stuffed his 7-iron approach from 179 yards to 18 inches for a conceded birdie. Harvey failed to convert from 25 feet after finding a fairway bunker off the tee.

“I know who those guys are,” said Persons, a reinstated amateur (2018) who qualified for the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay and won an event on PGA Tour Canada in 2014. “They're both great players. They're big names in the game, in the amateur game. But … they have to put a tee in the ground just like I do. We just kind of hit it and see what happens.”

Hagestad’s bid for a second consecutive title came to a halt when the 31-year-old Southern Californian lipped out a 6-footer on No. 18 to fall, 1 down, to Persons. The defeat stung the No. 8 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® as he was hoping for a deep run to bolster his chances of making a fourth consecutive USA Walker Cup Team in 2023.

Had he won this week, Hagestad, who begins a new job with Chicago-based BDT Capital Partners on Oct. 3, would have teed it up in next year’s U.S. Open at his home course, where he was a member of the victorious 2017 USA Walker Cup Team.

“He played well, and I didn't play well enough to win,” said Hagestad, now 22-4 in six Mid-Amateur starts. “

McClean’s 20-hole victory in the Round of 16 on Thursday morning over 2014 runner-up Brad Nurski, of St. Joseph, Mo., featured a pair of unlikely loss-of-hole penalties by each competitor. After leaving the 10th tee, McClean’s caddie accepted a cart ride from a volunteer, which incurs a loss-of-hole penalty.

Then on the par-4 14th hole, Nurski hit a wrong ball, a violation of Rule 6.3. The long-hitting left-hander managed to tie the match with winning pars on 17 and 18 to force extra holes, where McClean won with a par on the 358-yard 20th hole (No. 2 at Erin Hills).

“Yeah, it's very good,” McClean said of the Irish success story this week. “As I said, I didn't know any the scores on the way around, but he's (Foley) playing very good, so I sort of would have backed him to win, but these are all very tough matches. That was the idea. We managed to avoid each other on each half of the draw, so if we can win tomorrow morning, then it'll be a pretty good afternoon.”

What’s Next

The two semifinal matches and the first round of the 36-hole final will take place on Friday, beginning at 7 a.m. CDT. The first 18 of the championship match is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m., with the second 18 set for Saturday at 7 a.m. The public is welcome to attend, and admission is free.

Notable

Each of the quarterfinalists earned exemptions into the 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough, N.Y. The stroke-play co-host is Fenway Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.

James Leow, of Singapore, saw his string of consecutive holes without a loss end on his 25th hole of the championship when he double-bogeyed the par-4 second in his 4-and-3 loss to Scott Turner in the Round of 16.

In the three previous USGA championships conducted at Erin Hills, the first hole played as a par 5. The recent addition of the Drumlin Putting Course took away the back tees, and it is playing as a stout, 491-yard par 4 this week. During stroke play, it was statistically the most difficult hole, playing to a stroke average of 4.78. The eight quarterfinalists have had similar difficulty with the uphill dogleg left. Scott Harvey recorded the only birdie in the Round of 32, with 12 bogeys, four double bogeys and one “X.”

Following his quarterfinal defeat, Harvey’s U.S. Mid-Amateur match-play record fell to 24-11.

Bryce Hanstad was a three-time All-Mountain West Conference performer at Colorado State before briefly trying his hand at professional golf. He was reinstated in 2013, but didn’t enter many competitions until 2016.

Josh Persons would be the second player from North Dakota to win the U.S. Mid-Amateur, following Mike Podolak in 1984. Amy (Anderson) Olson is the last player from the state to win a USGA championship (2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior).

Quotable

“Yeah, it feels like we've been here probably two weeks as opposed to a week, so our [first] practice round was [last] Thursday, and then today is Thursday. So we've been going for eight days, and there's still two days left, so it's going to be a 10-day tournament.” – Matthew McClean

“We play a lot of [match play] back home. We have six major championships, [and off the] top of my head, three of them are this format, 36 [holes] a day. Now, the hills around here make it tougher on you physically, but I'm quite used to it. I've played something like 25 matches this year, 36 a day. It takes a lot of getting used to. Your feet start hurting, but you just keep going.” – Hugh Foley

“I've always said if I can get myself into match play, I've got a good chance to go for a deep run. Match play has always been something I've excelled at and enjoyed.” – Bryce Hanstad

“Look, I'm getting [Scott] Harvey's phone number. This is what it's all about, meeting new guys, having a blast, but at the same time we're competing. He wanted to beat me just as bad as I wanted to beat him.” – Josh Persons on the camaraderie of the U.S. Mid-Amateur.

Scoring

ERIN, Wis. – Results from Thursday's Round of 16 of match play at the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, played at the 7,322-yard, par-71 Erin Hills, in Erin, Wis.

Round of 16

(Upper Bracket)

Bryce Hanstad, Edina, Minn. (142) def. Ryan Greer, Knoxville, Tenn. (143), 5 and 4

Andrew Paysse, Temple, Texas (143) def. Ian Davis, Edmond, Okla. (139), 1 up

Chad Wilfong, Charlotte, N.C. (139) def. Andrew Bailey, Cleveland, Ohio (136), 2 and 1

Hugh Foley, Republic of Ireland (136) def. Ryan Gutowski, Akron, Ohio (139), 5 and 3

 

(Lower Bracket)

Scott Turner, Stuart, Fla. (142) def. James Leow, Singapore (139), 4 and 3

Matthew McClean, Republic of Ireland (138) def. Brad Nurski, St. Joseph, Mo. (139), 20 holes

Josh Persons, Fargo, N.D. (142) def. Stewart Hagestad, Newport Beach, Calif. (139), 1 up

Scott Harvey, Greensboro, N.C. (143) def. Mark Costanza, Morristown, N.J. (139), 3 and 2

 

ERIN, Wis. – Results from Thursday's quarterfinal round of match play at the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, played at the 7,322-yard, par-71 Erin Hills, in Erin, Wis.

Quarterfinal Round

(Upper Bracket)

Bryce Hanstad, Edina, Minn. (142) def. Andrew Paysse, Temple, Texas (143), 19 holes

Hugh Foley, Republic of Ireland (136) def. Chad Wilfong, Charlotte, N.C. (139), 2 up

 

(Lower Bracket)

Matthew McClean, Republic of Ireland (138) def. Scott Turner, Stuart, Fla. (142), 2 and 1

Josh Persons, Fargo, N.D. (142) def. Scott Harvey, Greensboro, N.C. (143), 21 holes

 

ERIN, Wis. – Pairings and tee times for Friday's semifinal round of match play at the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, played at the 7,322-yard, par-71 Erin Hills, in Erin, Wis.

All Times CDT

Semifinal Round

(Upper Bracket)

7 a.m. - Bryce Hanstad, Edina, Minn. (142) vs. Hugh Foley, Republic of Ireland (136)

 

(Lower Bracket)

7:15 a.m. - Matthew McClean, Republic of Ireland (138) vs. Josh Persons, Fargo, N.D. (142)

 

*Semifinal round winners advance to the first 18 holes of the 36-hole championship match on Friday, beginning at 12:30 p.m. The final 18 holes of the championship match are scheduled for Saturday at 7 a.m.

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