Quade Cummins (Pacific Coast Amateur photo)
Ultimately, no one could catch Quade Cummins. The Weatherford, Okla., native was too perfect for too long. He had a single, late-round bogey on Friday at the Pacific Coast Amateur, but not even that could derail him. Cummins, who plays for the University of Oklahoma, had rounds of 67-66-65-66 at the Championship Course at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M., to win one of the major amateur titles of the summer.
Cummins entered the day with a comfortable three-shot lead, but didn’t let his foot off the gas. The Oklahoman carded three birdies against no bogeys on the front nine but was matched by playing competitor Blake Windred of Australia, who remained three shots back and the only player still within striking distance.
After the turn, it was all Cummins.
“I had a three shot lead after nine,” said Cummins, “then I went birdie, par, birdie, and it kind of separated me a little bit.”
The hot start on the back all but sealed the deal as Windred made double bogey on the 10th and fell six shots off the pace.
Things never got closer than four shots coming down the stretch as Cummins played steady to maintain the lead.
“I’ve never really been in a zone like that,” said Cummins, “I was just hitting to 20 feet and I was able to roll some in this week. This is definitely one of my better putting weeks. Golf’s funny, last week I felt like I was playing the same and I finished around 40th, but just having some putts fall can change everything.”
Blake Windred finished second at 16 under for the championship.
Rounding out the top five were Matthew McCarty of Scottsdale, Ariz. at 13-under and Sam Choi of Anaheim, Calif. and Riley Casey of Abilene, Texas, who finished at 11 under.
ABOUT THE Pacific Coast Amateur
Although its present history only dates from
1967, the Pacific Coast
Amateur Championship's roots make it one of
the
oldest amateur
golf championships in American history. The first
tournament was
held on the links of San Francisco Golf Club at
The
Presidio, April 24-
27, 1901. Championships were held annually
through 1911, all being
conducted in California except for the 1909
championship, which was
held at Seattle Golf Club in Washington. The
Pacific Coast Amateur
then ceased to exist, only to be reconstituted at
Seattle Golf Club on
August 10-12, 1967 with the Pacific Northwest,
Northern California,
Southern California, Oregon and Arizona golf
associations
participating.
Today, 15 member Pacific Rim golf
associations comprise
the Pacific Coast Golf Association. Players can
be
invited to this 72-
hole stroke play event by their Pacific Coast G.A.
member golf
association, or as an individual.
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