Concession Cup: Patrick Christovich ok with a late nod
AmateurGolf.com members have
excelled at
all levels of the competitive game. One of the
things we enjoy most is hearing that a
player
has taken their game to the next level.
Patrick Christovich of New Orleans is the
latest to take it up a notch, by being invited
to replace Gary Nickaus on the USA
Concession Cup team next month at the
Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida.
Christovich is one of the
top Mid-Ams in the country, and was likely
on
a very short list of potential candidates to be
one of the two designated Mid-Ams on the
Walker Cup team in 2013.
"I was a Walker Cup longshot last
year," said Christovich, 35, in a phone
interview. "I played well early in the
season but not at the end."
Early this season, Christovich and
partner
Tommy Brennan (a former U.S. Mid-Am
runner-
up) won the National Senior-Junior. The field
at the Dye Preserve in Florida included the
team of former Clemson standout John
Engler
and his partner Mike McCoy, the reigning US
Mid-Am champ. In March, he came in third
against a stacked college field at the Azalea
Amateur in South Carolina, and that likely
raised some eyebrows.
Those recent performances may have
gotten Christovich noticed, but his
game has been building over the past few
years both on the regional and national
levels.
He won four-straight Lousiana Mid-Am titles
from
2010-13, as well as the Birmingham
National in
2012 and the Crane Cup in 2013. Now he
will
be teammates on a Vinny Giles-captained
team
representing the USA alongside Mid-Ams
Mike
McCoy, Nathan Smith, Trip Kuehne, Gene
Elliot,
Scott Harvey, Tim Jackson and Todd White.
(If
you thing that list is impressive, check out
the
Senior and Super-Senior players.)
Christovich has played alongside most or
all
of these players, but when he got off the
phone with Captain Vinny Giles there was
one
lingering thought.
"Never in my life did I think I would
get to be on a team with Jack Nicklaus as an
honorary captain."
Yes, Jack Nicklaus will be honorary
captain
of the USA team, while Tony Jacklin will
serve
that capacity for the GB&I team. The club
and the event will commemorate
Nicklaus’ concession of a two-foot to
Britian’s Tony Jacklin in the 1969 Ryder
Cup, which ended the match in a first-ever
tie.
AmateurGolf.com will provide full
coverage
starting May 1. Read more about the 2014 USA Concession Cup team
here.
ABOUT THE
Concession Cup
The Concession Cup is an event designed to celebrate the game through international competition while giving back to worthy causes. The Walker Cup-style competition brings together teams of male and female mid-amateurs and senior amateurs representing USA and Europe. Tony Jacklin and AGA Honorary Chairman, Jack Nicklaus, have attended each of the previous matches. The Concession Cup Committee will select men's and women's teams primarily based on a points ranking but with captains' picks as well.
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