Nick McLaughlin with some of the hardware he's won this summer
University of Virginia senior Nick McLaughlin has
always been the big man on campus. At 6’6”, it’s
impossible for him to be anything else.
“I played basketball through 8th grade, but
there
was far too much running around for me. Golf is
a lot
more relaxing,” McLaughlin said with a laugh.
The 2014 season didn’t finish the way
McLaughlin
would have wanted. After a back injury affected
his
summer and continued through the fall season
playing
golf for the Cavaliers, he decided to take the
spring
season off to concentrate on his rehabilitation.
“I just couldn’t play. I struggled through it
during
the fall,” McLaughlin told us about his injury. “I
had
some good rounds but just couldn’t quite do what
I
physically needed to do.”
Taking the time off for rehab and not
playing golf
was a bit frustrating for him.
“You try to stay positive through it the best
you
can. Fortunately at Virginia, athletes are
surrounded
by a top-notch medical staff and physical
therapy
people who gave me the right stuff to work on. I
had a
lot of confidence in them and knew if I followed
the
program I would be back in shape.”
After a lot of PT, he felt good about his
game all
spring. But it wasn't until the end of May before
he felt
he was back to 100% for the first time in a year.
His return to the game was triumphant. It
started
with a win at the 51st Hornblower Memorial in
Plymouth, MA. He finished the tournament at 1-
under
and the only player to be under par.
“Playing without any worries (about his
back) was
a nice change. Last year I finished second in the
Hornblower, losing on a chip-in on the 18th hole.
This
time I birdied the 18th to win by a shot. It was a
bit of
a reversal – and nice to have it fall my way this
time."
Two weeks later, McLaughlin played in the
MGA
Amateur Invitational at the New England Country
Club
in Bellingham, MA, where his only fear was
coming out
flat after getting the big win in his last
competition.
“In the Amateur Invitational, I birdied the
first
five holes on the first day, so I knew I was back
and
in good shape.”
He posted a 66 on the day one, the low
round of
the tournament. But after a second-round 74, he
found himself in a playoff with Alex Jeffers
before he
pulled out the victory for his second big win of
the
summer.
McLaughlin played in the Northeast Amateur
Invitational the following weekend and made the
cut,
but was challenged by the Wannamoisett
Country Club
layout. Against a top-5 field, his final round 78
wasn’t
his best golf, but experience has taught him to
take
the positives from the weekend and build from
there.
“I knew exactly what I needed to improve
on just
a little bit to keep it going for the rest of the
summer,
“ he said.
Whatever he did, it worked, because he
exploded
through July like a firecracker. After winning
medalist
honors at the 107th Massachusetts Amateur, he
blasted through the match play bracket without
having to play the 18th hole. Although he was
dragging through the last day after walking
about 45
miles during the tournament, he found relief
when his
father carried his bag for the final round. It was
just
the boost he needed on his way to a 4 and 3 win
over
Patrick Frodigh.
There was little time to relax as McLaughlin
entered the New England Amateur the next
week.
“I didn’t have a lot of time between
tournaments
to sit down and catch my breath,” McLaughlin
said.
“Fortunately I was playing well and just kept it
going.”
Which is exactly what he did. He went 7-
under
(281) and was the only golfer in the 152-player
field
to post four under-par rounds. One year after
driving
away from the tournament in so much pain that
his
future in golf was in doubt, he walked away with
another major victory.
“I guess it came full circle,” McLaughlin told
the
MGA. “To be almost having to withdraw last year
and
then struggling the rest of the summer and then
coming all the way back here and winning is
great.”
 |
Legendary Mass.
Am Jim Salinetti (left)
has been a
mentor for McLaughlin |
That win put him in elite company as one of
four
golfers to hold both the New England Amateur
and
Massachusetts Amateur titles at the same time.
The
last person to do it, Jim Salinetti (1997 and
2000), is
an old family friend.
“Jim has been a good friend for about 15
years.
My dad used to play in a tournament that Jimmy
always played and we got to know him. I’ve
always
kept in touch with him and he’s been kind of a
mentor
to me. In fact, we got together a couple days
ago and
took pictures together with both the trophies. It
was a
pretty cool moment – to replicate the stuff that
he’s
done is really cool.”
Next up on McLaughlin’s docket was the
Massachusetts Amateur Public Links at Red Tail
Golf
Club in Devens, MA. He played great the first
day, and
finished on a high note with an eagle on 18, but
the
final round brought its own challenges.
“I struggled with my game a little bit
yesterday,”
McLaughlin said about his final round. “But I’ve
played
the course enough to know the proper spots to
miss it
in and I just managed my way around the
course. I
was putting great and got up and down for a lot
for
pars and was barely able to hang on.”
His final round 1-over par 73 was good
enough to
win by a stroke over Matt Cowgill, giving him his
third
consecutive win at a major and making him the
only
person in history to hold the hold that title along
with
the previous two.
That’s the kind of summer most guys only
dream
about, all coming after his back issues left him
questioning his ability to come back.
“It’s great to see the consistency in my
game
that I’ve had all summer. I think that’s how most
golfers judge their game – to see how consistent
you
can be, week in and week out. Playing a high
level of
golf all summer is really nice to see and it
shows me
that I’m doing the proper things with my game,”
McLaughlin said.
He’ll take a breather the next couple of
weeks to
rest up for what he says will be a busy senior
year.
He’s loved being in Charlottesville for the past
three
years, both academically and athletically, and is
looking forward to getting back to school.
“In some ways I’m kind of sad that I only
have
one more year to go at UVA,” he said. “It’s been
such
an awesome experience, but hopefully by the
end of
the year I’ll be ready to move onto bigger and
better
things. I guess I don’t really have a choice,
because
they’ll kick me out one way or the other,” he
said with
a chuckle.