Harvey, Barrett Each Card 64s to Share First-Round Lead at U.S. Mid-Am

What Happened

Could a career round of golf come down to a simple chicken sandwich from a popular fast-food joint?

Nick Barrett’s two fellow competitors, Jason Sigler and Andy Matthews, for Saturday’s first round of the 43rd U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at stroke-play co-host Independence Golf Club, in Midlothian, Va., certainly wanted to know what the Catonsville, Md., resident had for dinner the previous evening.

“Chick-Fil-A,” said the smiling 31-year-old UPS driver after carding a 6-under-par 64 on the 7,216-yard public venue that once was the headquarters for the Virginia State Golf Association.

Barrett’s 64 was matched by 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Scott Harvey, 46, of Greensboro, N.C., at the 7,250-yard, par-71 Kinloch Golf Club, which will be the site for all of the matches beginning on Monday. The 64s were one off the 18-hole championship record held by Jim Wilson (2000 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.). In previous Mid-Ams, five other 64s have been posted.

With his wife of less than a year, Julia, and a couple of family members walking the fairways, Barrett produced a personal-best round by “four or five strokes”, one that seemingly came out of nowhere. His summer competition schedule has included one 18-hole round in the Maryland Amateur (missed match play), one 18-hole round at U.S. Open local qualifying and the 68 he shot in his U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier Aug. 19 at Wyncote Golf Club, in Oxford, Pa., to share medalist honors.

Otherwise, he’ll sneak out for an occasional round at Turf Valley Resort, in Ellicott City, Md., or find an hour or so to hit balls. Prior to Saturday’s round, Barrett’s only other USGA experience has been the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Winged Foot Golf Club, in Mamaroneck, N.Y., when he and partner/good friend Connor Flach shot 9 under in stroke play before losing in the Round of 32 to eventual runners-up Brandon Cigna and Ben Warnquist, 1 down.

On Saturday, a clutch 5-foot par save on No. 11, his second hole of the round, gave Barrett an early confidence boost. He wound up making birdies on the two statistically hardest holes on the course, Nos. 8 and 12, both 20-foot putts. His lone blemish came at the par-4 13th when an offline drive forced him to cut a 6-iron from a penalty area just short of the putting green. He then missed a 10-footer for par in what otherwise was a stellar putting performance.

“It’s the best round I’ve played by far,” said Barrett, who did not attend college but worked in a golf pro shop shortly after high school. “In competition, I never even sniffed that…I just got the putter going early and I just kept that same feel for the majority of the day.”

One person no stranger to going low is Harvey. The North Carolinian not only claimed this title in 2014, but was the runner-up two years later in an epic 37-hole final against Stewart Hagestad at Stonewall, in Elverson, Pa. That came a year after he was named to the USA Walker Cup Team. But lately, Harvey has curtailed his competitive golf to spend more time with his teenage son, Cameron, and his nearly 6-year-old son, Gavin. Harvey’s only USGA event this year has been the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Philadelphia Cricket Club, with partner Todd Mitchell. The duo won that championship in 2019 at Bandon Dunes, four years after making the semifinals in the inaugural competition.

At Kinloch, Harvey made eight birdies against one bogey. He birdied seven of his first 13 holes before later recording the lone blemish at the 340-yard sixth hole. He then finished up with a birdie on No. 9, his 18th hole, a dangerous 417-yard, par-4 with a lake lurking to the left.

“Score-wise I would say so,” said Harvey when asked if this was one of his better stroke-play rounds in his 15 U.S. Mid-Amateur starts. “But again, I got pretty lucky and fortunate with some bounces. On the 10th hole (his first hole) I blocked a 7-iron and landed on the fringe, and it bounces down there. I made a 65-footer on the fifth hole. Lot of fortunate breaks, but I played some good golf too.

“I drove it really well. I missed two fairways, and they were both on the really short par 4s. They were the only fairways I missed trying to play safe. But drove it really well and made some putts. I played solidly.”

Because he no longer plays a full summer amateur schedule, Harvey, the winner of 10 Carolinas Golf Association titles who is a property manager, doesn’t physically recover as quickly from rounds like he once did.

“I am worried about my body at this point,” said Harvey. “I told my [oldest] son I am feeling a little sore. He said go see a chiropractor. I said, ‘No, I think it’s a different kind of sore.’ I need to rest and just preserve my energy as best I can.”

Connor Lyon, 27, of Canada, is one stroke back after posting a 6-under 65 at Kinloch. Former University of California-Berkeley golfer Stephen Hale, 35, of Bakersfield, Calif., and ex-Villanova standout Andy Butler, 28, of Philadelphia, Pa., each posted 66s at Kinloch and Independence, respectively.

In all, 34 competitors finished in red figures on the final summer day of 2024 (Sunday at 8:44 a.m. is officially the start of fall).

Lyon, who was paired with 2017 U.S. Amateur runner-up Doug Ghim in U.S. Open final qualifying this year in Canada, closed his round with an eagle-3 on the 594-yard 18th hole. He was 1 over through three and played 7-under golf the last 15 holes. He hit a 4-wood to 18 feet to set up the eagle.

“It kind of goes the other way,” said Lyon of his confidence level after the opening round. “Am I going to be the first guy to shoot 65 and not qualify for match play? It does help, maybe not put as much pressure on me tomorrow [at stroke-play co-host Independence Golf Club] to go out there and fire at every single pin but at same time I want keep my foot on the gas.”

Butler, a consultant who attended the same high school in Lancaster, Pa., as 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk (Manheim Township High), had a wild day of seven birdies, eight pars and three bogeys. He was 6 under for his round until a pair of late bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8.

He birdied four consecutive holes from No. 17 (he started on No. 10) and had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch before the two late blemishes.

Butler arrived in Virginia fresh off a disappointing finish in the two-day Pennsylvania Mid-Amateur at Moselem Springs Golf Club, where he followed a first-round 68 with a 75.

“I kind of wanted to play smart golf,” said Butler, who missed the cut in last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur. “For a lot of the year, I have been shooting myself in the foot.

“You can’t really make more than a bogey in [stroke play] or you’re going to have to dig yourself out of that. I just wanted to avoid the big numbers.”

Hale made a recent attitude adjustment, telling himself to have more fun on the golf course, and it has paid off, at least for the first round.

“I have been too hard on myself,” said the reinstated amateur. “It’s something that held me back when I was playing professionally. I am still trying to figure it out. Today was one of those days where I was really easy on myself.”

What’s Next

Competitors will swap courses on Sunday for the final round of stroke play, after which the field will be trimmed to the low 64 scorers for match play exclusively at Kinloch Golf Club. Should a playoff be necessary to determine the final spots in the draw, it would be conducted on Monday morning at Kinloch.

Notable

• Andrew Crowley, 42, of Richmond, was one of four Virginians to hit the opening tee shots from Nos. 1 and 10 at the respective courses during the morning wave on Saturday. Crowley, whose father, Mike, is the general chairman for the championship, teed off on the first hole at Kinloch. He played at the University of Georgia with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, and PGA Tour winners Kevin Kisner and Chris Kirk. Also hitting first tee shots were Adam Horton, of Chesapeake (No. 10 at Kinloch); former Duke University standout Brinson Paolini, of Virginia Beach (No. 1 at Independence); and Jordan Utley, of Richmond (No. 10 at Independence).
  
  
• Utley was one of two golfers to post 67. He was joined on that number by Andrew Von Lossow, of Spokane, Wash., who played at Kinloch.
  
  
• Defending champion Stewart Hagestad opened with an even-par 71 at Kinloch Golf Club. Evan Beck, last year’s runner-up from Virginia Beach, Va., posted a 2-under 69 at Independence Golf Club.
  
  
• Two PGA Tour/Korn Ferry Tour caddies had good opening rounds. Derek Smith, who carries for Maryland native Denny McCarthy, posted a 2-under 68 at Independence, while Corby Segal, who works with Tennessee native Davis Shore on the KFT, signed for an even-par 71 at Kinloch, registering birdies on three of his last four holes.
  
  
• Mike Louden, of Phoenix, Ariz., actually has a better-known golfer as his caddie. Wife Stephanie Louden (nee Keever), a Las Vegas native, was a four-time All-American at Stanford University, represented the USA on the 2000 Curtis Cup and Women’s World Amateur Teams, won the 1997 Women’s Western Amateur and reached the quarterfinals of the 1998 and 1999 U.S. Women’s Amateur. In six U.S. Women’s Open starts, she made four cuts, including a tie for 12th in 2002 at Prairie Dunes Country Club. Mike Louden, who also briefly caddied for 1994 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Wendy Ward when she competed on the LPGA Tour, opened with a 75 at Independence G.C.
  
  
• The name Al Barkow should sound familiar to golf afficionados, at least those who read stories and books on the game. Al won the USGA’s inaugural Herbert Warren Wind Award in 1987 for his book “Gettin’ to the Dance Floor.” Barkow, who qualified for the 1971 U.S. Amateur, also has written and edited for a number of major publications, including USGA Golf Journal, Golf Digest, Golf World, Golf Magazine and Sports Illustrated. His son, Adam Barkow, a Fresno State graduate who resides in Oakland, Calif., is competing in his first U.S. Mid-Amateur this week. Adam opened with a 72 at Independence G.C. with his 92-year-old father in attendance.
  
  
• U.S. Mid-Amateur organizers surprised Bill McCarthy, the USGA’s longtime championship director for the U.S. Mid-Amateur, with his own beer label at the Welcome Dinner on Thursday night at Independence G.C. The brainchild of Independence G.C. president Giff Breed, the beer was a pilsner from an area brewery and they overlayed Billy Mac Beer on each of the cans.
  
  
• John Rosenstock has a relationship with both clubs hosting this year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur. The 39-year-old from Richmond, Va., was a cart boy at Independence Golf Club and grew up just five minutes from the stroke-play co-host course. Following graduation from nearby Midlothian High School, he was a caddie at Kinloch Golf Club for two years. His Longwood University teammate (Jed Rasnick) is also a Kinloch caddie and carrying Rosenstock’s bag this week. Rosenstock fired a 75 at Independence G.C.
  
  
• Three of the four toughest holes at Independence Golf Club were Nos. 7-9. The 481-yard, par-4 eighth, normally a par 5 for regular play and when the Virginia State Golf Association conducts the Virginia State Open here, played the toughest at 4.58, while the 231-yard, par-3 seventh (3.50) and 204-yard, par-3 ninth (3.32) were the third- and fourth-toughest holes. The 444-yard 12th was the second hardest at 4.48. The two toughest holes at Kinloch were the 235-yard, par-3 16th (3.48) and the 443-yard, par-4 first hole (4.39).
  
  
• The two courses had virtually the same stroke averages: 73.79 for Kinloch and 73.62 for Independence, which measured 34 yards shorter but played to a par of 70 versus 71 for the former.

Quotable

“It takes the pressure off a little bit. You still have to go out and play. If you get behind the eight ball, maybe shoot 3-over or something the first day, now you have to do something the second day. Obviously, I want to play well tomorrow but I don’t have to shoot 7 under.” – Scott Harvey on getting into solid position to make match play with a first-round 64

“In terms of what I will remember from it, it’s definitely up there. In terms of actual performance, I probably scored a lot better than I played. I don’t think if you were actually watching me hit the ball you would have thought that I signed for 65. I was making putts and getting up and down from areas that I need to so that definitely helped.” – Connor Lyon when asked to rate his first-round performance

“Sometimes. I like to keep even keel, but he is so competitive. He played against 50,000 screaming fans. He gets me fired up, it’s fun.” – Stephen Hale on having his father, ex-big-league outfielder John Hale (Dodgers and Mariners) serving as his caddie.

“I probably have [played] north of 40 or 50 [rounds here], if I had to guess, over the years, and that’s probably underselling how many times. Again, it’s tournament play and how the USGA sets up tournaments. I haven’t played 17 as a 650-yard, par-5 before. So that’s a little different. But familiarity helps for sure, and today I was able to pay that off.” – Jordan Utley, the former director of finance (2014-16) at Independence Golf Club after a 68

“I love Independence. Always have. I’ve been playing here since I was a kid. I think it was the first place I ever broke 70 when. I was like 12, 13 years old. A lot of good memories…I’ve probably played here 50 times. It’s an awesome place and I’m happy to be here.” – Evan Beck, the 2023 runner-up who has claimed a pair of Virginia State Opens at Independence G.C.

“It’s fantastic, probably a little bit more. The golf course is amazing, the staff has been incredible, and I am excited to see what tomorrow has in store.” – Matt Johnson after a 3-under 68 at Kinloch

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.