Minnesota Golfer - Fall 2012 - 38

(score card
)
Van Rooyen's Clutch Putting Wins
MGA Amateur Championship
By Mike Fermoyle
I
n retrospect, there might have been
a kind of inevitability to Frederick
" Eric " Van Rooyen's victory July 18 at
the 109th MGA Amateur Championship.
A year ago, Donald Constable, who had
recently concluded his senior season as the
No. 1 player for the University of Minnesota,
won the State Amateur. He was succeeded
as the No. 1 player in the Gopher
lineup by Van Rooyen this season.
So it seems fitting that Van Rooyen also
replaced Constable, who played a national
schedule of amateur tournaments this
summer, as the State Amateur champion.
In fact, in the 45 years since the State Am
switched from match play to stroke play,
20 of 46 possible winners were either current
Minnesota players or alumni.
Van Rooyen, a senior-to-be from Oudtshoorn,
South Africa, took the lead in the
second round, when he shot a 3-under-par
68 at Hastings Country Club. He followed
that with a 73 in the final round, which
gave him a 54-hole total of 213 and a
three-stroke cushion between himself and
the three players who tied for second-
David Christensen, Sammy Schmitz and
Matt Schneider.
Van Rooyen pushed his tee shot slightly
at No. 1 (520 yards, par 5), but he was able
to carry the trees on the right and cut the
dogleg, then make a 5-foot putt for his
birdie. He bogeyed No. 4 (435, par 4), but
got the stroke back with a birdie at No. 7
(485, par 5).
STATE AM STATS
STATE AM DRIVES
MGA Tournament officials measured drives at the
525-yard, par-5 3rd hole, Hastings Country Club's
No. 9 handicap hole. This hole ranked the second
easiest on the course with a scoring average of
5.106. Am champ Frederick " Eric " Van Rooyen
missed the fairway in round one and bogeyed the
hole, but he hit the fairway in rounds two and
three, going on to make birdies in both rounds.
36
MINNESOTAGOLFER Fall 2012
ROUND 1
ROUND 2
Measured Drives* Fairways Hit** Average Drive
58
83
37.7
55.3
** 34 players hit the fairway both measured rounds (one and two);
46 players missed both rounds.
266.10
286.95
* From a full field of 156 players, round 1: two players did not show;
round 2: four players withdrew.
" I would have hit a 3-wood off that
tee, " Van Rooyen noted. " But I broke my
3-wood on the practice range yesterday. "
Van Rooyen then encountered a rough
patch. A bogey at the difficult 215-yard,
par-3 8th wasn't a big deal, but he also bogeyed
the relatively easy 335-yard, par-4
18th. " I just hit a bad tee shot there, " he
said. " I hit a rescue that faded too much,
and I ended up behind a tree. "
That was followed by a double bogey at
No. 10 (415, par 4). Suddenly, he was one
over par for the championship.
" It was tough today, " Van Rooyen contricky,
and I
ceded. " The wind made it
was feeling some pressure. I think that's
just normal, when you're leading a tournament.
I was a little shaky there in the
middle of the round. "
Meanwhile, a couple of his pursuers
were closing in. Schmitz had started his
round with an eagle at the first hole and a
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