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112th NCGA Amateur Match Play Championship Spyglass Hill | Aug. 10-14


The No. 1 amateur in the world put together a performance for the ages while blitzing through the 112th NCGA Amateur Match Play Champi- onship at Spyglass Hill. Dropping in for a tune-up the week


before the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields outside Chicago, NCAA Player of the Year Maverick McNealy obliterated the field, capping his tour de force with a 6-and-5 finals win over San Francisco’s Matt Cohn to capture his first NCGA championship. “Spyglass Hill is a course I’ve played


many times as a kid and I’ve played many tournaments here,” McNealy said. “To come out as the champion is pretty neat.” Between his two stroke-play rounds


Maverick McNealy


and his five matches (none that was closer than 4 and 3), McNealy played 123 holes in an astounding 32 under. (That’s 1 under every 3.8 holes.) Mc- Nealy went 47 straight holes without making a bogey or worse, and set the 18-hole and 36-hole championship records. McNealy’s first-round (and bogey-free) 7-under 65 was an NCGA low for a competitive round at Spy- glass. His two-day total of 8-under 136 was also an NCGA championship record at Spyglass.


Matt Cohn “These are great conditions for me


to prep for the U.S. Amateur,” said McNealy, the highest ranked player to ever compete in an NCGA event. “The course was as fast and firm as I’ve ever seen it.” McNealy’s play was a sight to be


seen, too. “The finals were so much fun,” said


Cohn, the No. 7 seed who is a match play stalwart, owning a 10-4 record in this championship. “It was exactly what I thought it would be. I played well most of the day and he played better. Through 29 holes, I was 2 under, and 4 down, and he wasn’t even playing his best.” “It wasn’t an easy match,” said


McNealy, who led the nation in scoring as a sophomore at Stanford. “It was bloody. It was a difficult match for me psychologically. I’d be in control and he’d make a miraculous, unbelievable up-and-down. His short game was great. I had to refocus and try to make birdies and pars, whatever it took.” There was a tone of admiration


from many of McNealy’s vanquished opponents. “I felt like I needed to birdie every hole to have a chance,” said Nick Moore, this year’s NCGA Player of the Year, who lost 6 and 5 to McNealy in the Round of 16.


54 / NCGA.ORG / FALL 2015


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