1995
It was quite a golf season for this year's Mid-Amateur champion
Jerry Courville, Jr., of Norwalk, Conn. First, he advanced through
local and sectional qualifying to secure a spot in the U.S. Open,
one of only two amateurs to master these hurdles. He played well
at Shinnecock, too, missing the cut only because of a triple bogey
in the 18th hole of the second round.
Next, Courville played in the U.S. Amateur at Newport, R.I., earning
medalist honors along the way. Third, he was selected for and played
on the U.S. Walker Cup team that competed in Wales in early September.
Finally, Courville became a USGA champion when he bested a field
of 312 to win the 15th Mid-Amateur.
This year's event was held at Caves Valley Golf Club and Woodholme
Country Club, located near Baltimore, Maryland. The lowest 64 scorers
after 36 holes of stroke play advanced to the match-play portion
at Caves Valley, the home course of USGA President Reg Murphy.
Courville faced a tough test in the semifinal round, beating 1989
Mid-Amateur champion James Taylor by a convincing margin of 6 and
4. His final round opponent was Warren Sye, a two-time national
amateur champion in his native Canada. Courville never led in the
final until the 18th green, when he prevailed by a score of 1 up.
The path to victory, though, was anything but smooth. Sye grabbed
a 3-up lead after six holes, and remained 2 up through the 12th
hole. Courville took advantage of Sye's errant third shot on the
par-5 13th to trim the deficit to one. Some poor putting caused
Sye to drop the next hole as well, squaring the match. They proceeded
to the final hole, where both players faced match-winning birdie
putts. Both missed, but Courville holed his next putt for par and
secured his first USGA championship.