Final Match Notebook

Morning Rainbow – As light showers greeted Trip Kuehne and Dan Whitaker on the first tee for the morning 18 holes, a rainbow formed to the west over the Pacific. It slowly moved from a partial arc to a complete arc.

Once that arc was complete another rainbow began to form slightly to the south so the players, officials and spectators were treated to a double rainbow.

“That's the first thing I noticed when I was walking to the tee as I looked over there was a rainbow on the hole, and when I got ready to tee off there were two.” Kuehne said. “It was spectacular and special.  I said a prayer that I hoped that at the end of that rainbow is my pot of gold and not Dan's.”

Thoughts of leprechauns on this links course jumped to mind. A USGA staffer even piped in over the two-way radio: “I think I see the Bob Jones Trophy at the end of the rainbow.”

The Robert T. Jones Jr. Memorial Trophy is given to the winner of the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship.

Ernie Kuehne, Trip's father, (left) helps to quell the flow of emotions on the 11th green after the final match concluded. The younger Kuehne patiently waited 13 years to return to a USGA final after losing to Tiger Woods in the 1994 U.S. Amateur. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

USGA Championship Families – With the victory, Trip makes the Kuehne family the most decorated in USGA history with five individual championships. They are also the only family in history with three different individual champions. And, they have six USGA title because Trip was a member of the 2007 USGA Men’s State Team Championship squad from Texas.

“This is huge for our family,” said Kuehne patriarch Ernie, who wore a blue USA hat from the 2007 Walker Cup all week. “I can die in peace. Now, I can die in peace.”

It's improbable for what's happened.” Trip said. “The odds of it happening are astronomical; it's improbable that it happened.  You know, I guess mom and dad put so much into it, as far as if we showed the dedication and the want and desire to play the game of golf.

“We were privileged to play the best clubs, have access to the best equipment, best instruction, and we could play in tournaments anywhere in the world as long as we kept our grades up and showed a passion toward the game of golf.  So, you know, that was the opportunity that we were given, and to be able to see it and finally win. It was my time to kind of complete the trilogy, or whatever you want to call it, or triple, I guess it's fitting that I was the last one.”

Following is a chart of the six families that have members who have won USGA championships:

Kuehne family (5)

Hank – 1998 Amateur

Kelli – 1994 Girls’ Junior, 1995 and 1996 Women’s Amateur

Trip – 2007 Mid-Amateur

Barenaba brothers (2)

Charles Jr – 1974 Amateur Public Links

Randy – 1975 Amateur Public Links

Cornelius family (2)

Kathy – 1956 Women’s Open (mother)

Kay – 1981 Girls’ Junior (daughter)

Curtis sisters (4)

Harriot – 1906 Women’s Amateur

Margaret – 1907, 1911, 1912 Women’s Amateur

Mudd brothers (3)

Eddie -- 1976 Amateur Public Links

Jodie -- 1980 and 1981 Amateur Public Links

Richardson family (2)

John – 1987 Senior Amateur (father)

Kemp – 2001 and 2003 Senior Amateur (son)

All In The Whitaker Family – Tom Whitaker, Dan’s father, took off from his championship-long caddie duties in the afternoon 18 because he has two artificial hips and he needed a break. Taking Tom’s spot was Dan’s older brother, Ryan, who played golf at Arizona State and was a roommate of PGA Tour player and past U.S. Amateur champion Jeff Quinney. Ryan was the medalist at the Pacific Northwest Stroke Play at Bandon Dunes in 1999.

Something In Common – Despite their differences in age, hometown, golf career aspirations, Kuehne and Whitaker have something in common. Kuehne was overheard commenting on that on the first hole of the match. He said to Whitaker, “Hey, I know what we have in common. We both didn’t stay at Arizona State for very long.”

Kuehne began his college career at Arizona State before transferring to Oklahoma State and Whitaker also began as a Sun Devil but transferred to Washington State.

Compiled by Pete Kowalski, USGA Media Relations