Andrew O’Leary’s Wild Day at North & South Amateur
From the lowest of lows, to the highest of highs.
That pretty much describes former RI Amateur champ Andrew O’Leary’s Tuesday at the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst.
O’Leary got off to an amazing start in the tournament, then made a nine on the par-5 ninth hole.
Two holes later, he made a hole-in-one on the par-3 11th hole.
“This takes the cake for the craziest round of my life, for sure. Just an absurd day all around,” said O’Leary after the round.
Inside the Round
O’Leary ended the ninth hole after making three straight birdies and was three-under on the round.
“I tried to rip one down 9 and knew if I made a birdie there I’d be making the turn at 4 under. I ended up pulling it left, next to a tree and a bushy area. I felt like I could at least get the club on it and kind of went in there and took a few hacks at it. It never moved, really. I got it out eventually,” O’Leary told the media afterward.
So now, he is lying six.
He added, “I ended up making a 9. Just had to try to regroup as best as I could because I had gotten off to a decent start so I was still in it. So, I thought, let’s try to make some birdies on this back nine. Came out, birdied 10, and was like, all right, we’re getting back into it.”
Then on the 11th hole. He made an ace.
“It was 171 yards, and I hit a little chippy 8 iron, and it just landed, one bounce and just disappeared. At that point, I was like, this is just going to be the most absurd day of golf in my life, and just embraced that and tried to have as much fun with it as I could.”
O’Leary admitted that this was the craziest round of his golfing life.
Currently, already into round two, O’Leary is three-under for the tournament and in a tie for 11th place.
O’Leary missed the cut at last week’s Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett, so a high finish here would serve as a great bounce back.