BREAKING: Kevin Blaser wins RI Amateur
After a back and forth 36 hole match, Kevin Blaser is the 2022 Rhode Island Amateur Champion.
Blaser edged Mike Hamilton 1-up on the 18th hole to win his first RI Amateur title. \
“Yea, I played well. Played a lot of good competitors this week, didn’t realize how long of a week it is until you actually do it. I mean 36 everyday is tolling on the back, getting up at 5, 5:30 a.m. every day to get to the course and on your feet all day, it’s a long week,” Blaser said after the round.
Not just in this tournament, but overall, Blaser has been red hot lately.
As GolfNewsRI reported, he won the Cape Cod Amateur near the end of last year, won the Burke Tournament last year and has found himself in contention in a number of other tournaments over the course of the season.
It is arguably the best stretch of golf in his career.
“I don’t know about the best, but consistent. I used to make a lot of birdies, a lot of bogeys, now I don’t make as many birdies, but not as many bogeys either so it is consistent, I keep myself in it,” added Blaser.
For Blaser, he will skip the New England Am at Alpine before getting set for the stroke play.
Hamilton will play the New England Am starting on Monday at Alpine.
Story of the Match
Blaser took a two-up lead into the second 18 holes, but that quickly evaporated as Hamilton came out firing on the second 18, making birdies on the first two holes to tie the match.
Throughout the course of the match, Blaser held two-up leads on a couple of different occasions but Hamilton kept coming back to tie.
Blaser took his biggest lead of the match on 13, when he hit an incredible shot from the left rough to a give me birdie. Hamilton missed his putt and the defending Cape Cod Amateur Champ took a three up lead.
However, as he had most of the day, Hamilton fought back.
The Kirkbrae member was one-down with two to go before draining a 35-40 footer for birdie on the par 3 17th to win the hole.
“My mindset is just one shot at a time, learned a lot from Quigs (Paul Quigley), one shot at a time, him making a putt didn’t phase me, I’m glad he made the putt, went to 18, hit the tee shot, went to the next shot,” Blaser said.
On the final regulation hole 18, Blaser blasted the ball right down the middle, while Hamilton put his tee shot in the trees on the left. He was in jail.
Blaser put his second shot on the green and two putted for the win after Hamilton’s par putt missed.