Agawam Hunt’s Joel Harvey Set for U.S. Mid-Am
RI’s Joel Harvey has been on property at the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Sleepy Hollow Country Club for a couple of days prepping for the tournament to begin on Saturday.
Since qualifying for the tournament last month, it has been a bit of a whirlwind for the Agawam Hunt member, one thing has been consistent – he hasn’t stopped smiling.
“The smile on my face has not been wiped off, since I putted out in the qualifying playoff. It’s been fantastic. It, it’s been just unbelievable,” Harvey told GolfNewsRI in a phone interview following his Thursday practice round.
This is the first USGA event that Harvey has ever tried to qualify for and, obviously, the first one he has ever played in.
“The experience thus far has been tremendous. The USGA really knows how to host an event. They have been doing it for hundreds and, hundreds of years. It’s almost like you get to feel like a touring pro, you know, for the time on site. They just really know how to take care of the participants,” said Harvey.
At least for the qualifying portion of the tournament, the Mid-Am will be played on two different courses, Sleepy Hollow Country Club and Fenway Golf Club.
The Golf Course
Harvey will get his tournament started on Saturday afternoon at Sleepy Hollow.
Sleepy Hollow opened in 1913 and was designed by Charles Blair Macdonald.
“Sleepy Hollow as a golf course is something man. It lives up to the expectations, everybody raves about it. Not only just how dope the logo is, but the golf course itself is next level. The pictures don’t do it justice,” Harvey said, having just played the course.
The course played 6,840 yards and is a par 71.
Harvey added “I wanna say it’s a it’s a fun golf course. It’s not a scary golf course. You have to be on the proper side of these, “Mcdonald Humps” and swells. It’s every golf architectects dream of greens with the the reverse red and the punch bowls and the thumbprints. The kicker is going to be you have to know where the pins are placed because you might wanna favor one side of the fairway or the other.”
Harvey’s Prep
In preparation for the tournament, Harvey says that he has studied Youtube videos of the course and drilled those into his head.
However, he has not played a ton of golf since qualifying for the tournament back in August.
“So my prep coming into it was actually not play a ton of golf, but just more focusing on the areas that I feel would benefit me. I would spend more time just fine tuning the golf swing just making sure it’s consistent, making sure I know what’s gonna happen when I miss it. Then really just getting technique on short game and just being confident going into a national championship,” said Harvey.
Harvey tees off at 12:12 p.m. on Saturday.
The Tournament
The U.S. Mid-AM starts with approximately 260 players with a cut to the top 64 and ties after two stroke play rounds.
The winner of the tournament receives the following:
-a gold medal
-custody of the Robert T. Jones Jr. Memorial Trophy for one year
-exemption into 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 2)
-exemptions from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Mid-Amateurs
-exemptions from qualifying for the next two U.S. Amateurs
-likely invitation to the 2024 Masters Tournament (must be an amateur)