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On a picture perfect day at Rhode Island Country Club, Wanumetonomy’s Mike Calef defeated 2018 State Amateur Champion Jake Bauer to win the 2025 Rhode Island State Amateur on Friday afternoon. 

“I had no idea that it was coming to be honest. Jake is a stud and he played so well all day. Putts were not really dropping for me, but we just kind of stuck with it and finally made a really good one on 16, that was great. To make one on 17 was fantastic,” said Calef after the round. 

He continued, “I drew a really poor lie on 18, but that’s what you get, and I was fortunate to be able to get it up on the green and finish it off.” 

Calef won the match one-up over Bauer and now gets a bid to the 2025 U.S. Amateur. 

A former pro, turned back Amateur, Calef is already a highly accomplished player, winning the Massachusetts Amateur back in 2012 and 2013, not to mention other accomplishments.

So how did this one feel?

“I mean, it’s awesome. It’s fantastic. I’m not as young as I was when I had some other accomplishments, so this one means a lot. To have so many friends and family here rooting me on, I have a hard time not being emotional about the whole thing,” said Calef. 

Scoring HERE

Racing Against Time

One of the mini-storylines of this match was that Calef’s caddie, Bob Murphy, might have had to leave the match early due to his son getting married on Saturday and having fatherly responsibilities that come with it.

“We didn’t know if he was going to leave on 15, 16. He said I have to go on 17 and then stayed, then said he had to go on 18. My close friend Matt Hall was ready to fill in if need be, but fortunately Bob could stick it out and then take my ball and run,” said Calef. 

Murphy left right after the handshakes, taking Calef’s ball right out of the hole and put it in his pocket. 

Calef Wins it 

Calef entered the second 18 holes with a two-up lead over Bauer. 

However, Bauer won three of the first five holes of the second 18 to take a one up lead of his own on the fifth hole. 

On six, Calef nearly chipped in for eagle and ended up with a tap in birdie to get the match tied again. 

The match remain tied through the next four holes before Bauer regained a one-up lead on the 11th hole. 

“I wasn’t playing poorly. If I was making bogies and doubles, the train could have come off the tracks quickly, I was playing steady golf out here, that was my plan, Jake was just playing better,” said Calef. 

The two halved the next four holes leading to the 16th hole. 

On 16, Calef drained a massive putt from about 20 feet and pumped his fist in excitement as the match was now tied.  

“We had a similar putt in the morning, it was a little closer to pin high and I missed it on the high side. I said walking off that green that we are just over reading putts today. On that one, I wanted to play a little less break, the wind was going to move it to the left so I literally played a straight putt. Off the putter, I thought I missed it right, but it straightened out and went right in the hole,” said Calef after the round. 

That brought the championship to the famed par-3 17th hole where both players were short, Bauer was in the front bunker and Calef was in the rough. 

Calef chipped it to just a few feet above the hole, while Bauer was short. 

After Bauer missed his putt, Calef knocked his in to take a one-up lead. 

“One of the benefits of playing Wanometonomy is you get those short three-four footers that are straight down hill that if you don’t make it, it’s going 8-12 feet by. I was fortunate that Bob read it as a straight putt and we played it that way, and it went right in the middle,” said Calef. 

That was his first lead in the match since the second hole of the second 18. 

On 18, Bauer put his second shot way above the flag and Calef, who caught a bad lie in the right rough, put his shot below the flag.  

Bauer ran his birdie putt by the hole, opening the door for Calef to close it out.

Calef knocked his putt close and Bauer conceded the match. 

The First 18 

Calef came out of the gates like gangbusters to start the Rhode Island Amateur. 

He won the first three-holes to take a very early three-up lead over Bauer. 

Bauer won the fifth hole, but lost the seventh hole, restoring Celf’s three up lead. 

Calef remained three-up through the end of the front nine. 

On the back side, Bauer won the tenth and 13th holes to cut Calef’s lead to just one up. 

The two halved the next four holes before Calef won the 18th hole to take a two-up lead into the second 18.