By: Global Golf Post

In a well-played and dramatic final act, Clemson University sophomore Doc Redman defeated Doug Ghim on the 37th hole in the championship match to capture the U.S. Amateur at Riviera Country Club. Both players will represent the United States in next month’s Walker Cup and have earned berths into the 2018 Masters and U.S. Open.

Redman, a North Carolina native who made the final of the recent Western Amateur, appeared sunk on several occasions during the tournament. After having to make it through a 13-for-8 playoff to advance to the match-play bracket, Redman defeated Logan Lowe, 4 and 3, and rode with his 62-seed label all the way to the championship finale against Ghim.

The morning 18 holes of the final match featured 15 halved holes and a bucketload of birdies between the two as Redman led, 1 up, going into the afternoon. He exchanged victories with Ghim early on in the second 18 and the margin remained the same with nine holes left.

From there, Ghim seemed to seize control with a winning birdie on No. 11 and a winning par on the difficult par-4 13th. He took a 2-up advantage on the par-3 16th with a two-putt par when Redman failed to get up and down from the thick kikuyu rough.

With the match dormie, Ghim striped his second shot to the
par-5 17th over the green and pitched his third to close range. That’s when Redman rolled home an eagle putt from 50-plus feet, sending the match to its final hole.

On the par-4 18th, Ghim hit his 9-iron approach a shade heavy and came up 20 yards short of the putting surface, while Redman hit a stellar cut shot 10 feet from the hole. Ghim’s pitch rolled up near the hole, but Redman confidently made his right-to-left birdie putt to send the match to extra holes.

The tricky par-4 10th hole hosted the playoff, where Redman ripped his tee ball just short and left of the green in perfect position. With his momentum gone, Ghim hooked his shot into thick rough behind a palm tree, forcing him to slash it out into a greenside bunker. Redman calmly played his second shot to within 10 feet and watched as Ghim went bunker-to-bunker and took two strokes to reach the green. Redman’s putt eventually was conceded, giving him the championship.

Republished with permission by Global Golf Post.