After an impressive opening round at Oakland Hills Country Club, Thad Whitfield was unable to tame “The Monster” on Tuesday.
The Signal Mountain resident and future Middle Tennessee State University golfer missed by a single stroke of making it into a playoff to advance to match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. His round of 7-over par 77 left him at 5-over 145 after 36-holes, barely on the outside the cutline where the final nine spots will be determined among 13 golfers Wednesday morning.
After Ben Hogan won the 1951 U.S. Open championship at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., the legendary golfer dubbed the South Course “The Monster” due to is challenging layout. That trend continued this week as it played 1.7 strokes harder than its counterpart North Course.
Whitfield was in seventh place after blistering the North in his first round with eight birdies on his way to shooting a 2-under 68. But the difficult South track bared its fangs on Tuesday.
Starting on No. 10, Whitfield double-bogeyed his second hole on his way to a 40 on his opening nine. Birdies on holes 1 and 3 gave him a glimmer of hope, but four more bogeys on his inward nine led to a disappointing 77 on the day and tied for 69th.
Nashville’s Blades Brown followed his opening round 66 with a 68 on Tuesday, winning medalist honors and top seed in match play with his two-day total of 6-under 134. Tyler Watts of Huntsville, Ala. finished one back at 5-under 135.
The other pair of Tennessee entrants did not fare as well in missing the cut. Lafayette’s Maddox Crowder, who won the rain-shortened Tennessee Junior Amateur championship in a playoff over McCallie’s Billy Boroughs, shot 77 on Tuesday to finish at 10-over 150. Future Tennessee Vol golfer Christian Pardue of Arlington made his second loop in 77, compiling a two-day total of 12-over 152.
One other notable entrant struggled mightily despite having family success in this tournament. Charlie Woods, the son of 15-time major champion Tiger Woods, finished at 22-over 162. After an opening round of 82, the Jupiter, Fla. resident posted an 80 on Tuesday with his famous father following the action. The elder Woods won this event three straight times as a teenager.
For complete results go to US Junior Amateur results
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Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com