Patterson Leads By 3 Entering Final Round Of Lupton Memorial

Brett Patterson’s world has been turned upside down in various degrees of chaos lately, which is perfectly fine by him. It has enabled him to find solace through golf that didn’t exist a decade ago.

Where golf once served as a source of unmet expectations and anxiety, Patterson is now able to find a cathartic outlet through the game that helps center him for his other life obligations. Even when taking on a formidable beast like The Honors Course in this weekend’s John T. Lupton Memorial, the native of McMinnville enjoys a sense of peace on the golf course.

It doesn’t hurt that Patterson finds himself holding a three-shot lead in the Mid-Amateur flight, shooting an even par 72 on Saturday to post a two-day total of 3-under 141 entering Sunday’s final round.

Patterson’s sterling performance left him as the lone golfer in red figures, just ahead of his second round playing partners Nick Maccario and Ty Capps, who are tied for second at level par 144.

His first appearance in the esteemed Lupton Memorial concludes a hectic week that began at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in New Jersey. Patterson teamed with Payne Denman, the reigning Tennessee Amateur champion, to make it into match play before being eliminated in the Round of 32. The duo advanced to the quarterfinals in last year’s event.

His recent golf odyssey comes on the heels of his duties as a professor teaching three classes while pursuing his Ph.D. in the School of Accountancy at Ole Miss. Considering Patterson and his wife also have a two-year-old daughter, there’s little margin in this busy chapter of life.

“During the semester with classes going on, I'm lucky to play or practice once a week at best,” said Patterson, who played collegiately at Middle Tennessee State from 2010-15 and qualified for the U.S. Open his freshman year. “These last couple weeks since the semester ended, I’ve been able to golf pretty much every day.”

Patterson has enjoyed some success over the past few years, making it to the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur and participating in the U.S. Amateur that same summer in addition to advancing to match play in the last two U.S. Amateur Four-Balls. For good measure, he’s also the current Mississippi Mid-Amateur champion after finishing runner-up the two previous years.

Oddly enough, Patterson has a connection to a pair of golfers who are tied for fourth in the Lupton Memorial. Whit Turnbow of Murfreesboro was Patterson’s coach at MTSU, while defending champion Joseph Deraney of Belden, Miss. won three straight Mississippi Mid-Amateur championships from 2020-22 and finished third behind Patterson last year.

Patterson’s round on Saturday featured two bogies and a pair of birdies on both nines, his steady play following his first day that was highlighted by six birdies including three in his first four holes of the tournament.

“I hit it really well, but I had a couple of really bad three-putts,” Patterson said. “I feel like if I just keep doing the same thing, it should take care of itself. But trouble lurks around every corner here, so you just can't really focus on anything else other than hitting the next shot.”

Patterson has no regrets in choosing his career path of chasing his doctorate degree instead of trying his luck in professional golf.

“I told my dad the other night that even if somebody said I could be on the PGA tour right now versus what I’m doing as a professor, I wouldn't take it. I love my job,” Patterson said.

First-round leader Maccario overcame a rocky start on Saturday that saw him surrender five shots through his first five holes to shoot 1-under the remainder of the day. His 4-over 76 left the transplanted Boston native who now lives in Atlanta tied with Capps after the Palm Coast, Fla. resident posted a 74 that included an impressive 15 pars on the difficult layout.

Turnbow, who won this event in 2019, posted his second straight 73 to close at 2-over 146, while defending champion Deraney has also signed for a pair of 73s to join Turnbow in a tie for fourth.

The third golfer at 2-over 146 was Keith Guest of Athens, Ga. who overcame a wobbly start that had him 6-over for the day before catching fire with birdies at 13, 14, 15 and 17 that led to a round of 76.

Three players are tied for seventh at 3-over 147 including Ben Kendrick of Lexington, Ky., Ben Reeves of Birmingham, Ala. and Kevin Johnson of Naples, Fla.

Kendrick overcame a double bogey on the second hole to finish with a tidy 71 on Saturday, while Reeves was also poised to shoot 1-under on the day before a frustrating triple bogey on the final hole. Johnson staged a furious finish to his round by closing with three consecutive birdies to post a 73 for his afternoon.

Mark Harrell of Lookout Mountain and Daniel Levin of New York City are tied for tenth at 4-over 148, seven shots off Patterson’s lead.

Larkin, Kemp Tied For Senior Lead

Jack Larkin would love to add the championship trophy from the Lupton Memorial to his impressive collection. But he refuses to allow his mind to wander there at this juncture.

Instead, the Atlanta resident is focused on immersing himself in the process instead of the outcome. That approach worked with near perfection during Saturday’s second round of Senior division play.

After beginning his round on No. 10, Larkin delivered a trifecta of birdies on holes 14 thru 16 leading to a 32 on his opening nine. He then had a clean closing nine with the exception of a lone bogey to card a 3-under 69, earning a share of the lead at even par 144 along with England’s John Kemp.

“We come here to compete, and I want to win every tournament I play,” Larkin said. “But that is the farthest thing from my mind right now. I've come to a place in golf where all I want to do is go out and try to win the internal battle. All I'm trying to do is perform to what I would think my standards are, and if I do the results take care of themselves.”

In recording the lone round below par among the Seniors on Saturday, Larkin gives plenty of credit to his caddie, Oliver Simonsen, who happens to be the son of The Honors Course Director of Golf Henrik Simonsen.

“I told Ollie before we started, ‘All I want to do is just commit to the shots. I don't care about the outcome. Let’s go hit shots and have fun hitting them,’” Larkin said. “And we did that so many times. If it wasn’t a shot that's a normal, standard shot, we invented a new way to play it. I didn’t even know what I shot because we were so locked into the process.”

Kemp overcame three straight bogeys on his opening nine to shoot 3-over 75, moving into a share of the lead with a birdie on his last hole at No. 9.

Lurking one shot back is Bob Royak of Alpharetta, Ga. at 1-over 145. The 2023 Lupton Memorial champion eagled the par 5 second hole but limped home with bogeys at 6, 7 and 9 that was offset with a birdie at 8 to close with a 3-over 75.

A pair of golfers from Savannah, Ga. are next in line with Jack Hall in fourth at 4-over 148, just ahead of Doug Hanzel at 5-over 149.

After shooting an even par 72, Shaw Pritchett of Montgomery, Ala. is tied for sixth at 7-over 151 along with five-time champion Paul Simson of Raleigh, N.C. and Buzz Fly of Memphis.   

For complete results, go to John T. Lupton Memorial results.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com