Clemson golfer advances to U.S. Amateur finals

Doc Redman will play in the 36-hole final on Sunday

by CU Athletic Communications - Sat Aug 19 16:35:18 GMT-04:00 2017

Clemson, S.C.—Doc Redman won the 18th hole to gain a 1-up victory for the second consecutive match and advanced to the finals of the 117th United States Amateur at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday. He defeated Virginia Tech golfer Mark Lawrence, Jr. to become the first Clemson golfer to reach the US Amateur finals since 2009 when Ben Martin was a finalist.

Redman will face Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, Ill., a golfer for the University of Texas, on Sunday in a 36-hole final. Ghim is the ninth seeded player in the field, while Redman was seeded 62nd after stroke play. Ghim has been dominant in his five matches and has trailed for just two total holes.

Redman is the fifth Clemson golfer to reach the U.S. Amateur finals. Parker Moore (1976), Chris Patton (1989), Danny Ellis (1993) and Ben Martin (2009) are the previous Clemson finalists. Only Patton claimed the championship a 3&1 win over Danny Green of Jackson, Tenn at Merion Country Club in Ardmore, Pa in 1989.

Lawrence and Redman played a close match on Saturday. Lawrence, a native of Richmond, Va., won the first hole, the second straight match Redman has trailed after the first hole. But the Clemson sophomore won holes three, four and five to take a 2-up lead, his largest lead in a match since a 4 & 3 win in the first round.

Lawrence and Redman trailed victories until Redman took a 2-up lead with a win on the 15th hole. It was the third time this week Redman had won the 15th hole. But Lawrence won the 16th hole with a par, then needed an eagle to beat Redman’s birdie on 17th to square the match after 17.

Redman hit his drive in the fairway on the 476 yard par four 18th, but Lawrence went into the first cut of rough. Redman’s second shot landed just off the green in front, while Lawrence went over the green and had a much more difficult down hill chip. Redman hit his approach to tap-in range, but Lawrence went off the other side of the green and could not make the come back shot, giving Redman the hole and the victory.

With the victory, Redman earns a berth in the 2018 US Open and is likely to receive an invitation to the 2018 Masters.

“Mark and I both played great,” said Redman. “Hats off to him. He made a great eagle putt on 17 and I expected him to make the putt on 18 to keep the match going.

“I wasn’t thinking about making the US Open or the Masters when I was playing today. I just tried to stay in the moment on that hole and do what I needed to do to try to win this match.”

Coverage of the 36-hole final on Sunday starts at 12:30 pm eastern time on USGA.org. Fox Sports will begin coverage at 4:30 p.m.