In winning, Stanford's rising sophomore David Chung, adds his name to the Pinehurst Heritage Hall plaque for North & South Champions, which also includes Francis Ouimet, Jack Nicklaus, Curtis Strange, Davis Love and many other greats of the game.
David defeated Wes Bryan 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final. The grueling event included 5 other matches to reach the finals. Steady and at time spectacular play by David marked his run through the tournament. In every match on the fames, tough Pinehurst #2 course David was no worst than even par.
Complete hole-by-hole scoring for all of David's matches can be found at http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/match/singles_detail.cfm?tournament_id=1590&mid=63
David's hometown newspaper, the Fayettville Observer, provided this story. A press release from Pinehurst is included below and here you will find a story in the Southern Pines Pilot. In addition, here's GolfWeek's story on David's win.
PINEHURST NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Janeen Driscoll, 910.235.8710
CHUNG DEFEATS BRYAN 4 & 3 FOR PINEHURST NORTH & SOUTH MEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. (July 4, 2009) – “No mistakes” is what Fayetteville, N.C. native David Chung needed and delivered to win the 109th North & South Men’s Amateur Championship on Saturday with a 4-and-3 win over Chapin, S.C.-native and South Carolina Gamecock golfer Wes Bryan.
Chung was 1-down after the first 18 holes of play on the 7,342-yard, par 71 Pinehurst No. 2 course. But with a 30-foot putt on the difficult par-4 5th hole for birdie, the tide of the 36-hole final match on Saturday began to turn in his favor.
“I knew I had a really tough match against Wes today,” said Chung, the Stanford rising sophomore, following play. “You have to hang in there for the first 18, but with the second 18, all that match play raises the level of intensity. It was grueling after three days of 36 holes.”
Neither player appeared tired throughout the day, trading birdies and holes throughout the round. The match was all-square through the first 12 holes, when Chung carded back-to-back birdies on holes 13 and 14 to take a 2-up lead. Chung missed a par putt on 15th to lose the hole with a Bryan par, and followed it by a par 5 on the 16th to Bryan’s birdie to set the match back to all-square. Bryan nailed a 10-footer on the 18th for birdie, but Chung would hold on to par with a 20-footer to end the morning’s play at 1-up, Bryan.
Although Bryan would card a winning par and birdie on the 21st and 22nd holes to go 3-up, The afternoon holes took a decisive turn with Chung’s 20-footer on the 23rd hole to set the match at 2-up, Bryan. Chung would take charge directly following with five birdies in the next 10 holes - the 26th, 28th, 31st, 32nd and 33rd holes. With birdies again on the 13th and 14th holes of Pinehurst No. 2, the short par-3 15th would set Chung for a birdie putt 10 feet from the hole. Bryan flew the green and putted from the back left swale past the hole, rolling to the front side of the green. Bryan would land within 4 feet of the hole on his 3rd shot, but Chung sunk his final birdie of the day to settle the match at 4-and-3.
“It means so much to me to win at Pinehurst,” said Chung. “It is very special and very important, especially in living 40 miles from here. I’ve played this course a lot, I came here for the Opens and had a system in playing these greens. I practiced a lot of putting off the greens.”
This is the third time Chung has competed in the North & South Amateur Championship. In winning, his name will be added to the Pinehurst Heritage Hall plaque for North & South Champions, which also includes Francis Ouimet, Jack Nicklaus, Curtis Strange, Davis Love and many other greats of the game.
He heads to Hilton Head for a tournament before returning to Pinehurst in two weeks to caddie for his sister, who will play in the Women’s North & South beginning on July 14.
109th Men’s North & South Amateur Championship
Final 36-hole Round Match Play Results: July 4, 2009
Pinehurst No. 2 7,342-yard par 71
Pinehurst Resort, Village of Pinehurst, N.C.
15 Chung, David (Fayetteville, NC) def 5 Bryan, Wes (Chapin, SC) 4 & 3
About Pinehurst
Located in the North Carolina heartland, world-renowned Pinehurst Resort is a 2,000-acre historic property featuring spa, golf, tennis, family, events and leisure recreation. Widely known as the cradle of American golf, it has hosted more single golf championships than any other site in America, including the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup Matches, PGA Tour Championship and many others. In 2008 it became the only resort to top the coveted Travel +Leisure Golf Best Golf Resort list for an unprecedented third time, as chosen by its readers. Pinehurst is a registered trademark of Pinehurst, LLC. See pinehurst.com or call 800-487-4653 for a complete list of events and activities.
Congratulations for David Chung who won the prestigious North-South Amateur at famed Pinehurst. Hopefully, I am not late to congratulate you. I am sure that he has had many rewards after winning the prestigious North-South Amateur at famed Pinehurst, hasn't she?
ReplyDeleteGreat job dude. You did it very well so you can won the tournament. Regarding his age, I consider it can be such great achievement. I hope it can inspire more youngsters to have a desire to reach better quality of life.
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