EAST PROVIDENCE _ Justin Suh had only one regret Saturday as the 57th Northeast Amateur drew to a close at Wannamoisett Country Club.
“I wish I had played here sooner. It’s such a great event,” the Southern Cal All-American said as he accepted congratulations for winning the tournament.
Actually he did not just win. Suh led from wire-to-wire and as he turned in one of the best performances ever seen at the century old Donald Ross-designed course. He put together an almost mistake-free 66 in the final round for a 15-under-par total of 261. That equals the tournament record set by Peter Uihlein in 2011.
His six-stroke margin of victory over Cal’s Sebastian Crampton is the largest since Jonathan Byrd finished seven strokes ahead of Aaron Baddeley in 1999. He is the first player to lead every day since Stewart Jolly in 2014.
“It feels unbelievable. This is always known as such a big event, one of the best ,” Suh said. “To get to win my first time out here, it means a lot,” The fact that he matched the tournament record was merely frosting on the cake.
“I had no idea. That’s just an extra bonus,” he offered.
Suh, who is from San Jose, Cal., won five events for Southern Cal this year, including the Pac-12 Championship, which he also won wire-to wire. He arrived at Wannamoisett as the third ranked amateur in the world. Displaying a precise, controlled game reminiscent of two-time Northeast champion Luke Donald, the 5-foot-8 Suh carried a three-stroke lead into the final round, which had tee times moved up because of weather concerns. (The early ending got everyone off the course before the rain arrived.)
Suh came out and birdied the first hole and never gave anyone else a chance. About the only mistake he made was driving into a bunker on the dogleg par-4 fifth hole after driving into a bunker.
“It was tough because the wind changed from what it’s been all week,” he said. “It was just a good week besides. It seemed pretty flawless, especially on the back side.” He was helped. He said, by his caddy, Chris Alba, whose family is Wannamoisett members.
“We clicked right away,” Suh said. “He had courage. He called me off a couple of shots. Thanks to him it was a really good week.”
The victory will not change Suh’s plans to remain an amateur and return to Southern Cal for his senior year, where he is a business administration major.
“Graduating is important for me. Mentally it’s a lot more comforting having a paper in hand when you go out there,” he said. “Paper from USC means a lot. It’s what I’ve had to look forward to for quite a while.”
Suh had a streak of five straight tournaments in which he finished in the top 11 for the Trojans last year. He competed in the California Amateur last year so this is his first visit to the Northeast. Californians have won here each of the last two year, Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge last year and Fred Wedel of Malibu in 2016.
Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach, Cal., won the Joseph Sprague Award given to the low amateur. His closing 70 gave him a 1-under 275 total, one ahead of Matt Parziale, the U.S. Mid Amateur Champion.
In a significant moment for the host club, Davis Chatfield finished at even par 276 after a final round 72 that left him in a tie for 15th. A check of the record books showed that his score is the lowest ever recorded by an area player in the event’s 57 years.
The late Ronnie Quinn won twice, at 4-over in 1964 and 10-over in 1965. Brett Quigley won in 1988 at 6-over. Michael Capone finished fourth in 1999 at 7-over. Plainville’s Jim Renner was 2-under in 2006, but that was the year bad weather restricted the event to only 26 holes.
“I’ll definitely take a lot of positives out of it,” Chatfield said. “It was a good week.” His only disappointment was the way it ended. He was 4-over in the last five holes, including a double-bogey six on the last hole.
“It was good until the last five holes,” Chatfield said. “It didn’t end how I wanted.”