A young man I taught, and whose Mother I taught with, will tee off at 2:30 today in the US Open at Bethpage, New York. We are all excited about it, and it seems the New York press has latched on to the kid's Cinderella story. The 7000 population figure for his hometown isn't for the little town; its for the whole county. The course he grew up on is way out in the sticks, about 120 miles South of Atlanta, almost bordering on the Ft. Benning Military Reservation.
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Bethpage longshot Matt Nagy qualifies for U.S. Open in major miracle
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/m...page_longshot_qualifies_in_major_miracle.html
BY HANK GOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Monday, June 15th 2009, 4:00 AM
On one hand, Matt Nagy took the most improbable route of anyone to Bethpage for the U.S. Open. On the other, he was meant to be here.
The 20-year-old from Buena Vista, Ga., (population 7,000) flew to New York Sunday morning and was at the Black Course in Farmingdale, L.I., by afternoon, getting an early start on his preparation for what seems like an impossible dream.
Not that he doesn't have the talent. He was the 2006 Georgia Junior Player of the Year and has aspirations of making it on the PGA Tour.
But as his mother Debi said, "It's amazing. So many things had to happen and they all happened. He's meant to be here for a reason."
Nagy, who just completed his sophomore season at Kennesaw State in Georgia, started his journey at the local qualifier at nearby Pinetree Country Club, home of his instructor, Daryll Speegle.
With nine players advancing to the sectional, Nagy tied for seventh and was forced into a five-way playoff for the three remaining berths and two alternate spots. One player bolted, leaving four. By the seventh hole of the playoff, only the second alternate spot remained, and Nagy and Oklahoma State golfer Tyler Leon were dueling for it. The last four holes were played in darkness because neither player could return the next day. With the aid of officials listening for where the balls landed, Nagy outlasted Leon with a tap-in par.
Tired but somewhat satisfied, Nagy felt he'd done as much as he could. Not many second alternates find their way into the sectional field. In fact, the night before the next step, he was out with roommate and college teammate Alex Jones, questioning whether to make the 40-mile drive to Hawk's Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground early the next morning.
But he did go, waited by the putting green.
The first alternate from Pinetree decided that it wasn't worth the trip. There was another first alternate from the Amelia Island local qualifier on site but, because of quirky USGA protocol, the Hawk's Ridge qualifier had priority. Nagy would be in if someone didn't show. At one point, he noticed that Brian Harman, a top amateur who had played on the U.S. Walker Cup team, wasn't there.
He texted his mom.
"The first (text) said, 'Three minutes until Brian Harman's tee time and I don't see him,' " Debi Nagy recalled. "Then he texted me again and said, 'I see Brian Harman,' and then he texted me back and said, 'It's not him, one minute to go.' And the next text was, 'I just teed off No. 10.' "
Nagy hadn't even hit any warmup balls. He threw his bag over his shoulder and phoned Jones to speed down and pick him up during the round. He got there on the seventh hole. Nagy shot a 1-under par 71 in the morning round, in 15th place, four shots out of third, with the top three spots making it to Bethpage.
"The first round I actually hit the ball really bad but I shot 1-under, which is good," Nagy said. "We still figured that my round could have been lower if I'd made some up and downs. I was thinking I could have shot 68. So I had half a sandwich and hit the range, I found something and started hitting it better."
Nine birdies and nine pars later, Nagy had shot his career-best competitive round, a magical course-record 63.
He was in, but that's only half the story.
Matt's grandfather, Joe, was the pro at Indiana Country Club in
western Pennsylvania
for 30 years. In 1986, at 60, he decided to retire. He had always wanted to buy a golf club of his own. Several deals fell through until the realtor called him about a nine-hole course somewhere in Georgia.
Scrapping plans for a retirement home in Florida, Joe moved with his wife, Lena, his son, Joe Jr., and his daughter-in-law Debi. Cedar Creek Country Club was going to be a family-run enterprise.
"It's a country club and I mean it when I say country ... way out ... just a few members but public play also. It was culture shock," Debi Nagy said. "That's where Matt was born. Both my boys (Matt's brother Joey is 25 and will caddie for him this week) worked on the golf course, raking traps, picking up range balls ... and playing every day. When you have a golf course in your backyard and you live out in country, there's really not much to do."
Matt learned the game from his grandfather and father and when they couldn't take him on the course, his grandmother Lena was a designated cart driver.
They will all be making the trip to Bethpage, along with Debi's family from Pennsylvania, Speegle and his college coach Blake Smart ... all but Matt's grandfather, "the one person we'd want there the most," Debi said.
Six years ago, Joe had a stroke and he's been confined to his bed in a nursing home ever since. He is surrounded by newspaper clippings of Matt's accomplishments.
"He can't speak. He can't eat. But we go up and show him Matt in the paper and tell him all about it," Debi said. "Some days you get a little bit of a reaction and some days you don't. He just stares ahead and listens to you. One time Matt won a tournament by 11 strokes and we stopped by the nursing home to tell him after school and as he was telling him, a tear rolled down his check so we knew he was hearing us."
Matt played nine holes yesterday. He hit some solid shots and when he was mobbed by young kids for autographs off the 18th green, he knew he was at the U.S. Open.
"I really want to make the cut," he said. "It's kind of funny to say, I want to contend. I know it's really going to be hard to do ... I've never played in a PGA Tour event ... but I really want to make the cut for sure."
Before he left for New York, he also made one last trip, to the nursing home to his grandfather's bedside.
"I had to go there before I left," he said. "I told him I was playing in the Open. He had to know."
_______________________________________________________________
Bethpage longshot Matt Nagy qualifies for U.S. Open in major miracle
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/m...page_longshot_qualifies_in_major_miracle.html
BY HANK GOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Monday, June 15th 2009, 4:00 AM
On one hand, Matt Nagy took the most improbable route of anyone to Bethpage for the U.S. Open. On the other, he was meant to be here.
The 20-year-old from Buena Vista, Ga., (population 7,000) flew to New York Sunday morning and was at the Black Course in Farmingdale, L.I., by afternoon, getting an early start on his preparation for what seems like an impossible dream.
Not that he doesn't have the talent. He was the 2006 Georgia Junior Player of the Year and has aspirations of making it on the PGA Tour.
But as his mother Debi said, "It's amazing. So many things had to happen and they all happened. He's meant to be here for a reason."
Nagy, who just completed his sophomore season at Kennesaw State in Georgia, started his journey at the local qualifier at nearby Pinetree Country Club, home of his instructor, Daryll Speegle.
With nine players advancing to the sectional, Nagy tied for seventh and was forced into a five-way playoff for the three remaining berths and two alternate spots. One player bolted, leaving four. By the seventh hole of the playoff, only the second alternate spot remained, and Nagy and Oklahoma State golfer Tyler Leon were dueling for it. The last four holes were played in darkness because neither player could return the next day. With the aid of officials listening for where the balls landed, Nagy outlasted Leon with a tap-in par.
Tired but somewhat satisfied, Nagy felt he'd done as much as he could. Not many second alternates find their way into the sectional field. In fact, the night before the next step, he was out with roommate and college teammate Alex Jones, questioning whether to make the 40-mile drive to Hawk's Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground early the next morning.
But he did go, waited by the putting green.
The first alternate from Pinetree decided that it wasn't worth the trip. There was another first alternate from the Amelia Island local qualifier on site but, because of quirky USGA protocol, the Hawk's Ridge qualifier had priority. Nagy would be in if someone didn't show. At one point, he noticed that Brian Harman, a top amateur who had played on the U.S. Walker Cup team, wasn't there.
He texted his mom.
"The first (text) said, 'Three minutes until Brian Harman's tee time and I don't see him,' " Debi Nagy recalled. "Then he texted me again and said, 'I see Brian Harman,' and then he texted me back and said, 'It's not him, one minute to go.' And the next text was, 'I just teed off No. 10.' "
Nagy hadn't even hit any warmup balls. He threw his bag over his shoulder and phoned Jones to speed down and pick him up during the round. He got there on the seventh hole. Nagy shot a 1-under par 71 in the morning round, in 15th place, four shots out of third, with the top three spots making it to Bethpage.
"The first round I actually hit the ball really bad but I shot 1-under, which is good," Nagy said. "We still figured that my round could have been lower if I'd made some up and downs. I was thinking I could have shot 68. So I had half a sandwich and hit the range, I found something and started hitting it better."
Nine birdies and nine pars later, Nagy had shot his career-best competitive round, a magical course-record 63.
He was in, but that's only half the story.
Matt's grandfather, Joe, was the pro at Indiana Country Club in
western Pennsylvania
for 30 years. In 1986, at 60, he decided to retire. He had always wanted to buy a golf club of his own. Several deals fell through until the realtor called him about a nine-hole course somewhere in Georgia.
Scrapping plans for a retirement home in Florida, Joe moved with his wife, Lena, his son, Joe Jr., and his daughter-in-law Debi. Cedar Creek Country Club was going to be a family-run enterprise.
"It's a country club and I mean it when I say country ... way out ... just a few members but public play also. It was culture shock," Debi Nagy said. "That's where Matt was born. Both my boys (Matt's brother Joey is 25 and will caddie for him this week) worked on the golf course, raking traps, picking up range balls ... and playing every day. When you have a golf course in your backyard and you live out in country, there's really not much to do."
Matt learned the game from his grandfather and father and when they couldn't take him on the course, his grandmother Lena was a designated cart driver.
They will all be making the trip to Bethpage, along with Debi's family from Pennsylvania, Speegle and his college coach Blake Smart ... all but Matt's grandfather, "the one person we'd want there the most," Debi said.
Six years ago, Joe had a stroke and he's been confined to his bed in a nursing home ever since. He is surrounded by newspaper clippings of Matt's accomplishments.
"He can't speak. He can't eat. But we go up and show him Matt in the paper and tell him all about it," Debi said. "Some days you get a little bit of a reaction and some days you don't. He just stares ahead and listens to you. One time Matt won a tournament by 11 strokes and we stopped by the nursing home to tell him after school and as he was telling him, a tear rolled down his check so we knew he was hearing us."
Matt played nine holes yesterday. He hit some solid shots and when he was mobbed by young kids for autographs off the 18th green, he knew he was at the U.S. Open.
"I really want to make the cut," he said. "It's kind of funny to say, I want to contend. I know it's really going to be hard to do ... I've never played in a PGA Tour event ... but I really want to make the cut for sure."
Before he left for New York, he also made one last trip, to the nursing home to his grandfather's bedside.
"I had to go there before I left," he said. "I told him I was playing in the Open. He had to know."
