Brett Hudson/Bloomfield Hills/Oakland Hills CC.
“I was 2-up right away, then 3-up after six. Then I lost holes 7, 8, 9 and 10. I came back and won 11, 12, 13 and 17. I really was worried after losing four in a row but my caddie told me to just relax and told me I was playing well and just to stick to what I was doing.”
“I have three positive things that I say to myself before every swing. That really helps to keep me calm and to help me be able to cope with whatever is going on. The idea is to just keep thinking positive.”
“I was playing very well, but Justin (Sokol) just happened to get an eagle on a hole where I got a birdie and some things like that. We grew up here at Oakland Hills together and we are friends so it was great to be able to play with him today.”
Tom Gieselman/Commerce Twp. /Oakland Hills CC
“Local knowledge means a lot out here this week. Just knowing where to hit it, where to miss and knowing the greens is a big help. There are some greens here where you can be just a little off and all of a sudden you have to play defensively.”
Austin Eccleton/Jackson/Jackson CC
“I know from here on in the matches are only going to get tougher. I’m excited to be in the Sweet 16 but I know I am just going to have to grind it out.”
“It was hot but the wind was a bigger factor than the heat today. I just tried to go a club up and keep the ball low.”
“I was not hitting the ball really great but my putting was really working for me. On the last hole, I sunk a 15 footer for birdie.”
Brian Hayward/Grand Rapids/Thousand Oaks
“The first match against Casey Olson both of us were playing really well. It was a fun match, though, because it was so close.”
“My second match I didn’t play nearly as well but Tim (Coffey) didn’t play well either so it was fun. There were a lot of holes that were won with par.”
“The last time I was medalist in 2008 I lost in the first round of match play so to get to the Sweet 16 this year was definitely a goal.”
“It was very, very, very hot out there today but we survived.”
Eric Spencer/Bloomfield Hills/Oakland Hills CC
“The North Course doesn’t get as much play as the South Course but it is a tough little course. And the pins are set totally different than what the members are used to and the greens are very difficult to read. I’ve played the North Course all my life and I STILL can’t read the greens.”
“I find I have to be more conservative here in competition than when I play with my friends.”
“I have been playing this course for over 30 years and I’ve never seen the pin placement that they have.”
Drew Preston/Ada/ GAM Grand Rapids
“I’ve been hitting the ball really well all week but my putting has not been as good. My afternoon round was back and forth at the beginning but then he missed a few 5 footers and I got a few birdies.”
“I played Anthony Sorentino before at Oakhurst and I know how good he is but honestly, his putter was just not working as well as usual today.”
“I was telling our scorer that I went to the Indy 500 three weeks ago and it was much hotter. But I don’t have a caddie so that is a little hot. I would like to have a caddie but my friends are all too scared to come out in the heat and they don’t want to get up at 7:30.”
Joey Garber/Petoskey/Boyne Resorts
“I wouldn’t say the heat gave me an edge but I’ve been playing in Georgia so I was probably a little more used to it.”
“It was amazing from yesterday to today how much the greens firmed up. You really had to place your ball and keep it below the hole.”
“I haven’t felt comfortable as usual on the golf course lately but being in match play has helped me to get into that comfort zone. My goal was to just get into match play because I feel once I get there, I know I can play well in match play. I’m just more comfortable with match play for some reason.”
“I feel like a whole new person today over the past two days just because of starting match play.”
Mike Castleforte/Birmingham/Forest Lake CC
“That was a tough one. Brad (Bastion) is a tough player.”
“I worked for a law firm in Chicago so I really only ever played a couple of amateur events every year because that is all I had time for.”
“My boss is a member out here so he brought me out for a few rounds so I probably played the North Course two or three times before this week. I don’t know if he has any money on me in this contest; I think he just wants me to get back to work!”
“It played like a completely different golf course this afternoon than it did the first two days of the tournament.”
“I like the competition and head-to-head of match play. The momentum just changes so quickly. I was down three at the turn and could have easily been down five or six. The momentum started to change on 10 and I just went from there.”
“My dad is my caddie and he is 61 and I’m just worried about getting him around the course in this heat.”
Jimmy Dewling/Brighton/Mystic Creek GC
“I played better this morning. This afternoon was more of a grind. I made three sand saves and that really helped me.”
“I’m hitting a lot of greens but I would like to make more of those 15 and 20 foot putts.”
“I won the afternoon match with a sand save on 18. I really didn’t want to go extra holes so I just told myself I had to make it.”
Joshua Bauer/Waterford/Michigan Publinx
“This is the first time in three times playing the Michigan Am that I have won a match. Typically I putt pretty well on fast greens. Today the putter got hot and I was able to put some holes together.”
“I think match play can be a little bit more fun because you are only playing one person and you know what they are doing and where you stand.”
Brian Burt/Lansing/Eastern Michigan University
“I missed the cut last year so this is the furthest that I’ve been.”
“I’ve been hitting the ball really well the past few days. And then today I finally started sinking some putts. The longer I play, the better I seem to play.”
“I’m hitting my irons really well right now and that is helping. I made a lot of birdies today.”
Tom Werkmeister/Kentwood/Sunnybrook CC
“I didn’t’ play very good in the second match especially early on. It was kind of a grind this afternoon.”
“I had a real long wait in between, I felt good and refreshed and then I went out and bogeyed the first three holes. I don’t think I had a birdie in the second match but making a lot of pars on the back nine usually works for me. It was a good match but I am just exhausted.”
Wesley Gates/Novi/Detroit Golf Club
“It was a hot one!”
“My dad warned me to stay out of the golf industry. He said ‘Don’t be like me’.”
(His father John Gates is the pro at Detroit Golf Club).
“I rarely play match play. In college (at Bowling Green) we play one match play round a year so this is really the only other time I’ve played it.”
“It is a completely different mindset because you are not worried about your score, you are just trying to win one hole at a time. At the end of the day, though, it is just playing golf so I don’t think it is any tougher for me out here because I lack experience in match play.”
“The greens here are just too hard to read! I’m carrying my own bag too because so I don’t have a caddie to help me read them.”
Chet Vendenberg/Martin/Mullenhurst GC
“It was a monster grind all day.”
“My dad was my caddie and he said the afternoon was actually better than the first. At least we had a breeze that we did not have in the morning so it was a little more bearable.”
“I couldn’t read the greens at all. They were very, very tough. I played here before for a U.S. Amateur qualifier but it really didn’t give me any advantage with the greens.”
Bill O’Connor/Birmingham/Oakland Hills CC
“I’m very excited to have four members of Oakland Hills in the Sweet 16. That’s 25% of the bracket for tomorrow’s first round!”
“I think experience plays an important role. All of the kids are long, but on this course, length is not necessarily an advantage. Although, even though I know the greens here very well, some of the pin placements were not anything we have seen.”
“Most of the greens on the North Course roll toward Lahser, but not all of them. So you have to know ti really be able to read the green.”
