Russell pulls off Vermont Amateur repeat in playoff
Another birdie, Evan Russell thought after reaching the green in two on the par-5 18th, would do well to secure second place. Back-to-back bogeys two holes before had surely cost him a shot at the championship.
Then his good friend, Jake Orr, asked if he wanted to know where he stood with leader Bryan Smith who teed off the 72nd hole with a three-shot advantage.
Things had changed. An unlikely double bogey from Smith left the door wide open.
"That was big, I think Jake played that well," said Russell, who had just holed a 4-foot birdie on the 17th. "I had no idea. I thought (Smith) had won by three. Knowing that I just had to two-putt to get to a playoff was energizing. I thought I was out of it, a little deflated."
Two putts later, Russell, the defending champion, had a birdie and new life with a three-shot swing. And five nervy playoff holes after that, Russell had his second straight Vermont Amateur golf title, capping a grueling roller-coaster of a day with another two-putt birdie to outlast Smith at Burlington Country Club on Thursday.
Rutland teen Drake Hull claimed third, one shot back. Barre's Eric Lajeunesse was fourth (10-over) and Garren Poirier, also of Rutland, was fifth. (Complete scores below.)
If Russell's wire-to-wire, breakthrough victory at the Country Club of Barre was a long-awaited weight off the shoulders, this year's triumph was even sweeter for the 21-year-old former Essex High School star who grew up playing Burlington as a junior member.
"It's better, absolutely," he said. "Being here. Being in a playoff. Getting to the playoff — I thought I was out of it."
Really, though, Russell was in it and out of it all day.
Starting the 36-hole day at 3-under par, Smith owned a five-shot advantage on Russell and Hull.
But Smith's game left him in the morning round and he stumbled to a 6-over 77 after six bogeys in his last 13 holes. Russell, meanwhile, gained steam and grabbed a one-shot lead with a 69, and Hull took over second place with a 70.
"That was extremely challenging. I don't know if I've ever been in that place mentally as of (recently)," Smith said. "I wasn't in a good place at all."
Once the trio set out on their final round, however, no lead was safe. At one point or another each one seized or had a portion of the lead. Early on, Russell and Hull traded spots back and forth before stumbling on the back — Russell with four bogeys between Nos. 10 and 16, Hull getting stung for a double bogey at the 15th hole when his approach shot splashed down in a hazard.
Jay Peak's Smith plugged along, surging in front with a chip-in birdie at the par-3 14th and then a birdie at the 17th to wipe out two bogeys of his own.
"After shooting 77 this morning and coming out and playing the way I did this afternoon — because I didn't have anything this morning — I'm very proud of myself," Smith said. "To continue that play tonight under those (playoff) circumstances ... I think the only playoff I was in was the junior club championship when I was 12 at Champlain. I think I was tied at 80."
But that three-shot edge he rallied for evaporated on the finishing hole. After laying up short of the green, Smith left a heavy wedge in the front bunker. He caught his next shot thin and knocked it 20 yards over the green, scrambling after that for the deflating, costly double bogey.
"It was a bummer the way I finished. I had it in the bag, but that's golf," Smith said. "I don't have any regrets. I played every shot exactly how I would."
Both Smith and Russell elevated their games for the playoff and the throng that followed both through the ensuing five holes.
Each player parred their way through the first four holes, a back-and-forth series of tense come-backers and narrowly-missed birdie putts that sent the championship back to the fifth hole, another reachable par-5.
"The playoffs were great holes. We each hit really good shots every hole," Russell said. "It was good golf. I think these greens were tough to make a birdie. It was tough to get it close and it was tough to make a putt."
When Smith's chip from the front left side of the green caught the ridge and raced well past the hole, Russell, sitting 30 feet away with a good look at eagle, had his best chance.
The University of Hartford junior cozied his putt next to the hole and cleaned up the birdie. Smith was unable to drop his 18-footer to match, settling a 41-hole day for each.
"I had the most fun I've ever had on the golf course today, specifically the last five holes that we played," Smith said. "I mean, he's a better player than I'm ever going to be and to go up against him shot for shot was a lot of fun. Win, lose, draw, that was a blast."
It was also the second time in a row that a Burlington-hosted Vermont Amateur was decided on the fifth sudden-death playoff hole. Peter Metzler survived Dustin Cone in five holes in the 2003 event, which both finished with identical scores of 11-over par for the 72 holes of regulation
"It's Burlington. This course was a great, great test of golf. I haven't been challenged like this in a long time," Smith said.
The tournament turns to Champlain Country Club next year and Jay Peak in 2016 — two courses with which Smith is quite familiar.
"We've got my old home course next year and my home course the year after that, so I'll keep grinding," Smith said.
Contact Austin Danforth at 651-4851 or edanforth@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/eadanforth
Vermont Amateur
Final scores
Thursday
At Burlington Country Club
*Evan Russell 74-70- 69-74—287
Bryan Smith 70-69-77-71— 287
Drake Hull 73-71-70-74—288
Eric Lajeunesse 71-74-78-71— 294
Garren Poirier 74-74-77-70— 295
Max Major 75-71-72-80—298
Zach Temple 77-77-76-77—307
Troy Evans 73-77-83-74— 307
Hans Albertsson 73-78-77-79—307
Zach Newland 80-78-77-73—308
Gregory Scott 70-76-79-83—308
Jake Orr 75-77-78-79—309
Nicholas Lussier 77-75-78-79—309
Frankie Sanborn - 77-72-77-83—309
Peter Scrimgeour 78-78-78-77— 311
Walker Allen 85-77-79-72—313
Jon Landry 79-79-77-78—313
Brian Allen Cain 78-82-78-77—313
Jona Scott 80-80-77-78—315
Alex Rainville 72-82-81-81—316
Luke Hopkins 80-74-85-77—316
Troy Goliber 74-80-81-81—316
Peter Metzler 77-77-80-82—316
Kim Perry 78-78-80-80—316
David Evans 76-78–81-82—317
Cameron O'Connell 78-78-78-84—318
Mike Coakley 80-74-83-81—318
Tyler Coulter 80-78-85-75—318
Chip Ward 77-78-84-79—318
Chris Dumouchel 81-78-84-78—321
Rick Simpson 78-82-82-80—322
Jack Tomashot 80-82-81-82—325
Taylor Bellemare 77-77-90-81—325
Brock Paquette 78-80-87-80—325
John Parsons 81-77-82-85—325
Chaney Noyes 83-79-88-76—326
Todd O'Neil 78-80-87-81—326
Alex Chin 78-78-87-83—326
Paul Heffernan 84-78-87-78—327
Ken Geider 82-80-85-81—327
Ritchie Snow 82-80-85-81—328
Bryson Richards 82-80-83-83—328
Jim Brett 77-83-90-83— 333
Hugh Brett 78-82-83-NC
* Won on fifth playoff hole