There seems to be no match for Michael Harrington when it comes to the CGA Mid-Amateur Match Play.
The 43-year-old from Garden of the Gods Club has had eight opponents on the schedule over the last two years in the championship, and has bested all eight. In fact, only once in that span has Harrington been forced past the 16th hole.
On Sunday, he became the first two-time winner of the Mid-Amateur Match Play as he prevailed in two matches to successfully defend his title at The Ridge at Castle Pines North.
“It’s nice to win any CGA event,” said Harrington (above). “Here, you go up against some good players and you can’t play mediocre. You really have to play well in match play to make it to the end.”
The Colorado Springs resident never trailed in Sunday’s final in defeating second-seeded Chris Thayer of Bear Creek Golf Club 4 and 2. Thayer won the stroke-play version of the CGA Mid-Amateur last September. (The two are pictured together below.)
Sunday’s victory gives Harrington three CGA championships — two Mid-Amateur Match Plays and the 2009 CGA Mid-Amateur stroke play. Mid-Amateur competitions are limited to players 25 and older.
Harrington, the CGA’s Player of the Year and Mid-Amateur Player of the Year in 2014, performed so well over the weekend that he never had to play the 17th or 18th hole in any of his four matches. He won by scores of 6 and 5, 6 and 5, 4 and 2, and 4 and 2.
And just like last year, he capped off his title run by going with a purple outfit for good luck. This time around, he sported a purple shirt and visor, and had golf shoes featuring some purple (along with shamrocks). Even his golf bag had some purple accents.
“I kind of remember I wore all purple last year so I decided to at least go with the purple theme,” he said. “These are my lucky purple shoes (the same ones he wore in last year’s final). They’ve got the shamrock on the side.”
Whatever works. When you’ve got a good thing going, why mess with what got you there?
“He just didn’t give me any windows to make up ground with a par or whatever,” Thayer said of Harrington. “He was 5 under through 16 and he made some great par putts too. I couldn’t get anything back. I think I was 1 under” and still lost. “I’ve got a few things to work on for the rest of the summer. It’s good to know where I stand — which is a little bit lower than he is.”
Harrington (left) rallied from being 3 down after three holes in Sunday morning’s semifinals to beat former University of Colorado golfer John Luoma of Colorado Golf Club, 4 and 2. Then in the finals, Harrington made six birdies and one bogey — via a 3-putt.
After Harrington was 2 up through 10, Thayer put some pressure on by hitting his pitch inches from the cup and making birdie at No. 11. But Harrington, a 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur quarterfinalist, promptly answered with a 15-foot birdie of his own to earn a halve.
“It was a thrilling type of putt to jar it in the center when I needed to,” Harrington noted.
He then won No. 12 with a par and No. 13 with a 4-foot birdie. Thayer (below) birdied No. 15 from 18 feet to keep the match alive, but Harrington closed things out in style at No. 16 with an 18-foot birdie of his own.
The weekend’s performance leaves Harrington 11-1 in his dozen match play matches he’s played since the beginning of 2014. His lone loss came in the quarterfinals of last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur.
So what the key to Harrington’s success in match play?
“I hit the ball long,” he said. “You can be more aggressive and if you hit it in the hazard or in the trees (in match play), you just lose one hole. I’m a relatively straight driver of the ball. If you’re feeling comfortable and make a decent swing, I’m going to keep it in play. And golf is a great game if you’re comfortable.
“I definitely think I played more aggressively than I have sometimes in the past. Sometimes in the past I’d get 3 up and lay off the pedal a little bit.” But not so much anymore.
Sunday marked one of the rare times in a large-scale match play event that the top two seeds made the finals. And both finalists won titles in CGA Mid-Amateur championships during 2014.
CGA Mid-Amateur Match Play
At The Ridge at Castle Pines North
Round of 32
Michael Harrington, Garden of the Gods Club (1) – Bye
Adam W Nelson, Commonground Golf Course (17) def. Mark Brown, Highlands Ranch Golf Club (16), 4 and 2
Jeffrey Gravina, Pinehurst Country Club (8) – Bye
Andy Dannewitz, Meadow Hills Golf Course (9) def. Nick Simmons, Commonground Golf Course (24), 8 and 6
Nick Nosewicz, Meadow Hills Golf Course (4) – Bye
Marc Vincelli, Fossil Trace Golf Club (20) def. Gary Driber, Golfweek Amateur Tour Denver (13), 3 and 2
Alex Kephart, Eisenhower Golf Club (5) – Bye
John Luoma, Colorado Golf Club (12) def. Jim Doidge, Pueblo Country Club (21), 2 and 1
Christopher Thayer, Bear Creek Golf Club (2) – Bye
Brett Housman, Elmwood Golf Course (18) def. David Lysaught, Pinehurst Country Club (15), 19 holes
Richard Bradsby, Lakewood Country Club (7) – Bye
Christopher Wilson, Eisenhower Golf Club (23) def. Jeff Chapman, Inverness Golf Club (10), 2 and 1
Keith Humerickhouse, Glenwood Springs Golf Club (3) – Bye
Dallas Massey, South Suburban Golf Course (14) def. Jason Browder, Colorado Avidgolfer Passport C (19), 1 up
Steven Irwin, Lakewood Country Club (6) – Bye
Wesley Martin, Commonground Golf Course (11) def. Steve Sullivan, Bear Dance Golf Club (22), 6 and 5
Round of 16
Michael Harrington, Garden of the Gods Club (1) def. Adam W Nelson, Commonground Golf Course (17), 6 and 5
Andy Dannewitz, Meadow Hills Golf Course (9) def. Jeffrey Gravina, Pinehurst Country Club (8), 5 and 4
Nick Nosewicz, Meadow Hills Golf Course (4) def. Marc Vincelli, Fossil Trace Golf Club (20), 4 and 3
John Luoma, Colorado Golf Club (12) def. Alex Kephart, Eisenhower Golf Club (5), 1 up
Christopher Thayer, Bear Creek Golf Club (2) def. Brett Housman, Elmwood Golf Course (18), 4 and 3
Christopher Wilson, Eisenhower Golf Club (23) def. Richard Bradsby, Lakewood Country Club (7), 1 up
Dallas Massey, South Suburban Golf Course (14) def. Keith Humerickhouse, Glenwood Springs Golf Club (3), 24 holes
Steven Irwin, Lakewood Country Club (6) def. Wesley Martin, Commonground Golf Course (11), 2 and 1
Quarterfinals
Michael Harrington, Garden of the Gods Club (1) def. Andy Dannewitz, Meadow Hills Golf Course (9), 6 and 5
John Luoma, Colorado Golf Club (12) def. Nick Nosewicz, Meadow Hills Golf Course (4), 3 and 1
Christopher Thayer, Bear Creek Golf Club (2) def. Christopher Wilson, Eisenhower Golf Club (23), 3 and 2
Dallas Massey, South Suburban Golf Course (14) def. Steven Irwin, Lakewood Country Club (6), 3 and 1
Semifinals
Michael Harrington, Garden of the Gods Club (1) def. John Luoma, Colorado Golf Club (12), 4 and 2
Christopher Thayer, Bear Creek Golf Club (2) def. Dallas Massey, South Suburban Golf Course (14), 2 and 1
Final
Michael Harrington, Garden of the Gods Club (1) def. Christopher Thayer, Bear Creek Golf Club (2), 4 and 2
