Writing from Chicago / Evergreen Park, Illinois
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
The former makes up for the latter mathematically, but does a hole-in-one erase a double bogey in the mind?
Logan Reilly was able to answer that question Wednesday at Beverly Country Club. He double-bogeyed the treacherous par-3 17th hole in the second round of Western Amateur stroke play qualifying, but came back seven holes later to ace the equally vexing par-3 sixth.
“The double-bogey wasn’t the best, but I guess it does add up,” Reilly said. “It was a good way to get the juice flowing.”
Reilly’s 5-under 66, which featured seven birdies – including four straight – along with the ace, gave him an aggregate 11-under 131 and the lead at the halfway point of the qualifying test. Thursday’s 36-hole grind will determine the Sweet Sixteen for the match play that begins Friday.
The ace came playing into a 13-mph north wind on the downhill par 3.
“One of the three hardest holes on the course, I’d say. It was playing 188 (yards), and it’s pretty windy out here today. Front tucked left pin, so my caddie and I said, ‘Hit a little flighted 6-iron at the right edge of the green and let the wind take it,” Reilly said. “It literally flew in there, damaged the cup.
“You couldn’t really see it, but you heard something. Everyone kinda went nuts.”
His ace was his third overall and second in as many tournaments, but the first dunk. He made a 1 at the recent Northeast Amateur, where he finished fifth.
Reilly leads Australian Kayun Mudadana, who posted a second round 65, and overnight leader Carson Bertagnole, who added a 68 to his opening 64, by a stroke. In contrast to Reilly’s roller-coaster, Mudadana’s six-birdie round was a snooze. Including the four holes he played in the morning to complete the storm-delayed first round, Mudadana had a seven-birdie day.
“I just tried to keep the ball in the fairway and score from there,” said Mudadana,
Bertagnole saved par from behind the green after “juicing a wedge,” which prevented a bogey-bogey finish. He also eagled No. 7 to spark his round.
“Had 290 (yards) to the flag and hit a high-cut 3-wood to eight or nine feet,” said Bertagnole, who, like the others high on the leader board, has a chance to grab the Milt Woodard Trophy if they win the stroke-play portion of the competition.
“It would be really cool,” Bertagnole said. “There are a lot of good players, but stroke play doesn’t matter unless you win in match play.”
That sums up the Western Am grind. First, there’s a PGA Tour-length tournament across three days. Then the top 16 go into match play, four matches over two days for the finalists. Or, about 144 holes of championship golf over five days. That’s why the last mid-amateur to win the Western Am was Danny Green, 40 when he kicked off Andy Miller – Johnny’s son – on the 19th hole of the 1997 final at Point O’Woods.
The cut to the low 44 and ties came at 4-under 138, the lowest in eight years. It fell at 5-under 137 at Sunset Ridge Country Club, also a par 71 layout, in 2018. It was even par 142 at Beverly in 2014, when Beau Hossler beat Xander Scauffele in a final that capped a match play carnival that included Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Nick Hardy, Brian Campbell and Doug Ghim.
Around Beverly
ESPN+ will have live coverage of the match play beginning Friday morning with the Sweet Sixteen. … The Beverly course record is 10-under 61, established by Wildcat Golf Academy pro Tim Streng in an Illinois PGA stroke play tournament on May 30, 2023. He managed five birdies on each nine.
– Tim Cronin