The life of Reilly is aces

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

Bertagnole leads storm-delayed Western Amateur

Writing from Chicago / Evergreen Park, Illinois

Tuesday, July 27, 2026

Carson Bertagnole grew up and lives in Pinehurst, N.C., home to the famed resort and Course No. 2, one of course architect Donald Ross’ most notable creations.

Tuesday, after having played only three holes in a thunderstorm-shortened practice round the day before, Bertagnole went out and scored 7-under-par 64 on another Ross course, the Beverly Country Club, in the first round of stroke play qualifying in the 124th Western Amateur.

The sophomore at North Carolina said there’s little the two layouts share when it comes to Ross trademarks.

“They’re quite different,” Bertagnole said. “No. 2 is a little wider, no rough and the greens are turtlebacks. Here, the greens almost funnel in to the middle. But you can see the similarities on the green with putting. A lot of the deception is still good.”

The differences and the unfamiliarity didn’t stop him from scattering five birdies and an eagle across his scorecard, even with the round delayed 2 hours 40 minutes to finish the cleanup from Monday’s 2.94 inches of rain, which prompted a rare lift-clean-and place ruling from WGA officials.

“It was great,” Bertagnole said of the conditions. “Greens were a little bumpy but they roll fine. If you hit good putts they roll on line.”

Bertagnole parred the par-5 second but otherwise took advantage of his length, especially with the eagle on the 609-yard par-5 home hole, the ninth of his excursion.

“Hit a good drive into the wind and wasn’t close to reaching it, hit a good 3-wood and had 86 yards,” Bertagnole said. “Hit a low draw wedge that spun back in the hole. Good way to finish.”

Even with players allowed to put ball in hand, scores weren’t astonishingly low. Beverly met the challenge of hosting five of the world’s top 10 amateurs and 66 of the top 100. By the time play stopped because of darkness, Bertagnole stood a stroke ahead of a quartet of players who had finished – Josiah Gilbert of Millbrook, Ala., Joshua Bai of Auckland, New Zealand, recent winner of the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst, Arkansas senior Thomas Curry of Texarkana, Ark., and Charlotte senior Seb Cave of Melbourne, England, who scooted in nine minutes before the hooter blew to end play for the day, and 15 minutes before the trio of Malan Potgeiter, Gaven Lane and Erich Fortlage finished 18 in the gloaming at 8:21 p.m.

Forty-two players will finish the first round beginning at 7:10 a.m. and then go right into the on-time second round.

Gilbert, a senior at Auburn, also eagled the 18th but had two bogeys to go with six birdies.

“I played my last 10 holes in 6-under,” Gilbert noted, starting with that eagle on the 18th. “I made a 65-footer and that got me going a little bit.”

Bai, a junior at Florida, was bogey-free with six birdies, including a 4-under 31 on a back nine he’d never seen.

“I hit it really well off the tee, never had to recover from anything,” said Bai, who holed a bunker shot on the par-4 13th for one of his six birdies. “The course is a little quirky in spots, but it’s really fun. There are some short holes where if you hit it in the right spots, you’ve got birdie opportunities.”

Curry was 3-under through two holes courtesy of a birdie on No. 1 and an eagle on the par-5 second, going out in 5-under 31, but after a birdie on the par-3 10th, parred his way around the back nine at dinner hour. Cave went the opposite route, making a birdie at the last to gain a share of second.

Six players are at 5-under, including mid-amateur Stewart Hagestad, who will have three holes to play in the morning.

Around Beverly

Since the Western Amateur was here last in 2014, Beverly’s course has undergone a refurbishment, with thousands of trees removed, the clubhouse was gutted and reimagined inside – and partially outside – in a breathtaking $12.8 million renovation, and after over a century in unincorporated Cook County, the clubhouse and back nine is in Evergreen Park. The front nine has always been in Chicago. … Brandon Holtz of downstate Bloomington scored 4-under 67, as did U.S. Junior runner-up Miles Russell. … Glen Ellyn’s Grant Roscich, owner of the course record on the new Medinah No. 3 (a 61!) is well off the pace at 2-over 73. … Bloodline Dept.: Luke Poulter, son of Ian Poulter, is 3-under with the par-5 18th to play.

– Tim Cronin

Morrison unstoppable in ESI rout

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Looking for the next Scottie Scheffler?

Try Tommy Morrison. Here’s why:

1. He went to Texas like Scheffler, graduating last month.

2. He’s big, as in 6-foot-9.

3. He has a languid and powerful swing.

4. He’s a birdie machine.

5. He’s improved his position in each of his first four tournaments on the Korn Ferry Tour: a tie for 10th, a tie for fifth, solo second, and Sunday at The Glen Club, a victory – going away.

Morrison birdied the first five holes and ran away from the field like a rabbit hungry for green – in his case, $180,000 from the $1 million purse put up by the Western Golf Association.

An eagle 2 on the par-4 15th from 20 feet 7 inches was the capper on an amazing week.

His score looks like a typographical error: A tournament-record 29-under-par 255 on rounds of 65-63-64-63, the latter a bogey-free spree. It placed him three strokes ahead of runner-up Dylan Menante, who finished that close thanks to an eagle 3 at the last for a closing 65.

There was one more critical ingredient to Morrison’s victory: His caddie, Scott McGuinness, who caddied for Scheffler here in the inaugural ESI in 2019 and has been everywhere and seen everyone on tours large and small when it comes to today’s talent.

McGuinness’ assessment of Morrison: “Straightaway, he was amazing. The way he hits the ball is second to none. The sky’s the limit. Scottie progressed into a phenomenal player, but Tommy’s ball-striking is definitely on par and probably ahead of where Scottie was when he started. They say tall guys have trouble hitting the ball but he’s one of the best ball-strikers I’ve seen.”

Morrison also has a velvet touch around the greens. His roll for the eagle on 15, which sealed the deal, was the last in a series of perfect putts across four days.

Those five birdies to start Sunday? That wasn’t his longest streak. He birdied six straight – Nos. 12 through 17 – on Saturday. That’s 11 birdies in 12 holes, and 60 strokes across Saturday’s back nine and Sunday’s front nine, which is how to devastate the field. He had 29 birdies in all.

“I don’t know what we do next week, right?’ McGuinness said. “Can’t do any better.”

“He knows my game better than I know my game,” Morrison said. “I can’t imagine this without him. That was a special hug there on 18.”

Anyone who saw him for more than a moment over four days would agree. But even the one-stroke lead Morrison enjoyed after 54 holes didn’t mean he rested easily.

“My girlfriend and I had plans to go to a pancake house down the street this morning, but I woke up at 2:30, and again at 4:30, and 7, so I just went back to bed at 8 and slept as long as I could,” Morrison said.

“It’s been crazy, awesome. I’d had a lot of experience around professional golf tournaments before turning pro, so I had a pretty good idea of what it’s going to feel like. That definitely helped the transition a little bit, but the last weeks, to finish 10th in Amarillo, being in the final group in Springfield, Colo., crazy.”

How far ahead was Morrison? Ross Steelman’s 8-under 63 featured the shot of the tournament – a 1 on the par-4 15th, a.k.a. an ace and an albatross all wrapped up in a 358-yard Glen Club package. A witness said the shot came in hard and low, skid-bounced, then hit the flagstick and dropped into the cup. Otherwise it would have raced off the green. Steelman ended up solo third, eight strokes in arrears.

Morrison, a Walker Cup veteran who made the Sweet Sixteen in last year’s Western Amateur, lauded the WGA for its sponsorship, but you have to feel he’ll not be back this way again on the Korn Ferry circuit. This is only the first step, but one has the feeling it’s the biggest one, and the others will be surmounted before football season.

Around The Glen Club

Expect the ESI to return for a ninth year next summer, with or without a title sponsor. NV5, which had appended its name to the tournament the past few years, didn’t renew for 2026. … Morrison’s parents, James and Alison, were on hand for the victory. … Morrison’s pal Jackson Koivun won the 3M Open on the PGA Tour, beating Scheffler by three strokes.

– Tim Cronin

Menante, Rosenmueller share ESI lead

Writing from Glenview, Illinois

Friday, July 24, 2026

If you liked the pace of British Open champion Ryan Fox, you’ll love Dylan Menante.

The 36-hole leader of the Evans Scholar Invitational could go toe-to-toe with Fox in speed golf and come out ahead. In Friday’s second round at The Glen Club, Menante was sometimes ready to hit his shot before his opponent’s ball stopped rolling on the green.

The brisk pace of the 25-year-old North Carolina graduate, one that harkened back to Chi Chi Rodiguez, was complemented by his sparkling play. Menante added a 7-under-par 64 to his opening 63 and vaulted over Tommy Morrison into the co-lead of the Korn Ferry Tour stop at the halfway point.

Menante’s company at the top is Thomas Rosenmueller, who announced himself at the dinner hour with an eagle 3 at the last for a 9-under 62 for 15-under 127.

“I got a pretty good lie for my drive (on the left fringe of the fairway) and it was a perfect number for my 4-iron,” said Rosenmueller, a 29-year-old German who won this affair two years ago when it was known as the NV5 Invitational. “It ended up 9 feet past it and I made the downhill right-to-lefter.”

Eagle 3, added to eight birdies and a bogey, pretty as you please.

For Menante, who won on the circuit earlier this season, it was his hottest start of the year. He didn’t see it coming.

“That’s just how golf is,” Menante said. “You can practice all you want, but it’s a lot different in a tournament. I’ve hit (only) a couple good shots, so my putting’s saving me quite a bit.”

Menante birdied his first there holes, then went 4-under the rest of the way, including sinking a sidehill 10-footer for a birdie on the par-5 18th. That placed him 127 after 36 holes and shoved him past Morrison, and it could have been better.

“I left a few out there,” said Menante, echoing countless golfers over the last 600 years.

As so often happens at The Glen Club, it was a day to go low, even with a brisk southwest wind that reached 15 mph racing over the lake by the 18th hole. It made holding a second shot on the green a challenge even for the longest hitters, such as Menante, who bounced his long approach into the rough behind the green. His delicate lob out of the deep stuff was almost too delicate, but he negotiated the final 10 feet without incident.

Morrison appended an 8-under 63 to his opening 65 for 128 and is solo third by two strokes over Davis Shore, Ryan Burnett and Jackson Buchanan, who sit at 12-under 130 entering the weekend.

Around The Glen Club

The day was punctuated by two aces on the 183-yard 17th hole. Jorge Garcia, in the morning, and Carson Young, in the afternoon, did the honors. The ace enabled Garcia to hang around for the weekend. He finished at 5-under 134 and made the cut on the number. … Admission is free to those who register at https://tickets.esinvitational.com/e/evans-scholars-invitational-2026/tickets … Northbrook’ Brian Ohr, Winnetka’s Patrick Adler, La Grange’s Daniel Hudson and erstwhile Illinois grad Luke Guthrie all missed the cut. 

– Tim Cronin

Choi captures 126th Women’s Western Amateur

Writing from Elmhurst, Illinois

Saturday, July 11, 2026

What commenced as something similar to hundreds of rounds of golf in the Chicago area, a couple of folks teeing it up a 7:30 a.m. under sunshine and a cool breeze, heated up even as the temperature did this morning.

By the finish, it was clear both Kylee Choi, the champion, and Grace Lee, the vanquished, dearly wanted to hold the W.A. Alexander Trophy, emblematic of the Women’s Western Amateur championship.

Choi did by virtue of a 2 and 1 triumph built on steady play, holding off Lee’s late rally by sinking a 5-foot birdie putt on River Forest Country Club’s par-5 17th hole to settle the issue in the 126th consecutive championship match.

In so doing, the 19-year-old Choi, from Murietta, Calif., served notice that she’s not only to be dealt with nationally, but also in the West Coast Conference. The freshman of the year in that league carrying Pepperdine’s colors, in Lee she knocked off the recent graduate from Gonzaga, among whose next steps is the LPGA qualifying tournament.

“It feels like a fever dream right now,” Choi said after calling her parents. Her mom broke into tears when the good news was relayed.

The key hole might have been the par-4 15th, where Lee was long with her approach and then overcooked a chip off the front of the green. Choi was looking at a sidehill two-putt for par and the potential of going dormie 3. Instead …

“On her second chip I just had this gut feeling she was going to make it,” Choi said.

Lee did, wowing the gallery. Choi’s two-putt kept her lead 2-up. The margin was trimmed in half when Lee parred the par-3 16th and Choi failed to get up-and-down after short-siding herself in a bunker.

Choi’s superior distance off the tee, on display through the round, helped decide the match. She had a half-wedge to the green of the par-5 17th and dropped it 5 feet from the cup, inches inside Lee’s fine third shot. Lee edged the right side of the cup with her birdie attempt, Choi sank hers, and that was it.

Lee aims for professional glory after barely falling short of capturing one of the venerable titles in the game. She had everything but luck on Saturday morning.

“It was a really tough match out there with really good competition,” Lee said. “After chipping in, I’m just thinking stay positive, keep marching forward. Match play is anyone’s game.

“She’s a great golfer, great competitor,” Lee said of Choi.

Lee, from Bellevue, Wash., had her sister on the bag, but Choi took ace club caddie Santiago, who has walked this leafy acreage for six summers and knows every inch of it.

Choi made it to the quarterfinals last year at Red Run Country Club near Detroit, losing in extra holes. That stuck in her craw.

“"I really wanted redemption here,” Choi said. “I haven't won a tournament in about six years, so I was not trying to regret anything."

She left River Forest with no regrets.

– Tim Cronin