Ford, Zach Campbell of Dallas, and Chris Devlin of Birmingham, Alabama, each qualified for the 42nd U.S. Mid-Am Championship, tallying 18-hole scores of 67, 69, and 70 on August 9 at Pleasant Valley Country Club.
By: Chris Werner
USGA P.J. Boatwright Jr. Intern
August 14, 2023
Mitchell Ford of Little Rock, Zach Campbell of Dallas, and Chris Devlin of Birmingham, Alabama, each qualified for the 42nd U.S. Mid-Am Championship, tallying 18-hole scores of 67, 69, and 70 on August 9 at Pleasant Valley Country Club.
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Ford claimed medalist honors at 5-under and continued his hot streak after taking the crown at the ASGA Men’s Match Play Championship on July 30.
His round at Pleasant Valley, which included six birdies and one bogey, was aided by the same accuracy off the tee that he said carried him to the match-play win.
“I continued to drive really well, and I made some putts today,” Ford said. “Got off to a really hot start. I was 4-under through 5, and that kind of really accelerated the momentum.”
After a bogey on the sixth, Ford added made three pars to close out the front nine, parred 10, added birdies on 11 and 12, and finished with six pars to cruise to the top of the leaderboard and into his second straight Mid-Am.
The 26-year-old former Henderson State Reddie is now 2-for-2 in Mid-Am qualifiers as he claimed co-medalist honors last year on the same track at 4-under. Ford Advanced to the round of 64 a year ago at Erin Hills.
“It means a lot [to be going back,]” Ford said. “They're incredible events, the pinnacle of amateur golf, and I'm excited to get up to Sleepy Hollow in September so it's gonna be a lot of fun.”
Campbell, the second man to qualify from Pleasant Valley, did so with revenge on his mind.
Last year, in this same qualifier, his 3-under 69 was good enough to get him into a playoff — which he lost to become the first alternate. But this year, that same score got him into the field outright.
“I've been thinking about this day for a while, for probably a year now,” Campbell said. “The golf course just sets up well for me. I like it out here, I like the people, I like playing golf in Arkansas the ball goes a little further. And yeah, it's definitely been on my mind.”
Campbell said a calm focus on his next shot was a key to his round of five birdies and two bogeys.
“I just stayed really focused like the next shot was always the most important shot,” Campbell said. “I never got down on myself today, which is very unlike me, and I just kept it focused, made two bogeys and just kind of snapped back out of it. I wouldn't say anything was too great. I got myself around the golf course really well, just avoiding trouble, avoiding penalties.
“And, you know, some days the putts are gonna go in and some days they’re not," Campbell continued. "Like, I could have done today and shot 73. I could have played the way I did today and honestly probably shot 64. Like, I missed a lot of putts. So it's never … never dwell and it's always the next shot’s the most important.”
After qualifying for his first USGA Championship, an emotional Campbell detailed his role as part of a family full of “USGA people.”
“It means a lot,” Campbell said fighting back tears. “My family is really big into golf and my grandmother is still living and she would just have on the USGA championship in the background. Whatever it was, the Women's Am the Junior Am, whatever it was on TV, and they were big USGA people. And so yeah, it means a lot. It means the world that I get to do it, even for one time, it's so cool.”
The final qualifier from Pleasant Valley, 48-year-old Chris Devlin, did so in a 4-for-1 playoff closing it out on the third extra hole after posting a 2-under 70.
Devlin fought through wet conditions at PV on a pit stop on his way to Cherry Hills for the U.S. Amateur that began on Aug. 14.
“Long day,” the Irishman said. “Golf course was very, very wet, playing it down was tough. I only missed one fairway all day, but I think it'd be better off missing the fairways because there was mud on the ball in every single fairway pretty much, but you know what, I kept telling myself, ‘It's the same for everybody,’ and I just had to keep plugging away.”
Devlin was a touring pro in Europe for several seasons, playing in Challenge Tour and European Tour events, and being an alternate for multiple US Opens.
He has played in numerous USGA events since regaining his amateur status.
“It's gonna be really awesome,” Devlin said of playing both the US Am and Mid-Am. “It's been great to be able to play in these championships that the USGA put on, such a great job of putting on these championships. And it's always a treat to be able to go and play these great golf courses in these highly prestigious events. Super excited to be going to both [this year] for sure.”
Devlin made just one bogey en route to his 70 and then defeated Drew Evans and Tyler Reynolds — who will be first and second alternate, respectively — and Andrew Hopkins in a playoff that Devlin said he almost won on the first extra hole.
“I was just really trying to take care of my golf ball, put the ball in play, put in the right place and then and then be aggressive where I could on the holes where I felt like I needed to make birdie,” Devlin said of the playoff. “I was actually unlucky on the very first hole I lipped out a birdie putt on the first hole, and I was a little unlucky there. But it all worked out in the end, so it's all good.”
The 42nd US Mid-Am Championship will take place from Sept. 9-14 at Sleepy Hollow and Fenway Golf Clubs in Scarborough and Scarsdale, New York, respectively.
