Local Lovelady Runs Out Of Steam

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Shoal Creek, Ala. – The home boy makes good story took an ill-fated detour Thursday.    

Tom Lovelady, all of 15 and one day old, became a casualty of the match play format. Despite being buoyed by hometown locals, the Birmingham kid saw his first U.S. Junior Amateur experience hit a dead end at the hands of Andrew Steinhofer, a soft-spoken 17-year-old from Madison, Wis.

Tom Lovelady watches one of his flop shots during his third-round loss Thursday. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

All the well-wishers in the crowd, easily more than 80, would have thrust Lovelady into Friday’s quarterfinal round if the match were measured by throaty cheers. But it’s not, and Lovelady’s late failure to execute put a damper on the swelling party.

“I enjoyed all of it out here,” said Lovelady after losing, 1 up. “Going to 18, all I could hear was, ‘You can do it, Tom!’”

The beginning of Lovelady’s self-inflicted dagger started on the 199-yard, par-3 13th. He clung to a 2-up margin, which in itself, is akin to the adage that a two-run lead or two-goal cushion is the most unsafe advantage in sports. He lost the hole, slicing the lead in half.

Two holes later Steinhofer pulled even by playing textbook golf. He found the fairway, got on the green in two and two-putted for par. Lovelady unraveled with an errant drive into a mish-mash of rough, pine straw and environmental debris. With 115 yards to the hole, Lovelady had too much club. The ball skipped 20 yards beyond the green and rested next to a tree. It forced him to punch out and the ball skidded down the green. Lovelady conceded.

All square.

“Definitely on 15,” said Steinhofer when asked what he thought the turning point was.

If Lovelady’s balloon started leaking air on the 15th, it was nearly flaccid after No. 17. With 230 yards to a green protected by Shoal Creek, Steinhofer went for it. So did Lovelady, but his ball disappeared into the hazard for a penalty. Steinhofer’s ball found safe haven on the other side of the water.

“I felt like I had to go for it if I wanted to put pressure on him,” said Steinhofer, who played his longest match of the championship.

Knowing that the 18th hole location made it difficult to birdie, Steinhofer simply took the safe route. From 119 yards out, he targeted the fat part of the green since the flagstick was tucked far right on a knob.

Lovelady had 89 yards to the hole but also played it conservative, setting up a 25-footer for birdie. In lieu of his mom’s folded hands perhaps to inspire hopes of divine intervention, Lovelady yanked his attempt.

“I kept burning edges and lipping out, but there’s nothing I can do about that now,” said Lovelady.

In the end, Steinhofer knew he might be perceived as the villain, but he didn’t mind. The gallery cheered for his solid short game, which was the reason he won.

“I thought it was fun having all those people out there rooting for him,” said Steinhofer.

Fun, being the operative word, means Steinhofer may be in for more of it Friday if he continues winning.

Ken Klavon is the USGA’s Editor of New Media. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.