Dorset, Vt.
Hull birdied his last two holes and ended a topsy-turvy final round with the Vermont Amateur championship trophy on Thursday at Dorset Field Club.
Hull birdied the 17th hole to break a tie with Troy Evans and birdied the final hole for good measure for a two-shot victory. His closing 2-under 68 overcame an heroic effort by Evans, who charged from six shots back in the final round with a 64, the tournament’s best round.
The day included a career-best finish for former Hartford High golfer Zach Temple. The recent Castleton University graduate played himself into the championship discussion — albeit as a long shot — with a 1-under 69 in the morning before an afternoon 75. He landed in a sixth-place tie with Jay Peak’s Bryan Smith, last year’s Vermont Am champ, at 5-over 285. Fellow Hartford High grad Mak Lyford shot 76-78 on Thursday to earn 35th place at 29-over 309 after making his first state am cut.
A triple-bogeyed eighth hole turned Hull’s two-shot lead — and it was once three — into a memory and the pack came crashing through the gates like wild dogs at suppertime.
What looked like a potential hum-drum final became an exciting duel — which had spectators watching the Vermont Golf Association’s real-time scoring with fervor — between Hull, Evans, Alex Rainville and 16-year-old Bryson Richards, who came back from a near-disastrous experience himself.
But Hull, a 20-year-old headed for the University of Connecticut this fall, shot 4-under 31 on the back and brought the Vermont Amateur title home to Rutland Country Club for the first time since 1993.
Hull converted a 2½-foot putt for birdie on 17 and a 14-footer on 18, where he boldly attacked a tucked pin. One would never have thought it possible when Hull went from 1-under in his final round to 2 over with a four-putt eighth hole for a shocking triple bogey.
Hull kept his cool and kept swinging and by the 11th hole he was back on the birdie train.
“I knew before that I was putting well and keeping it loose but when that happened I knew I was still in the lead or one off it,” Hull said.
“I was thinking just forget about it, there’s a ton of chances ahead. I was just free-wheeling it and letting it happen and luckily it happened for me.”
Hull finished at 7-under par 273 with Thursday rounds of 69 and 68. The Country Club of Barre’s Evans had rounds of 70 and 64 to arrive at 5 under. His clubmate, Richards, closed with a 67 and a 276 total and Jared Nelson, of Rutland, was the last player under par for the event (279) with Thursday rounds of 72 and 73.
St. Johnsbury’s Rainville was fifth (72-76-281), followed Temple and Smith. Rainville was right in the fray until he made double bogey on the eighth while Drake, his playing competitor, was making triple.
Hull, Richards and Evans all had at least a piece of the lead on the back nine. After Richards lost his share he made a daring eagle on 16 from tap-in range to pull within a shot, but could get no closer.
Once Evans got his round to 3-under he was tied with Hull, but as Hull began piling up birdies on the back nine, Evans had to rally. He made birdie on 14 and 16 for a share but Hull wedged a near-pefect shot on the par-3 16th to take the lead for good. His towering tee ball from the elevated tee hit the apron beyond the flagstick, then spun back some 20 feet.
“On 17, I’m standing there with a wedge on a number that I already played. I said this is the time to make it happen,” Hull said. “After that I knew I had the lead and they told me Troy was the one who shot 64 … that’s an unbelievable round. With the pressure on, that’s impressive.”
It was the first sub-par round of the tournament for Evans, who plans to turn pro this winter.
Evans said he thought he still had a chance coming to the fourth round.
With all that happened on Thursday, Richards’ story might be the most remarkable of all. The Montpelier High School junior was right in the mix with 36 holes to play, but his 5-over start after five holes put him in a huge hole. But he gathered himself quickly and played at 2-under par the rest of the round, and his mental toughness paid off.
“I could have bagged it but I had Logan (Broyles) on my bag this week and he kept me calm and kept me in the tournament,” he said.
But the mental game had other faithful practitioners and so Hull, 20, has a title to fill an important place in his resume.
“I think I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he said. “I was a really good junior player and I was breaking (Trevor) Murphy’s and (Evan) Russell’s records and trying to chase in their footsteps. They won this event and I hadn’t yet … You want to put your name on the trophy at some point.”
And the way he did it was a uniquely fulfilling experience.
Correction
Former Hartford High golfer Zach Temple shot rounds of 73-68-69-75 to finish at 5-over-par 285 and in a tie for sixth place at this week’s Vermont Golf Association state amateur championship in Dorset. Temple’s fourth-round score was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.