Pennsylvania Claims 2009 USGA Men's State Team Championship

St. Albans, Mo. – For more than a year, Nathan Smith and Sean Knapp talked about putting together a possible “dream team” for the 2009 USGA Men’s State Team Championship. The lifelong Pittsburgh-area golfers and best friends just needed to talk a third “local” into remaining an amateur long enough to compete.

That third player turned out to be 2009 Marquette University first-team All-American Mike Van Sickle, and the 22-year-old from Wexford didn’t disappoint.

Van Sickle, who graduated in May and will turn pro sometime in the next few weeks, carded a 4-under-par 67 Friday on the 7,150-yard, par-71 Lewis and Clark Course at the Country Club of St. Albans to lead Pennsylvania to a three-stroke victory over Kansas on what turned out to be a picture-perfect day for golf.

Coupled with a 73 from the 47-year-old Knapp of Oakmont, Pennsylvania, which had never finished better than sixth in seven previous appearances, concluded the 54-hole competition at 9-under-par 417. Smith, 31, of Pittsburgh had a non-scoring 74 in the 3-count-2 format.

	Dodge Kemmer's 67 tied for the lowest round of the day and helped Kansas to a second-place finish. (John Mummert/USGA)

Kansas, which was hurt by Thursday’s 10-over 152 score in the rainy conditions, rallied with a 7-under 135 total with 22-year-old Dodge Kemmer of Wichita shooting a 67 and 33-year-old Jon Troutman of Spring Hill adding a 68. Kansas opened the competition with a 133, the best team score posted in Men’s State Team Championship history.

Illinois finished third at 422, followed by Rhode Island and South Carolina sharing fourth place at 424.

Although the forecast called for morning showers and a possible afternoon thunderstorm, which forced USGA officials to make a 36-hole cut (26 of the 51 teams played the final round), the inclement weather stayed away and players were greeted with sunshine virtually the entire round.  And nobody shined more brightly than the Pennsylvania squad.

“Nobody deserves this more than Mike or Sean,” said Smith, who helped the USA retain the Walker Cup 12 days ago at Merion Golf Club and won the 2003 U.S. Mid-Amateur. “Just to do it with those guys and great friends, that’s a dream come true.”

Knapp, a veteran of national championships and a semifinalist at the 2008 U.S. Mid-Amateur, was relieved to finally earn a gold medal in a USGA competition.

“It’s special,” said Knapp, who was the best man at Smith’s wedding a few years ago. “I have been close. It’s an honor to seal this one.”

Early on, it looked as if Pennsylvania might not take home the title. Rhode Island made a strong push on the outward nine, at one point tying for the lead at six under. Then Kansas applied a second-nine charge, but Van Sickle made sure nobody was going to pass his team.

Turning at 1-under 35, the long-hitting Van Sickle birdied holes 11, 13 and 16. He just missed an eagle opportunity from 8 feet at No. 11 and knocked a 7-iron approach to 4 feet from a side-hill lie at 13.

“I kind of made it easy on myself all day long,” said Van Sickle, who was the medalist at a pre-qualifier for PGA Tour Q-School last week in Lincoln, Neb., where he posted a pair of 64s. “This is absolutely an awesome way to end my amateur career. These are awesome guys and great players. I’m thankful that the Pennsylvania Golf Association gave me the opportunity to come out here and play.”

Like Pennsylvania, Kansas had never finished better than a tie for 16th (1995) and take away Thursday’s bad round and it might have won the title. Even two brilliant rounds by Kemmer, who is finishing up his human biology degree at Stanford University this year, and Troutman wasn’t enough to catch Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, the team was quite pleased with a runner-up showing.

“There really wasn’t any pressure,” said Kemmer. “We knew we had a chance from what we did the first day. Shoot nine or 10 under and you never know what might happen. And it turns out that’s what it would have taken. We were close.”

The battle for third came down to Illinois, Rhode Island and South Carolina. Todd Mitchell, 31, of Bloomington, Ill., a former minor-league infielder in the New York Yankees system, shot a 67, which tied Van Sickle and Kemmer for the day’s best round, to help Illinois grab the bronze model. Carlos Sainz, 23, of Elgin, added a 74 as Illinois edged Rhode Island and South Carolina by two shots.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Mitchell, the runner-up in last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur.

Mark Anderson, 23, of Beaufort, S.C., earned individual medalist honors at 7-under 206, shooting a final-round 70 to place one stroke ahead of Van Sickle. The 2008 University of South Carolina graduate stuck around as an amateur this past summer with hopes of making the Walker Cup team. While the State Team Championship wasn’t exactly a consolation prize, taking top individual honors at this championship was a nice way to end his amateur career. He hopes to make his pro debut on the Hooters Tour in the next couple of weeks.

“It’s an awesome way to go out,” said Anderson, who thought he might have blown his chance at medalist honors with a bogey at 18. “I’m thrilled and I’m proud of how our team fought. We hung in there and actually had a top-five finish. You can’t be disappointed with that.”

Story written by USGA Digital Media staff writer David Shefter. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.

St. Albans, Mo. – Results from the final round of the 2009 USGA Men’s State Team Championship conducted on the 7,150-yard, par-71 Lewis and Clark Course at the Country Club of St. Albans. (Note: Team totals are derived by taking the two low lowest scores from each round)

1-Pennsylvania (417) Mike Van Sickle, Wexford 72-68-67--207; Nathan Smith, Pittsburgh 69-68-74--211; Sean Knapp, Oakmont72-73-73--218

2-Kansas (420) Jon Troutman, Spring Hill 64-79-68--211; Dodge Kemmer, Wichita 69-75-67--211; Bryan Norton, Mission Hills 76-77-70--223

3-Illinois (422) Carlos Sainz, Elgin 68-69-74--211; John Ehrgott, Peoria 73-71-77--221; Todd Mitchell, Bloomington 78-76-67--221

T4-Rhode Island (424) Bobby Leopold, Cranston 70-71-71--212; Brad Valois, Warwick 71-78-72--221; Charlie Blanchard, North Providence 75-69-82--226

T4-South Carolina (424) Mark Anderson, Beaufort 65-71-70--206; Steve Liebler, Irmo 70-76-72--218; Jarrett Grimes, Columbia 77-87-82--246

T6-Georgia (428) Mark Strickland, Woodstock 66-73-74--213; Jeff Knox, Augusta 74-71-74--219; David Noll Jr, Dalton72-77-72--221

T6-Massachusetts (428) Frank Vana, Shrewsbury 75-70-70--215; Brian Higgins, Bellingham 69-74-75--218; John Hadges, North Easton 72-78-73--223

T8-Washington (430) Erik Hanson, Kirkland 71-72-72--215; Joel Dahmen, Clarkston 72-71-74--217; Derek Berg, Kenmore 72-74-72--218

T8-Tennessee (430) Tim Jackson, Germantown 67-72-74--213; Rob Garland, Nashville 68-77-76--221; Todd Burgan, Knoxville74-78-72--224

T10-California (433) George Gandranata, Emmeryville 73-74-72--219; Jason Bittick, Ladera Ranch 75-70-74--219; Tim Mickelson, San Diego 70-76-74--220

T10-Texas (433) Rob Couture, Dallas 70-74-72--216; Steve Galko, Dallas 69-72-76--217; John Bearrie,

Arlington 75-76-76--227

T12-North Carolina (434) Uly Grisette, Clemmons 74-69-70--213; Scott Harvey, Greensboro 73-72-77--222; Paul Simson, Raleigh 75-76-76--227

T12-Nevada (434) Brady Exber, Las Vegas 71-74-68--213; Joe Sanders, Incline Village 71-74-77--222; Dick Wenzel, Sparks 70-81-79--230

T12-Iowa (434) Mike McCoy, West Des Moines 73-72-72--217; Jon Brown, Urbandale 75-71-72--218; Gene Elliott, West Des Moines 75-71-72—218

15-Colorado (435) Michael Harrington, Colorado Springs 73-69-74--216; Jon Lindstrom, Broomfield 73-73-73--219; Jonathan Marsico, Denver 77-78-84--239

T16-New Jersey (437) Thomas Gramigna, Haddonfield 71-72-75--218; Michael Stamberger, Plainfield 72-75-76--223; Michael Deo, Berkeley Heights 76-73-74--223

T16-Florida (437) David Johnson, Palm Bay 69-74-74--217; Tommy Murray, Orange Park 74-75-72--221; Tim Hume, Tampa 76-74-77--227

18-West Virginia (438) Pat Carter, Huntington 68-74-75--217; Anthony Reale, Charleston 74-83-72--229; Michael Veres, Logan 76-75-78--229

T19-Maryland (439) Matthew Bassler, Catonsville 71-73-73--217; Chris Baloga, Parkville 73-73-76--222; Zachary Lese, Silver Spring 79-73-77--229

T19-Mississippi (439) Ben Snow, Hattiesburg 70-71-76--217; Clay Homan, Starkville 71-77-79--227; Steve Wilson, Ocean Springs 80-79-74--233

21-Missouri (440) Skip Berkmeyer, St. Louis 71-73-73--217; Darren Lundgren, Grover 74-75-76--225; Brian Haskell, St. Joseph 75-77-74--226

T22-Connecticut (441) Jeff Hedden, Quaker Hill 75-76-71--222; Ryan Leahey, Orange 73-73-77--223; Philip Perry, East Lyme 74-73-81--228

T22-Delaware (441) Greg Wolfe, Newark 75-72-73--220; Jay Whitby, Wyoming 72-74-75--221; Tim Freeh, Milton 75-83-77--235

24-Arizona (442) Chris Kessler, Scottsdale 74-71-73--218; Dalen Linnerson, Tempe 75-75-77--227; Michael Wog II, Scottsdale 72-79-78--229

25-Michigan (444) Tom Werkmeister, Kentwood 74-69-73--216; Eric Spencer, Bloomfield Hills 72-76-80--228; Greg Davies, West Bloomfield 76-83-80—239

26-Oregon (446) Chris Polski, Eugene 71-73-79--223; Eric Fiskum, Salem 75-73-76--224; Jim Dunlap, Tigard 77-76-78—231