Jack Fields wins of 111th North & South Amateur Championship

VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. (July 2, 2011)

Jack Fields became the first local golfer to win the 111th Men’s North & South Amateur Championship in nearly two decades, rallying to a 5 and 4 victory over Indiana University senior David Erdy on Saturday.

Fields, who grew up five minutes from the Pinehurst No. 2 course in Southern Pines, lost three of the first four holes in the scheduled 36-hole championship, but Fields was able to get his game back while Erdy began to press, and started spraying his driver in the afternoon on the famed Donald Ross layout as Fields rolled to the victory.

After the win, the former University of North Carolina golfer tipped his hat to the local fans and threw the ball into the crowd toward one of his childhood friends.

Fields became the first Sandhills golfer to win one of the nation’s most prestigious amateur championships since Kelly Mitchum of Pinehurst in1993.

“I’ve always really respected this tournament and wanted to win it,” Fields said. “It is not only going to help me with my career, but it’s also such a great honor.”

Fields gained momentum heading into the afternoon portion of the match when he chipped in from 30 yards behind the 18th green to halve a hole Erdy had appeared to have sewed up.
So while Fields ate lunch, Erdy headed to the practice facility to try to get his swing back. It never returned as he hit just three fairways in the afternoon as Fields closed out the match on the 32nd hole with yet another clutch putt.

“That was probably pretty devastating to see that shot go in,” Fields said of his chip on No. 18 for par. “He probably had already told himself he was going to win that hole. That’s the thing about match play; you never know what is going to happen. He had to sit over that at lunch and I got to sit over it as well, and it probably treated me a little bit better than it did him.”

At one point in the afternoon round, Fields won 5 of 7 holes, including consecutive birdies on 7 and 8 that turned the match in his favor. Fields hit a wedge to within 4 feet on the 7th and then stroked his “shot of the day” with a 7-iron to 8 feet on No. 8.

Fields gave back a hole with a double bogey on No. 9, but kept the pressure on Erdy, of Boonville, Ind., by winning the 10th and 11th holes, and the match went dormie when Erdy three-putted the 13th.

“Jack got off to a rough start, but I sort of lost my swing throughout the day,” said Erdy. “It was probably more of a mental thing. I was in such a good mood and a good frame of mind the first couple of days and just today I kind of fell outside of that, and as a result I didn’t hit a lot of good shots.

“I was just trying to grind a little too much,” added Erdy. “That’s what I’m going to take away from this week. I just tried a little too hard this final round. I tried to put myself in a position to just let it happen but the brain got in the way a little bit.” 

Since leaving UNC prior to his senior season, Fields has been playing some great golf this year, winning the 2011 Carolinas Open and finishing runner-up in the 2011 North Carolina Open.

“I knew coming in to today that I had a great opportunity, and the way I’ve been playing it was going to be hard to beat me,” Fields said. “I was confident with the way I was hitting the ball and on Pinehurst No. 2 you have to be confident.”

His name will now be placed on the wall inside the Pinehurst Resort clubhouse Hall of Champions, beside such previous North & South winners as Jack Nicklaus, Curtis Strange, Hal Sutton and Davis Love III.

“I can’t wait. I am probably going to come over here every day until I see them put that plaque up,” Fields said.

The North & South is the first championship to be played on Pinehurst No. 2 since Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore completed a significant restoration that included the removal of 35 acres of turf, elimination of the rough and reintroduction of wire grass and natural sandy areas.

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