From a Slow Start to Shooting 64: McDermott’s Triumph at Granite Bay Golf Club.
Dylan McDermott wasn’t pleased at all with his first round at a U.S. Amateur qualifying event on July 10 at Granite Bay Golf Club. Shooting an even-par 71 – a round that included a double bogey, two bogeys and four birdies – left McDermott tied for 11th place, five shots behind the leader, and then conferring with his caddie, Phil Dawson.
“I was a good amount back of the qualifying spots,” McDermott recalled. “I just told Phil, I was putting good. I just wasn’t hitting great shots. And so instead of trying to force anything to happen, I just told him I’m just going to try to hit every green on the second 18. I ended up doing that.”
With only two qualifying spots available, Dylan McDermott went to work in the second round, on Granite Bay’s par-71, 6,889-yard course. He got the job done, shooting a sizzling 64 with seven birdies, and jumping to the top of the leaderboard.
Dylan McDermott, who is going into his junior year at the University of Colorado, was the individual medalist at the 36-hole, one-day qualifier, shooting 7-under-par 135 and winning by a four-shot margin over Griffin Pace of Pacific Grove. The field consisted of 74 players, many of whom are from the Sacramento area.
“I just didn’t make any mistakes,” McDermott said in a phone interview. “It made it easy to go low. A couple of putts ended up dropping. It was really good to see what I was able to do. But I really only realized it looking back at it, in the second round, I was kind of so just involved in the moment, taking it one shot at a time, I never looked at the leaderboard. I never was really worried about what I needed to shoot.”
“I just knew I had what it took. I knew that if I put a good number up, I was going to get in. I was never chasing a spot. And so, I think that’s what really helped me – I just played my game and I wasn’t worried about where I was at. I just knew that if I came in with a good number, I’d probably qualify.”
“Once I got in, I saw I had about a four-shot lead over the next person. No one really had enough holes left to catch me. So, I pretty much knew I was in.”
“So, it came together.”
It sure did.
Dylan McDermott secured his spot in the 2023 U.S. Amateur, Aug. 14-20 at Cherry Hills Country Club, in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. (championship venue), and Colorado Golf Club, in Parker, Colo. (stroke-play co-host venue). As a college golfer for the University of Colorado in Boulder, he can anticipate strong support from his head coach, Roy Edwards, assistant coach Derek Tolan, and his teammates throughout the championship.
“I’m super excited to see everybody,” he said. “I’m going to head out early and start practicing at our facilities.”
The 123rd U.S. Amateur
The 123rd U.S. Amateur is set to feature a field of 312 players. The U.S. Golf Association (USGA) said a received an overwhelming response, accepting a record-breaking 8,253 entries. In order to be eligible, a player cannot have a Handicap Index exceeding 2.4, the USGA said. The qualifying rounds, which consisted of 36 holes, were conducted at various sites from June 28 to July 27, determining the final roster of participants for the prestigious event.
Dylan McDermott played in the U.S. Amateur last year. He missed the cut in 36-hole stroke play qualifying after shooting 74-78 – 152. It was played at The Ridgewood Country Club and Arcola Country Club, in Paramus, N.J.
As the low two individuals at the qualifying, McDermott and Pace (72-67 – 139) advance to the U.S. Amateur Championship. The two alternates are Zach Pollo of Rocklin (66-73 – 139) and Michael Jura of Fresno (69-70 – 139).
Pollo won the 112th California Amateur Championship in June at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City. He was selected to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team this past year at the University of Arizona.
Dylan McDermott, a 2021 Granite Bay High School graduate, said his hope is to win the U.S. Amateur. Stroke play qualifying is Aug. 14 and 15. Sixty-four players advance to match play, starting on Aug. 16 with the Round of 64. The U.S. Amateur will be carried by Peacock, Golf Channel and NBC.
According to the USGA, at championships.usga.org, the winner receives:
* The Havemeyer Trophy and a gold medal.
* An exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Amateurs.
* An exemption into the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort.
* An exemption into 2024 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
* A “likely” invitation into the 2023 Masters Tournament.
“Last year was my first time going to the (U.S. Amateur), and so I was pretty nervous and super excited to be there,” said McDermott, 20. “I was more worried about trying to make the cut last year. And now that I have a lot more experience, I’ve proven to myself that I can play at the college and high amateur level.
“I feel like the only goal that anybody should have heading into the (U.S. Amateur) is trying to win it. So, that’s my goal. And I’m super happy that I was able to make it, especially with it being in Colorado, close to where I live.
“No matter how I play, I hope I can just learn a lot. Hopefully it will just prepare me for the college season. It should be a win-win for me.”
Dylan McDermott has played out of Winchester Country Club, in Meadow Vista, near Auburn, for the last 3 ½ years. But at one time he played out of Granite Bay Golf Club, for 10 years.
“I liked going back there and being able to qualify. I had to earn it just like everybody else,” McDermott pointed out. “It was super fun.”
McDermott had Phil Dawson, his swing coach, as his caddie at the qualifier. He credits Dawson, a PGA Class A professional and an instructor at Catta Verdera Country Club in Lincoln and Winchester CC, for helping keep him calm and patient during the qualifier. McDermott has been working with Dawson since his days as a junior, starting out when he was 9 years old.
“I think the thing that’s really stuck out to me is he just knows my game better than anybody,” said McDermott. “I could be in Boulder and I can send him a swing video and he just knows exactly what my swing looks like when I play my best. So, no matter where I am, we can walk through stuff, talk through stuff, and we’ll pretty quickly figure out what I need to do to play well that week. He’s just really well rounded when it comes to golf.”
Summer golf
McDermott has spent the summer playing in the Elite Amateur Golf Series.
According to its website, www.eliteamateurgolfseries.org: “Created to challenge the best of the best in amateur golf, the Elite Amateur Golf Series brings together the top amateur championships in a collective series of competitions, the Elite Amateur Cup. The Elite Amateur Golf Series maintains a proven track record that prepares elite players for the toughest competitive test, making the championships the majors of amateur golf.
“The seven championships that make up the series have a distinguished history of hosting the top talent and competitive play in amateur golf.”
McDermott tied for 14th at the Southern Amateur Championship, July 19-22, at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, TN. He shot 69-70-72 – 211.
McDermott tied for 11th at the Northeast Amateur Invitational Golf Tournament, June 19-24, at Wannamoisett Country Club, in Rumford, R.I. He shot 65-71-70-69 – 275.
McDermott tied for 47th at the Sunnehanna Amateur, June 14-17, at Sunnehanna Country Club, in Johnstown, PA. He shot 70-69-68-74 – 281.
Dylan McDermott also played in a U.S. Open Final Qualifying on June 5 at Tacoma Country & Golf Club, in Lakewood, Wash. He did not advance after shooting 74-75 – 149.
College golf
McDermott is already one of the top players in Colorado school history.
As a freshman, he took third place in Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish Classic. His 72.52 stroke average was second on the team and the third-best average by a freshman in school history, University of Colorado Athletics reported.
This past year, as a sophomore, McDermott was named first-team PING All-West Region and first-team All-Pac-12. On his bio page, at cubuffs.com, University of Colorado Athletics reports: “He arguably had the most impressive sophomore season in school history.”
He was also CU’s co-Male Athlete of the Year.
McDermott was medalist at Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish Invitational. He had second-place finishes at Wyoming’s Desert Intercollegiate and the Pac-12 Championships.
He finished tied for 48th at the NCAA Championship Finals.
According to University of Colorado Athletics, McDermott “concluded his spectacular sophomore year finishing as the leader in a school record 36 statistical categories.”
“I’m super, super excited that I’m there,” said McDermott, who is majoring in marketing. “I’ve had a great time. I picked a great spot. They’ve treated me super well. They really gave me my shot in college golf.”
Playing in Sacramento area
McDermott was a three-time Most Valuable Player for the Granite Bay High boys golf team. He was also named to the All-Sierra Foothill League team.
McDermott had a pair of third-place finishes at the Sacramento City Men’s Championship, an event put on by the Sacramento Golf Council.
He was the 2018-19 Junior Tour of Northern California Player of the Year.
Winning at Silverado in Napa
McDermott won the Grapevine Amateur, a Troon Saguaro Amateur Series event, in 2021 at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa. He did it going wire-to-wire, shooting rounds of 68, 75 and 71 for a three-day total of 2-under-par 214 on the North Course.
“I’ve always loved that course,” he said. “Being able to play there and win there was super cool. I really think it helped jump-start me on to a really good season that year. I think it was a really big confidence booster to get me started in college golf.”
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019, after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. James was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016.
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