The final round of the 2013 Normandie Amateur was destined for a dramatic finish from the moment the final scores were posted on Saturday. A four-time champion, Skip Berkmeyer carried a one shot lead into the final round with last year’s champion, Andy Frost one shot back. Alex Cusumano, a recent qualifier out of U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Aberdeen Golf Club started the day 2 back.
Entering the final day, one wouldn’t be surprised if the winner came from outside of the final group with other top players in pursuit like Phil Caravia (2012 East Side Amateur Champion), Bob Hanneken (2013 Publinx Open Champion), Ted Moloney, Jeff Johnson, Tom Barry, Chad Niezing, Dustin Ashby, and past Normandie Amateur Champions, Buddy Allen and Justin Bliss.
As the leaders made the turn, Skip Berkmeyer stood at 4-under for the tournament. Dr. Andy Frost was having a hard time getting anything started on the front side and turned at 3-over for the day and 1-over for the tournament. Cusumano was also struggling early with a bogey on the first and double bogey on the par 3, 5th hole. He made the turn at 4-over for the day and 3-over for the championship.
Leaderboard After 27 Holes
Berkmeyer -4
Allen -1
Caravia -1
Choate +1
Hanneken +1
Frost +1
Johnson +2
Cusumano +3
Moloney +3
Ashby +4
Fann +4
Callahan +4
Barry +5
Niezing +5
Seibert +5
As the leaders made their way through the extremely difficult par 4, 10th and 11th holes, the pack pursuing Berkmeyer began to dwindle. At the same time, Frost made birdie on 10 and another on 12 to get back in red numbers for the championship at -1.
Leaderboard with 3 holes to play:
Berkmeyer -2
Allen -1
Caravia E
Choate E
Johnson +2
Moloney +2
Hanneken +3
Barry +3
Cusumano +4
Niezing +4
As the leaders made their way to the final stretch at Normandie Golf Club, the wind was starting to wreak havoc. This was especially the case on the par 4, 14th hole. Playing the lower tee box, the shot called for a left to right ball flight to a landing area sloping dramatically from right to left. It was on the 14th hole where Berkmeyer would drop 2 shots with a double bogey and all of a sudden a handful of players were back in the mix.
The final three holes at Normandie Golf Club could be considered among the most difficult finishing stretches in St. Louis. A par 3 playing just 180 yards with wind swirling, followed by a par 5 with out of bounds down the entire left side and trees right. The final hole at Normandie is legendary. A par 3 at 246 yards with wind hurting the players.
Corey Choate and Jeff Johnson experienced firsthand how difficult the final three holes were on Sunday. Choate strung together 3 bogeys to finish the championship at 3 over par. Johnson also made bogeys on 16, 17 and 18 to finish at +5.
Tom Barry entered the final three at 1-under par and needed at least another birdie to have any hopes of a playoff. He would make 3 straight pars and finish at +3, tied with Choate.
Ted Moloney handled the 17th and 18th holes but unfortunately the par 3, 16th did him in. Moloney made a triple bogey and would finish at +5.
After making birdies on 10 and 12 to get back into the hunt, the defending champion Andy Frost would make double on 16 followed by consecutive bogeys on 17 and 18 to end his chances of a repeat. Frost finished at +4 for the championship.
Of all the players vying for the 2013 title, only Phil Caravia was able to truly make up ground over the difficult final three holes. Caravia made birdie on 16 and pars on 17 and 18 to finish at -1 and tie the clubhouse lead of Buddy Allen’s.
Allen posted a final round 69 to go with his first round 72 for a -1 36 hole total.
Berkmeyer’s been in this position before, needing a par on 18 to win the Normandie Amateur. On this occasion he would make bogey meaning the trio of Berkmeyer, Caravia and Allen would go extra holes.
For the second time in less than a week, Berkmeyer would make a birdie in a playoff to win. Earlier this week he birdied the 3rd playoff hole at Aberdeen to capture one of the final two qualifying spots at U.S. Open Local Qualifying. In this case it only took one playoff hole, as Berkmeyer would make birdie on the difficult 1st hole. Only four birdies were posted on No. 1 for the entire tournament before Berkmeyer ended the 2013 Normandie Amateur with one of his own.
To view a complete list of scores for the 2013 Normandie Amateur – Go HERE.
Photo – Courtesy of Curt Rohe (Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association)
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