Wall, Sample set to Meet in 118th Met Amateur Final

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (August 1, 2020) – A pair of teenagers will go 36 holes at Bethpage Black on Sunday to determine a champion in the 118th Met Amateur Championship, after Luke Sample of Old Oaks and Jack Wall of Manasquan River claimed semifinal victories on Saturday.

Sample, 17 and just a couple weeks removed from winning the 103rd Met Junior, held off 2018 champion Ryan Davis of Watchung Valley, 1-up, in an incredible match where the two combined for nine birdies and an eagle.

Meanwhle, 19-year-old Wall’s steadiness proved to be enough against three-time Met Amateur semifinalist Dawson Jones of Eagle Oaks. Wall claimed six of his seven hole victories with par, while adding a birdie on the par-5 13th en route to a 5-and-3 win.

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Sample couldn’t have had a better start, knocking it to close range for birdie on one, draining a lengthy look for birdie on the second and chipping in for birdie on the par-3 third from below and right of the green to the middle-left hole location.

“It was a match play moment where all of a sudden you’re out of position and you hole one out, and all of a sudden you’re 3-up through three,” said Sample, who has verbally committed to play at Duke. “So, getting off to that kind of start really helped.”

Davis wasn’t going down easy though as he aimed to make his third consecutive trip to the championship match. The 22-year-old made birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 to pull within one, with his second coming after hitting an outstanding approach from the right fairway bunker to 12 feet.

However, on the very next hole Davis found trouble in the right trees and his rescue attempt caught a final tree and ricocheted into the woods, not to be found. Sample meanwhile had struck his second on the par-5 to within 10 feet and his eagle was conceded.

After Davis made a spectacular two-putt par from the back of the green to a front hole on the par-3 eighth, Sample hit a 122-yard gap wedge to just inside 10 feet to close the outward nine with another birdie.

For Sample, a key moment came on the par-4 10th, where Davis made a lengthy par attempt to force Sample to make a par look of his own.

“All of a sudden, instead of me having a putt to go 4-up, he’s forcing me to make a putt to halve the hole,” said Sample of the situation. “It definitely put the pressure on, but I was able to convert for par.”

The back-and-forth continued, as Davis made an 18-foot birdie look on the par-4 11th and Sample answered with a long birdie on the par-4 12th, continuing an impressive stretch on the hole for him during match play.

“That’s one of the holes that you’re looking to get out of there with four,” he said of the 500-plus yard par-4. “To be able to go birdie-birdie-birdie my last three times playing it is huge.”

Davis wouldn’t go away though, stuffing a wedge approach from 106 yards on the par-5 13th for a conceded birdie that trimmed the lead to two once again.

After a pair of threes on 14, Davis muscled a shot out of the right rough on the par-4 15th and made par to take another hole from Sample, who had missed the green long.

Davis had a look to tie the match on the par-4 16th after knocking his approach to five feet, but the putt just missed low.

Sample appeared to be in trouble on the par-3 17th, getting a challenging semi-plugged lie in the front, middle greenside bunker.

“In the 6-for-1 playoff a couple days ago, John Felitto hit one out of that same kind of lie and got up and down,” said Sample, thinking back to the 9-hole playoff he survived to earn the No. 16 seed. “So I was like, ‘Alright, let’s do what he did.’ I just took a really steep swing at it, popped it out and hit one of my best putts all week, five to six feet down the hill sliding to the right, and that was probably the biggest moment of this match.”

Pars on the last sealed Sample’s trip to the final and extends what he’s called one of the best and most fun weeks of his young golf career.

“The biggest thing is, I’ve had so much fun all week. Win or lose—I could have lost today, I could have lost yesterday—just to be in this position, I think that alone is giving me a lot of energy to go out and have fun and not be too result-oriented. I think that takes a lot of the pressure off and just lets me go play my game.”

To Sample, the opportunity to compete at a venue he already loved makes it an even more special opportunity as he looks toward the 36-hole final on Sunday.

“I’ve played a ton of rounds here, even before this week,” said Sample. “Just to come here and have a chance on a golf course that I know very well means a lot and hopefully we can go have some fun tomorrow and see what happens.”

In the second semifinal match, consistency was key for 19-year-old Wall against 2019 Ike champion and three-time Met Amateur semifinalist Jones. After matching pars on Nos. 1-3, Wall, the No. 15 seed, gained the advantage over Jones, winning Nos. 4-6 with pars to take an early 3-up lead.

“I think the biggest thing was trying to hit fairways and greens and trying to give myself good looks birdies,” Wall said after his victory. “I didn’t make a lot of putts today but found a way to play consistent and make a lot of pars. I really like how I played today. It was just very consistent.”

Wall kept his consistent play going on the back nine, winning the par-4 10th with par after Jones struggled to get out of the left fescue. On 11, Wall gave himself a long birdie look, but with Jones finding a fairway bunker and a front greenside bunker, a four pushed his lead to 5-up.

Jones fought back to win the long par-4 12th with par, but Wall answered with a birdie on the par-5 13th. Jones made a short birdie putt on 14 to take one back, but Jones’ drive on 15 sailed out of bounds to the right. Wall took the hole and closed out the match to earn his spot in the final.

When it comes to match play, Wall’s strategy of consistency and focus seems to be working for him at Bethpage.

“I like to just go out there and focus on my own game, dial in some irons and try to hit it close,” he shared. “You can obviously be aggressive in match play, so try to dial in some irons and make some putts, that’s really all you can do.”

In the 2019 Met Amateur at Hudson National, Wall lost his quarterfinal match to eventual winner and former high school teammate Chris Gotterup of Rumson, after missing a short putt on the 18th and 19th holes of the match. Wall still remembers that tough loss but thinks of it as a learning opportunity.

“I’ve thought about it quite a bit and I get flashbacks every now and then. It stung right after it happened, but you have to learn from it and get better and that’s what I’ve been doing and I feel pretty good about it,” he said. “We’re good friends and he sent me a text this morning to play well,” Wall shared about Gotterup.

After 18 holes of stroke play and three matches on the Black, Wall is looking forward to some rest before Sunday’s final. “It’s an unbelievable opportunity and it’s going to be a lot of fun tomorrow playing with Luke, he’s a very good player and I’m very excited to get out there and play a long, grueling 36-hole day. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I can’t wait.”

Sample and Wall will tee off at 7:45 a.m. in the 36-hole championship match, concluding what’s been an exciting week at one of the country’s most revered public venues. As host this week, Bethpage Black became the first-ever public course to welcome the MGA’s oldest championship. It also became the 18th venue to have hosted the MGA’s trio of majors—the Ike, Met Amateur and Met Open.