U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 18, 2023

Nick Dunlap

Cherry Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You survived; most of this championship you've been ahead. Now you fought from behind today. What was the mindset there chasing down somebody?

NICK DUNLAP: Honestly, man, it's just so hard to win in this atmosphere, especially like the amount of people that are out here.

I know it's hard to win. It's hard to win for him, it's hard to win for me, and just give all you got. That just shows, I was feeling like I was in a bad spot on the last hole, and you never know what can happen. I felt like he had a pretty basic bunker shot. Pressure is difficult. I felt like if I could somehow give myself a putt and make it, you never know what happens. Fortunately it all turned out in my favor.

Q. Take us through that playoff hole and fist pump on the 19th.

NICK DUNLAP: I didn't make much all day, to be honest with you, especially I'm normally pretty good inside 10 feet, and I missed two coming down the stretch. That'll shake you up a little bit. You're just standing behind the putt, and I had some pitch marks out there, some spike marks, and it's like, man, all I could do was hit a good putt. If I hit a good putt and miss and he makes it, I can wrap my head around that.

Fortunately, I looked up, and it crested, went right over the spike mark we were looking at.

Q. Does it give you a little bit more confidence knowing today was a little bit of a down putting day?

NICK DUNLAP: It's golf, at the end of the day. You're never going to come out with you A+ game every day. Some days -- I played really well against Gordo and then struggled a little bit off the tee. Yesterday felt like I hit it good off the tee besides one tee shot today, but didn't putt good. That's the way it is. I wasn't seeing the greens as well today. Maybe go out and do a little bit of work here in a minute.

But you never know; you may come out and make them all tomorrow. You never know. Golf is a weird game. I think it goes to show the last couple holes we played.

Q. Somebody like you who's been in so many match play situations these last couple years, what do you think is the biggest key heading into the semifinals to make sure that your body is rested, mentally rested and you can kind of reset?

NICK DUNLAP: I think you can get overwhelmed by the situation quickly if you allow yourself to. At the end of the day, it's still golf. You still have to stick to your game plan, no matter what that is, whether it's trying to push it down the fairway with driver, 3-wood or lay back with irons. The golf ball doesn't know who's hitting it. That's kind of been my game plan the entire way.

I said I wasn't putting it great today, but it's one of the strengths of my game, and I'm going to rely on my putter.

Q. Had you played in Colorado before?

NICK DUNLAP: I had not. I think it's my first time even being in Denver or Colorado in general. It's a little bit different. We were fortunate enough to come two or three days early with the Walker Cup squad.

I had a pounding headache for the first two or three days, dehydrated, so I'm glad I came here a little bit early to get adjusted to it, and I'm feeling fine now.

Q. What's your impression after being here for a week or whatever?

NICK DUNLAP: I like hitting driver 380. No, it's just different.

I'm trying to adjust everything back at sea level, whether it's 10 percent, 8 percent, 12, whatever that may be. But it's going to vary on how high you hit it. I think more math goes into and I'll give credit to my caddie. He's doing a great job helping me with that.

If I'm going to flight it, you're not going to get that full 10 percent; it's not going to get in the air. But if I hit it way up in the air, it's going to go 12 to maybe 15 percent.

I think we've done a great job on that so far, and just going to continue that the next few days.

Q. How difficult is it to shake off 18 to move on to the next hole?

NICK DUNLAP: It's just part of it. Same thing with 16. You walk to 17 tee and let 16 bother you, you're going to be 1-down going into 18. You've got to block it out as quick as you can.

I made some silly mistakes early, they kind of lingered, and I shouldn't let it. I ended up being 2-down. I should have been 3-down through 6. I was trying to learn from that and just have it not be kind of a déjà-vu moment.

Q. Auburn versus Alabama; were you thinking about that at all last night?

NICK DUNLAP: A little, but to be honest, somebody told me yesterday he was the No. 1 junior in the world, and you obviously had to do some pretty impressive things to get there, and I respect the hell out of that.

I hadn't played with him, but obviously based off his record and what he's accomplished, he's obviously a really good player. He's made it to the Elite 8 of the U.S. Am and he's not even in college yet.

But I treat everybody the same. Anybody can go out and shoot anywhere from 10-over to 10-under. You never know.

Q. Did you hear any "Roll Tides" out there?

NICK DUNLAP: Heard a couple of them. It was cool; I got to turn around at 18 and just look back and see all the people watching. It's really cool, the support that the members and the people around give Cherry Hills. It's such a special place. It's got so much history behind it with Arnie and Phil and the list goes on, and just to be a small part of it is pretty special.

Q. How do you like this as a course or not like it?

NICK DUNLAP: I enjoy it. Obviously I haven't played much in the Midwest or whatever you want to call Colorado, but it reminds me a lot of a northeast golf course. Just with altitude I think it makes this place a little bit shorter off the tee and some of your approach shots, and for me I've played it a lot like a northeast kind of golf course where you position yourself in the fairway, the rough is pretty gnarly. You get out of position quickly if you allow yourself to, and then just try to position yourself in a place where you make some putts.

These greens are pretty slopey in spots. They're getting quick. They're starting to firm up, and I think yesterday shows -- it showed Cherry Hills' teeth when it started to get to 20. It was a cool test, and I'm curious to see how the USGA sets it up tomorrow.