U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 13, 2023

Evan Beck

Sleepy Hollow Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. A lot of birdies for both players. High-quality match in your opinion?

EVAN BECK: Yeah, absolutely. We both played, I thought, very well. It was super soft, even before the rain, then we got more rain and it got softer.

But I think the majority of our birdies came before the rain. I was 4-under through 7, I think. I made a long putt on -- probably 25-foot birdie putt that broke three feet on 7 to square the match, for both of us to be 4-under.

We both played well. I just played a little bit better, I guess. Sam is a really nice player. He's going to Q-school. I think he's already in the process.

But he's doing another stage coming up, and wish him all the best.

Q. That stretch, 7, 8 and 9 that you won all three holes. Was that the key to the match?

EVAN BECK: No, I had to play well the whole time because he made so many birdies, but coming off that delay, it was weird we didn't get to hit any balls. But he made a few errors there and I was able to made a couple pars and capitalize.

Every hole is super important to get a win, so that was just lucky it worked out that way.

Q. Last year you got to the round of 32. Did that experience of last year help you in any way coming into this one?

EVAN BECK: I try to forget about it because that guy beat me so bad. I think he was like 8-under through 10 or something crazy like that.

No, I think anytime you can play in a USGA event and get deep in the match play it's a great experience, and you can draw from that.

I'll try to do it again. I know Dan Walters and I made it to the semis of the Four-Ball, and you feel the nerves even when you've got a partner. It's just fun to still be in the mix.

Q. How exciting is it for you to be in the Final Four out here?

EVAN BECK: Oh, it's awesome. I love this golf course. I have always heard great things and seen a bunch of pictures. But it's fantastic. I think it suits my game, and I'm just happy I get to play it at least one more time.

Q. What about this course that you're able to score on it. Are you driving it well, keeping it in the fairway, or is there something else?

EVAN BECK: Keeping it in the fairway. I mean, it's soft, so you're able to be pretty aggressive coming into the greens. I played the U.S. Am a couple weeks ago, and that place was crazy firm and I had a tough time with that.

Able to kind of shoot the range finder and try to hit it those numbers and it's kind of staying there.

I'm assuming it'll be the same. I don't know if we're getting any more rain or what, but I can't say anything better about this course. It's fantastic. I love this place.

Q. You've been able to at least show some really good results over the last couple years in the various competitions you've been in. What's happened in the last couple years to bring you back to a high competitive level in the game?

EVAN BECK: Doing the research. So I don't know. I think after trying to play professionally, I kind of re-found my love for the game and competition. Everybody says you get burned out and frustrated a little and then you get away from it and you realize how much fun golf can be. I feel like I've tried to hold on to that and just have fun at a beautiful place like Sleepy Hollow.