U.S. AMATEUR FOUR-BALL

May 28, 2024

Sam Engel

Brian Blanchard

Philadelphia Cricket Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Does this exceed any expectations you had when you started the week?

SAM ENGEL: Absolutely. Absolutely exceeds expectations. We were obviously hoping for a good result, but it's awesome to get it done and execute.

Q. Have you guys ever played in a USGA event before?

SAM ENGEL: We have, yeah.

BRIAN BLANCHARD: I played the 2017 Mid-Am and the 18th U.S. Am.

Q. Do those experiences bubble up when you get to a place like this and get to an event like this?

SAM ENGEL: Absolutely. We play a lot of four-ball golf together, and I think we've always kind of believed that we were a good team. I think just getting out here and having the results is obviously just kind of helps us believe even more.

Q. The afternoon I think you just had two birdies on the two par-5s. That was it.

BRIAN BLANCHARD: Yeah, it was blowing 30.

Q. How did the course change from morning to afternoon?

BRIAN BLANCHARD: I didn't think it changed too much. I think it just got windier.

SAM ENGEL: Maybe firmed up, dried up a little bit.

BRIAN BLANCHARD: I was hitting the same drives I felt, and I had like two more clubs into some of the greens today.

Q. Did it take you a little while to adjust?

BRIAN BLANCHARD: I mean, I think you just have to kind of put your ego aside into the wind, and if you've got to hit a 4-iron 170, you've just got to suck it up and hit that.

Q. How long were your birdie putts on the two par-5s and who made them?

BRIAN BLANCHARD: Sam made both of them.

SAM ENGEL: I made both of them. I think they were about -- I had maybe 15 feet both times. Maybe 10 feet and 15 feet, something like that.

Q. You played in college, correct, and you didn't?

BRIAN BLANCHARD: I did not.

Q. Did you grow up in California?

SAM ENGEL: No, I grew up in Scottsdale, but I went up to Northridge. I was following the good weather.

Q. Well, there's good weather in Arizona.

SAM ENGEL: Well, I wasn't good enough to play for ASU or U of A. They didn't want me. So I went up to California.

Q. Where did you go to high school?

SAM ENGEL: Up to Desert Mountain.

Q. Did you go to high school in Scottsdale, too?

BRIAN BLANCHARD: Yeah, I went to Notre Dame Prep. I went to ASU but I didn't play golf there.

Q. Did you even try?

BRIAN BLANCHARD: No.

Q. Were you playing much golf?

BRIAN BLANCHARD: Not in college, no. I was a software engineering major, so when I'm not playing golf, I'm sitting behind a desk writing code. I just wanted to chase the Mid-Am a little bit when I graduated, so I joined a club and started grinding, and now we're here.

Q. Where do you guys play out of?

BRIAN BLANCHARD: I'm a member at Desert Forest Golf Club.

SAM ENGEL: I'm at Gainey Ranch.

Q. How long have you guys known each other for?

SAM ENGEL: We've been playing together for a few years, maybe three years.

Q. It's your first four-ball?

SAM ENGEL: Our first U.S. Four-Ball, yeah.

Q. You've tried a couple of times?

SAM ENGEL: No, this is the first time we've tried to qualify for the U.S. Four-Ball. We've played like the Arizona Four-Ball and the Grass Clippings Open and some of the other --

Q. Have you done well in those?

SAM ENGEL: Yeah, we came second in the Arizona Four-Ball --

Q. What year was that, last year?

SAM ENGEL: Yeah, last year.

BRIAN BLANCHARD: It was like in September, and then the qualifier was the next week, and we won the qualifier.

Q. You just carried it over.

SAM ENGEL: Yeah, and then we played Grass Clippings Open and we were three off the lead there.

Q. Semifinals now, you're guaranteed two more years, which means you'll play in Arizona in a couple years.

BRIAN BLANCHARD: Yeah, that would be pretty cool.

Q. You guys and the Drews.

SAM ENGEL: Yeah.

Q. Do you know those guys pretty well?

BRIAN BLANCHARD: I know them but not well.

Q. Because the Arizona guys have had pretty good success. They got to the finals.

SAM ENGEL: Absolutely. We're trying to carry it forward and keep it going for the Arizona guys.

Q. Was there anything that you guys felt at the start of the week that maybe this would be your week?

SAM ENGEL: Yeah, we think we're a pretty good team. We just thought that we'd go out there and just believe in it and see how far we can take it.