U.S. SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 29, 2024

Louis Brown

The Honors Course

Quick Quotes

Q. You first played in a USGA event 43 years ago and got to the quarterfinals as a junior. Here you are 43 years later standing with a trophy.

LOUIS BROWN: Wow, yeah. I think back to my first USGA event in Fresno. Like I just said, I've won -- I haven't done everything I wanted to do in golf, but I've won some tournaments. I've won some stuff in Georgia that's pretty meaningful. But the one thing that I thought would be huge for me would be to win a USGA event, and this was the only one.

I can't hit it far enough for the Mid-Am the way the golf ball goes today, and yeah, so this was the one. It's huge.

Q. You're the fifth Georgian to win, and all of them have come since 1999 in the Senior Amateur, so Ploeger, Hanzel, Royak, Rusty Strawn, now you.

LOUIS BROWN: Well, I don't know when Hanzel won.

Q. 2013.

LOUIS BROWN: So in the last 11 years we've had four? Pretty good percentage. We've got a few others who can win this thing, too.

Q. What's in the water across the state line here?

LOUIS BROWN: I don't know. I won't name names but there are a few boys in Georgia who I think will win it.

Q. Someone that doesn't play a lot of golf, how do you manage to pull off the good play to win? You've got to win six matches. It's not that easy to do.

LOUIS BROWN: That's a good question. Honestly, my last golf tournament was 11 months ago. It was in September of last year. That definitely has to be the thing I'm most proud of is that I could win this golf tournament having not played a golf tournament for 11 months.

All I can tell you is I played a lot of tournament golf a long time ago. I never stopped working on my game. I practice, and I know what's important, which is short game. My short game is not always there, but it was pretty good this week.

I think that's how. I know what to do, but when you don't play tournaments, it's just hard to get comfortable. I was able to get pretty comfortable this week.

Q. 11 months since your last tournament. You obviously play at your local club. Do you just go out and hit balls, practice?

LOUIS BROWN: I play more -- I do play some there, but I don't play a lot of games or anything. It's not like I'm competing a lot out there. Yeah, that's something I probably need to do more.

But I play with friends. I'm more of a business golfer, to be honest. I do go out and play serious golf because I know if I don't get to play a lot of rounds, I'd better treat it like it matters.

Q. Talk about today's round; you got off to a great start. I don't know how long your birdies were on the first two holes. What a great start.

LOUIS BROWN: You know, I did not putt well yesterday. I putted great at the beginning of this tournament, and then yesterday I just lost the feel. I did a little practice after 37 holes yesterday. I actually went and putted a little bit. I kept my caddie out here. I feel bad for him. That made all the difference. It freed my stroke up. No. 1, I hit it to about 10 feet, and my opponent had a par putt that was not the easiest putt. But it rolled it in.

Then 2, I rolled it in from about the same distance. I putted great.

Q. To get that early lead, how comfortable did you suddenly become when you're 4-up --

LOUIS BROWN: Again, it's not like I'm playing a lot of these things. I'm not playing a lot of match play. All I can say to myself is just stick to what you do the best I can and don't think at all about what you're doing, the situation.

Getting out to that lead, I think it helped calm me down. But I think either day, I was going to do what I was going to do. I had my game plan. But that certainly gave me a nice cushion.

Q. He had some chances on you, too, on the back nine, and he just never could get it going.

LOUIS BROWN: Yeah, Dan is obviously a very good player, and I was fortunate not to get his best stuff today. But maybe I had something to do with that.

Q. You get some nice perks for winning this. You're in the Senior Open next year, you're going to get paired with Richard Bland and K.J. Choi, the traditional pairing at the Broadmoor, you're in the next two Mid-Ams, you're in the next two Amateurs, and you've got 10 Senior Amateurs on your docket. It's in the story what the champion gets, but you've never played the Senior Open, I know that. I think you played two Amateurs way back, and I don't think you've played the Mid-Am?

LOUIS BROWN: I've never even tried to qualify.

Q. So your next month is the Mid-Am and next year's Mid-Am, too, if you choose to play.

LOUIS BROWN: Actually I'm not really a tournament golfer, so I've got to decide what I want to do. It's great to get these invites. But if I'm going to play in these things, I have to commit.

Q. It depends on who Georgia is playing, too. The U.S. Amateur is at Olympic Club, and then it's at Merion the following year, and you're into both.

LOUIS BROWN: I'm in two?

Q. You're in two, the next two U.S. Ams. And you get a local exemption to the U.S. Open, too, so you've got a right to qualify for the U.S. Open if you want to do that.

LOUIS BROWN: Well, I mean, I hit the ball a decent distance for a guy my age, but if I'm going to play in that league, I'm going to have to get in the gym. I've got to get my club head speed up, which is possible. Less work and more exercise.

Q. One of my colleagues said you played 16 PGA TOUR events, something like that?

LOUIS BROWN: That sounds about right. Maybe a little less.

Q. Nike Tour and --

LOUIS BROWN: Yeah, I had my Nike Tour card. I did Monday qualifiers and exemptions for tournaments I got in. So yeah, I've got some experience.

Q. It's another lifetime ago, right? 1989 I think you were the Australian Tour's Rookie of the Year.

LOUIS BROWN: Yeah, I won a tournament there. I've won some things. But winning a USGA event is huge.

Q. There are some nice names on that trophy, a few Georgia boys. I'm sure you and the Georgia guys will have something to share?

LOUIS BROWN: Yeah, we have a little club there.

Q. Where do you play your golf?

LOUIS BROWN: Atlanta Country Club, which is the venue that held the first PLAYERS Championship. Most people don't know that.

Q. Larry Nelson is there --

LOUIS BROWN: Yeah, Larry is a member there, another guy that played on TOUR, Joe Inman.

Q. Jason Bohn?

LOUIS BROWN: Jason is at Marietta Country Club.

Q. But he's got a great story on he made a hole-in-one --

LOUIS BROWN: I know, I've heard him tell it.

Q. Your dad was a sportswriter. He's probably looking down and saying, what kind of story can I write.

LOUIS BROWN: I know.

Q. 50 years?

LOUIS BROWN: My dad wrote sports for 50 years. Union Times Herald.