U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 15, 2005

Carlton Forrester

CARLTON FORRESTER: I hit a few decent shots but for the most part I was pretty uncomfortable for the first 18.

Q. I guess the big pivot point was he hit it wherever he hit it on 8 and still ended up halving the hole?

CARLTON FORRESTER: You know, I thought I hit a pretty decent chip shot and it hit right on the downslope. If it hits a little further or shorter, it stops no problem, but it hit just so firm and it just barely trickles into a bad lie in the face of the bunker and I had kind of an awkward stance and had kind of a tough time getting it close and halved the hole. That was a freebie, you're right.

Certainly at that point in the match you've got to take advantage of all the freebies and you've got to try to get some momentum. That's the key to this match play is getting a little momentum and then when things are not going your way, don't allow the other player to string off several wins in a row like I did. He really got a lot of momentum and I couldn't ever quite get things going.

Q. Was your mind still focused when he hit it in the water on 9 or were you still recovering from that

CARLTON FORRESTER: Actually, no, not at all. I was just hitting it poorly and I was getting the club stuck behind me a little, and the changes I made at lunch really helped out. I opened my stance and it allowed me to swing down my target line a little better. I was hitting it more solidly and on line. I just, you know I was just trying to get it around the first 18, it was just pretty poor ball striking.

I think the key point in the match, that was a key point that you mentioned, I think the No. 1 key point in the match was 13 and 14 when I knocked it in close on 13 to five feet, and I thought he pushed his shot. It catches the back right fringe or corner of the green, hits firm and then spins and hooks around to about two feet. I mean, I bet his ball hit 30 or 40 feet away from the flagstick probably.

I don't know if he intended to do that or not. I know he didn't intend to land it where he landed it. It landed way up in the corner, you know, he was probably intending to maybe use the back ledge there to feed it to the hole a little bit. But this thing really hooked around to two feet.

Q. We were looking

CARLTON FORRESTER: And actually when I hit that shot to five feet, I was like, okay, come on, let's get some momentum here.

I made my putt, he makes his putt, and then we go to 14. I think this is a real key stretch here. 14, I knock it five feet again and he knocks it, I don't know, 30 to 40 feet on the front of the green and has to putt it up the hill. And the 100 times I've played the honors course, I've never seen anybody make it from below that ridge, and he knocks it in.

I was already down at that point trying to claw my way back in the match, and it was real difficult swallowing that putt because I ended up missing my putt, and the momentum just really swung in his favor. My golf swing was a struggle and I needed anything I could get, and that just made it really difficult after he made that putt.

Q. That was a huge break.

CARLTON FORRESTER: I think so. I think 13, 14 you know what, we got 36 holes. The eighth hole, I stunk it up there, but I had plenty of golf ahead of me to turn it around. That 13, 14 stretch, I very well could have won both of those holes and it would have I think it would have gotten to 3 down which is nothing with 22 holes to play or however many 22 holes to play.

Q. Did that take some of the wind out of your sails a little bit?

CARLTON FORRESTER: You know, that putt on 14 did. But you know what, the guy just kept hitting good shots. If I could have gotten a little momentum there, I think the whole feel of the match would have been a little different, it would have been a little closer, he would have been a little bit more nervous. I think it's much easier to play golf when you're 5 up. You can swing away with no fears, and when you're 5 down, you're just trying to grind and trying to get back into the match, and he's just swinging away at the fences and then hitting fairway after fairway and green after green. He just never, ever let up the whole day.

Q. When you're in a situation like this when you're playing you've played a lot of competitive golf, how mentally fatigued and physically fatigued are you after such a long week, or are you just going off sheer

CARLTON FORRESTER: Adrenaline is a wonderful thing because it is an exhausting week. I guarantee you, tonight I'll just collapse. I'm going to be I mean, I've been tired and sore all week, but when you get on the first tee, you're not tired and sore. You're excited and pumped up to play golf and play for a national title. You forget about being tired.

Q. Three day weekend

CARLTON FORRESTER: That's a good question. I need to ask my boss that. I sure would like one, but I'll probably go in tomorrow and try to catch up a little bit.

Q. You talked about this a little bit yesterday, but being here where you went to high school and having a week like you did and make it to the final, I know you're probably disappointed now, but can you reflect on just what this week has been like?

CARLTON FORRESTER: It's hard to dream up a better scenario. I went to high school at Baylor here in Chattanooga and it's been a dream week. If I were to come out on top this week, I don't think you could write a better story, you know, being one of my favorite golf courses, one that I've played a number of times, and I had great fan support out here. It would have been a dream come true, and it still was. It's hard for me at this moment to get over the bittersweet, you know, feeling of losing this match.

I mean, let's face it, finishing second is no fun. The only downside to the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Mid Amateur is there's only one guy that is happy, I mean, really happy at the end of the week. I've had an exceptional week and I'll be able to look back here maybe in a couple of weeks and think about it, but right now, finishing second is no fun. We're all very competitive and no one out here likes to lose.

And you know, the one thing I can take away is Kevin just played sensational golf, with a capital "S".

Q. How long did you play professional, a year?

CARLTON FORRESTER: Less than a year. I was on the Canadian Tour for a summer and went to Q School and then got my amateur status back.

Q. Not the kind of lifestyle you wanted?

CARLTON FORRESTER: You're exactly right. You named it.

Q. Seems like the same thing that most of these guys, wasn't in the cards for them.

CARLTON FORRESTER: Yeah, there's I kind of waffled back and forth when I graduated from college; do I turn pro or do I not. I never wanted to be at my desk when I was older saying, I wish I had given it a shot. I gave it a shot and I missed amateur golf, I missed the spirit of amateur golf and how much fun it was. And pro golf for me, you know, was more of a grind. There wasn't as much camaraderie. I just personally just didn't like the lifestyle.

Q. Who was here, your mom, your dad, your wife was here, who else was here?

CARLTON FORRESTER: My mother in law. Two of my aunts came up from Athens, Georgia I think it flew I mean, I tattooed that thing.

Q. She said she had plenty of padding.

CARLTON FORRESTER: That's what she said. That's only good my ball would have been in the weeds. (Laughter).

We didn't know if it hit the tree or not there. I was thinking to myself, boy, you know, things are not going my way. I've hit all of these rotten shots and now I've hit my aunt. You know, things are tough there on that first 18.

Q. She took one for the team.

CARLTON FORRESTER: Yeah, she did take one for the team.

Q. See you at the Amateur next year.

CARLTON FORRESTER: That's right. I've got some bad memories there. (Laughter). Golf team finished 28 out of 30 teams there.

Q. (Inaudible.)

CARLTON FORRESTER: Tiger Woods ended up with an 80 I think. That shows you, the golf course can't be playing anymore difficult during I mean, it couldn't be playing any easier than it did when Tiger shoots on 80 and this guy goes out and shoots a 30 on the back nine. Match play, stroke play, I don't care what you're talking about, that is incredible golf.

Q.

CARLTON FORRESTER: I mean, the whole goal would have been to try to put some pressure on him, but I never did. I never did. He just kept hitting good shot after good shot all day long. Even the last

Q. When he hit a good shot

CARLTON FORRESTER: Even the last round, it took an eagle, chip in to win the hole. I mean, usually pars are good scores on this course. Usually you'll win some holes with pars. Not today.

You know, I figured if I went out and I shot 3 or 4 under par on the front nine that I could claw my way somehow back in it, maybe try to get five or six down, you know, and just have an outside shot with nine holes to play.

You I did shot under par on my last nine holes, I think' so did he.

Q. He had a eagle and a birdie

CARLTON FORRESTER: Maybe one or two, yeah. Yeah, that's right. 1 under on the front of the honors is not bad.

End of FastScripts.