Clutch U.S. Mid-Amateur performance gives Clutch U.S. Mid-Amateur performance gives
Lookaway GC’s Brown first POY Award Lookaway GC’s Brown first POY Award
WILLIAM HYNDMAN, III PLAYER OF THE YEAR
MICHAEL BROWN of Lookaway Golf Club emerged as a
viable William Hyndman, III Player of the Year candidate at the 106th Open
Championship, literally, from under the cover of darkness. More than two
months later, under the bright lights of the national stage, Brown secured his
first POY in dramatic fashion by advancing into the U.S. Middle-Amateur
Championship’s match play draw. Brown totaled 646.6 points, 66.6 points
ahead of Llanerch CC’s Jeff Osberg.
“It’s great. I can’t say I was directly shooting for that, but it’s something I
started to focus on later in the year and knew what I had to do at the U.S. Mid-
Am. to win it,” said Brown, 37, of Cheltenham, Pa. “Although I came up short of
my ultimate goal [at the U.S. Mid-Am.], it was nice to get to match play and get
to the top of that points list. So I was definitely happy about that. It was satisfying
to know exactly what I needed to do and do it.”
Brown’s Player of the Year ascension was anything but conventional as
championship campaigns go.
He made an admirable defense of his Middle-Amateur Championship title at
Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill Course in May, finishing in a tie for
seventh. A few weeks later in late June, though, he failed to qualify for match play
at the Amateur Championship when posting head-shaking rounds of 76 and 82.
His 158 score was six shots south of the cut.
