By Alex Podlogar
It has not been a serene week at Pinehurst.
At the beginning of the week, the charm had yet to wear off. And, sure, at some parts of the golf course, the reminders that the U.S. Open was played here just two weeks ago still resonate. Fans following the men’s and women’s North & South Amateur Championships have taken advantage of sitting in the grandstands that are still standing around many of the greens on Pinehurst No. 2. So have photographers, and the occasional fox squirrel. And seeing the bunting with the USGA logo set against its deep navy blue has added a certain regalness to the setting.
Large forklifts have crisscrossed No. 2 throughout the week, removing heavy equipment from the ongoing dismantling of spectator tents. Workers tirelessly remove, piece-by-piece, structures, enduring endless sun and soaring temperatures. That they may have to shout to a co-worker on occasion isn’t only necessary, it’s well understood. The players in these two championships have competed in a way that it seems they are unbothered by the pockets of noise that arise.
But on Friday evening, as the final groups in the quarterfinals of the men’s and women’s North & Souths hit the home stretch, golden hour was greeted with its natural serenity. Work – outside the wiregrass anyway – was done for the day. Birds chirped harmoniously. The Village Chapel’s chimes pierced the pines. The squirrels snickered. The drying bermudagrass crunched under a caddie’s foot.
And Jackson Van Paris chipped in for birdie to take a lead.
All, friends, was back to normal in Pinehurst.
Playing in perhaps his final North & South Amateur, the Pinehurst resident and Vanderbilt senior faced his sternest challenge of the week – if you don’t count No. 2 itself – in Florida senior Ian Gilligan. While Van Paris is ranked 8th in the world amateur rankings, Gilligan is right there at 16. Paired in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon, it was by far the marquee match of the day on paper. (Or, better put, on online scoring…)
It lived up to the billing.
The match was never separated by one player having more than a 1-up lead. Each player took that lead twice in the first 14 holes. Neither would suggest they played their best golf, yet both finished the day with scores right around par.
The match was tied through 13 holes as the two came to the 14th green. Van Paris had left his approach from the middle of the fairway short of the green, but in a good spot to play to the front-left pin. Gilligan, who had blown his drive into the adjoining 13th fairway, was short and right of the green after playing his approach over the trees.
Gilligan hit a nice chip shot. Van Paris hit a great one.
“I had no momentum, none, until then,” Van Paris said. “That was huge. If I don’t make that, I don’t think I have a chance to win down the stretch.”
While the match had changed, so too did the surroundings. It took some effort for Van Paris to ultimately prevail – the match would be tied again until another nifty up-and-down on 18 secured the win for Van Paris. But as the shadows crept from the East veranda and toward the shallow valley back of the 18th green, Pinehurst was back on its axis.
Van Paris, a past runner-up and semifinalist in this championship, is on another run, perhaps the last one.
“I have – hopefully – two very tough matches against two great opponents tomorrow, so I don’t want to look past that,” Van Paris said. “But, obviously, winning here would mean the absolute world to me. And for all the people who have come out here and supported me, following me playing No. 2 for five years, I would love to be able to give them something to show for their support, for something to cheer for.”
Van Paris is correct. It will be a difficult road. Gilligan’s Florida teammate Jack Turner will face Baylor’s Davis Ovard in the first semifinal on Saturday morning, which begins at 7 a.m. Van Paris will take on Minnesota’s Ben Warian, beginning at 7:10 a.m. Turner and Warian won their quarterfinal matches handily – 6&4 for Turner and 4&3 for Warian. Ovard walked to the 18th tee 1-down, only to tie the match and eventually beat Jace Summy in 20 holes.
But they are not the only players competing for a spot in Pinehurst history. The 122nd North & South Women’s Amateur is also being played this week, meaning two Putter Boy trophies will be on the line on No. 2 on Saturday.
A day after 64 players – 32 men and 32 women – walked No. 2’s fairways and storied turtleback greens on a day unlike any other in Pinehurst history, a similar monumental march took place all day on Friday, this time with each championship contesting two rounds of match play concurrently. Many of the best amateur golfers in the world playing the same classic course, in the same conditions, on the same day. It will happen again on Saturday. And on that day, two championship matches will take place back-to-back, just 10 minutes separating the tee times.
Talk about Golden Hour.
Macy Pate and her caddie Jeremy Buhman consult during Friday's quarterfinal match in Pinehurst.
The women’s semifinals will follow the men in the morning. Three of the top 5 seeds remain, including medalist and top-seeded Macy Pate, who got up-and-down to save par on 12, 13, 17 and 18 to outlast SMU’s Mackenzie Lee in the quarterfinals on Friday. The ACC Freshman of the Year, Pate is looking to become the first player to win the North & South Junior Girls Championship and North & South Women’s Amateur in consecutive years since May Wood in 2001 and 2002.
“I haven’t really been able to think about it,” Pate said of the shot at history. “Honestly, I have to take it one hole at a time. I know that’s such a cliché, but out here, you really have to do it. This week, it’s the correct thing to think.”
Pate will face fifth seeded Kylee Choi, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles in 2022 at the age of 15. Choi defeated Brooke Biermann 1-up in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Western Kentucky’s Catie Craig, who did not finish lower than 9th during her regular season for the Hilltoppers this year, never trailed in her match against Megan Streicher. The No. 3-seeded Craig won two of her last four holes to put the match away and win 2&1. She will face Vanderbilt’s Lynn Lim, who dispatched Duke’s Andie Smith 3&2 in the quarterfinals. Lim was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2023.
It will be a day unlike any other in Pinehurst. In a week where nothing has really been normal, there’s no better way.
124TH NORTH & SOUTH MEN’S AMATEUR
Pinehurst No. 2
Round of 32
Thursday
No. 32 Michael Riebe d. No. 1 Kelly Chinn 3&1
No. 17 Nicholas Gross d. No. 16 Parker Bell, 3&2
No. 8 Andy Xu d. No. 25 Carson Bertagnole, 1up
No. 9 Jack Turner d. No. 24 Quinton Croker, 3&2
No. 29 Davis Ovard d. No. 4 Brycen Jones, 2up
No. 13 Pongsapak Laopakdee d. No. 20 Josh Duagnmanee, 2&1
No. 5 Luke Colton d. No. 28 Choen Trolio, 2&1
No. 12 Jase Summy d. No. 21 Ethan Evans, 1up
No. 2 Jackson Van Paris d. No. 31 Hunter Swanson, 3&2
No. 15 William Sides d. No. 18 Joshua Stewart, 2up
No. 7 Lotter Reed d. No. 26 Xihaun Chang, 1up
No. 23 Ian Gilligan d. No. 10 Thomas Curry, 3&2
No. 3 Garrett Risner d. No. 30 Anthony Delisanti, 1up
No. 10 James Imai d. No. 14 Ryan Voois, 3&1
No. 6 Ben Warian d. No. 27 Marshall Meisel, 4&3
No. 11 Joshua Bai d. No. 22 Ethan Wilson, 6&4
Friday
Round of 16
No. 17 Nicholas Gross d. No. 32 Michael Riebe, 19 holes
No. 9 Jack Turner d. No. 8 Andy Xu, 2up
No. 29 Davis Ovard d. No. 13 Pongsapak Laopakdee, 2&1
No. 12 Jase Summy d. No. 5 Luke Colton, 19 holes
No. 2 Jackson Van Paris d. No. 15 William Sides, 2&1
No. 23 Ian Gilligan d. No. 7 Reed Lotter, 4&3
No. 3 Garret Risner d. No. 19 James Imai, 6&5
No. 6 Ben Warian d. No. 11 Joshua Bai, 19 holes
Friday
Quarterfinals
No. 9 Jack Turner d. No. 17 Nicholas Gross, 6&4
No. 29 Davis Ovard d. No. 12 Jase Summy, 20 holes
No. 2 Jackson Van Paris d. No. 23 Ian Gilligan, 1up
No. 6 Ben Warian d. No. 3 Garret Risner, 4&3
Saturday
Semifinals (AM)
No. 9 Jack Turner vs. No. 29 Davis Ovard, 7 a.m.
No. 2 Jackson Van Paris vs. No. 6 Ben Warian, 7:10 a.m.
Championship match (PM)
TBD, 12:30 p.m.
122ND NORTH & SOUTH WOMEN’S AMATEUR
Pinehurst No. 2
Thursday
Round of 32
No. 1 Macy Pate d. No. 32 Lauren Gomez, 19 holes
No. 16 Avery Weed d. No. 17 Kaitlyn Schroeder, 2&1
No. 8 Mackenzie Lee d. No. 25 Amelie Zalsman, 3&2
No. 24 Jeneath Wong d. No. 9 Adrian Anderson, 19 holes
No. 29 Kayla Smith d. No. 4 Mia Sessa, 5&4
No. 13 Brooke Biermann d. No. 20 Chloe Johnson, 4&3
No. 5 Kylee Choi d. No. 28 Regina Plascencia, 5&4
No. 12 Yingzhi Zhu d. No. 21 Sophie Linder, 2&1
No. 2 Elizabeth Rudisill d. No. No. 31 Anika Varma, 1up
No. 15 Lynn Lim d. No. 18 Avery McCrery, 3&2
No. 7 Molly Smith d. No. 26 Alexa Saldena, 2&1
No. 10 Andie Smith d. No. 23 Kynadie Adams, 5&4
No. 3 Catie Craig d. No. 30 Hannah Reeves, 1up
No. 19 Alice Hodge d. No. 14 Scarlett Schremmer, 1up
No. 6 Emma Schimpf d. No. 27 Cecilia Jia, 4&2
No. 22 Megan Streicher d. No. 11 Katie Lu, 5&4
Friday
Round of 16
No. 1 Macy Pate d. No. 16 Avery Weed, 5&4
No. 8 Mackenzie Lee d. No. 24 Jeneath Wong, 1up
No. 13 Brooke Biermann d. No. 29 Kayla Smith, 5&4
No. 5 Kylee Choi d. No. 12 Yingzhi Zhu, 4&3
No. 15 Lynn Lim d. No. 2 Elizabeth Rudisill, 2&1
No. 10 Andie Smith d. No. 7 Molly Smith, 2&1
No. 3 Catie Craig d. No. 19 Alice Hodge, 4&3
No. 22 Megan Streicher d. No. 6 Emma Schimpf 6&4
Friday
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Macy Pate d. No. 8 Mackenzie Lee, 1up
No. 5 Kylee Choi d. No. 13 Brooke Biermann, 1up
No. 15 Lynn Lim d. No. 10 Andie Smith, 3&2
No. 3 Catie Craig d No. 22 Megan Streicher, 2&1
Saturday
Semifinals (AM)
No. 1 Macy Pate vs. No. 5 Kylee Choi, 7:20 a.m.
No. 15 Lynn Lim vs. No. 3 Catie Craig, 7:30 a.m.
Championship match (PM)
TBD, 12:45 p.m.