By Steve Derderian
sderderian@massgolf.org
BELMONT, Massachusetts (August 12, 2024) – Christian Jensen (Boston, MA) fully embraces the opportunity mid-amateur competitive golf provides. He’s not chasing any glory days — he’s one of the few national competitors who didn’t play college golf — but he’s yet another example of the power self-belief can have in one’s game.
Since qualifying for and playing in the 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur, Jensen has had more trust in his game than ever. On Monday, it showed as the 35-year-old husband and father who plays out of Wedgewood Pines Country Club qualified for his second straight U.S. Mid-Amateur by shooting 2-under-par 69 with a breezy, comfortable setting at the historic, Donald Ross-designed Belmont Country Club.
“I started getting back into the competitive mindset back in 2016 when I moved up here to Mass,” said Jensen, who grew up playing in East Lyme, Connecticut. “I played at the Amateur Public Links for a couple years and didn’t really think that I was good enough compared to all the top players in Mass. Making it to Sleepy [Hollow] last year, I realized I am as good as all the top guys. I might not have the credentials or the notoriety, but certainly good enough.”
Jensen was one of three qualifiers, including former Dartmouth University standout James Pleat (Nashua, NH) and former pro and Wake Forest standout Ben Balter (Weston Golf Club), to advance to the 43rd U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, which will take place at Kinloch Golf Club just outside of Richmond, Virginia.
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Jensen seems to be on a roll lately, coming off a victory last month in the 98th Norwich Invitational, an event he’s played nearly half his life featuring Connecticut’s best amateur golfers.
“That was another one where a little belief and self talk that you’re good enough to do this,” Jensen said. “A lot of that came from making it to the U.S. Mid-Amateur last year, walking in with just that extra confidence or aura that I’ve played against the best amateurs in the country. So why can’t I beat the best amateurs in Connecticut?”
On Monday, Jensen stood at even-par after making a nervy par putt on the 16th. While he knew the next two holes could make or break his qualifying opportunities, he remained dialed in, reaching the green in two on the par-5 17th from 204 yards to set up a 2-putt birdie. After crushing another drive down the hill at the close, he was chatting with playing partner Matt Vaughn, who believed even-par was enough to get in. While he may have believed that, he didn’t leave it to chance, hitting a wedge to 10 feet and making one last birdie putt for medalist honors.
“I don’t think you can beat going to Sleepy Hollow as your first USGA event, so it makes you want to really grind and get back to another one because it’s top-notch,” Jensen said.
Pleat had to wait a little longer to discover his fate, but like Jensen last year, he will get to experience the U.S. Mid-Amateur for the third time. However, this one means a bit more because his father, Philip Pleat, played in the final match of the U.S. Senior Amateur at Kinloch Golf Club back in 2011.
“It’s a special place for him and our family, and it’s really nice to be able to get there,” said Pleat, who was beginning his senior season at Dartmouth while his dad competed in Virginia. “He called up the pro five years later, and we went and played during a long weekend.”
To get his own shot to compete there, Pleat took advantage of all three par-5s, making birdie on each to offset a double bogey on the par-3 5th that could have spelled disaster for his chances. The former New Hampshire Mid-Amateur winner got up and down from the right side of the 17th green for birdie and had one last birdie bid on the 18th from 10 feet. His putt seemed to be on line, but he hunched over in disbelief rolled past the right edge and sat on top of the cup, tapping in for par to finish 1-under. As the winds picked up in the afternoon, nobody seemed to threaten that mark, and he was able to exhale after earning solo second.
“I was playing well earlier in the summer and haven’t played too much recently,” said Pleat, who won the 2024 Mass Mixed Four-Ball with his childhood friend Tracy Martin on a much chillier outing back in April at Granite Links. “I hit it OK and was able to grind it out, make some putts, and throw up a good score.”
Balter got off to a dream start, perhaps to be expected when your middle name is Fortune. On the opening hole, a massive birdie putt from the complete opposite side of the green dropped, and he followed it up with a birdie on the next. Fittingly, he would play that same loop twice more as he prevailed in a 3-for-1 playoff with Taunton’s Nate Davis (John F. Parker Municipal Golf Course) and Boston’s Patrick Frodigh (Dedham Country & Polo Club). Despite 3-putting from 18 feet on the par-5 17th, Davis redeemed himself with a clutch birdie on the 18th to get himself into the playoff.
Quick check-in from U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying at Belmont CC. Nate Davis birdied the 18th to finish with a 71 (E), tied for the third and final spot.
Christian Jensen (69) & James Pleat (70) are leaders in the clubhouse. #MassGolf #USGA
Live Scoring: https://t.co/54BMU3X7yp pic.twitter.com/fgMc8Ota5u
— Mass Golf (@PlayMassGolf) August 12, 2024
During the playoff, Frodigh hit the middle of the fairway, but his approach shot found a depression short right of the green, and he couldn’t scramble for par. While Davis and Balter each missed birdie bids to win it on the first two holes, Balter got up and down for par with a nifty chip from the back of the green to bring it back to the second hole. Though both men pushed their drive left, Balter had an upward lie in the left rough and landed it right of the pin. Meanwhile, Davis was playing from under the tree along the left rough and hit his approach into the greenside bunker. Despite hitting his third inside 10 feet, Davis’ putt hit the left edge and rolled out, allowing Balter to two-putt his way into his first USGA Championship since high school.
Though a 48 in the opening nine holes in last year’s championship doomed his match play chances, Balter is excited to get to experience another Mid-Amateur with his father and caddie Steve, who was wearing a Sleepy Hollow pullover from last year’s championship.
“My big goal this year was to get back there and play well and give it another shot,” said Balter, who was medalist in 2023 qualifying Connecticut National. “I get to play golf because I love it now. I get to come out here with my dad on the bag and have fun, enjoy every moment of competing, and not stress about the little stuff, whether it’s making a check or not. Maybe I don’t get to pay as much as I like, but I’m playing better golf than when I played professionally.”
QUALIFIERS (Names; Cities)
Christian Jensen (Wakefield, MA); 69 (-2)
James Pleat (Nashua, NH); 70 (-1)
Ben Balter (Wellesley, MA); 71 (E)*
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Nathan Davis (Taunton, MA); 71 (E)**
Patrick Frodigh (Boston, MA); 71 (E)
*Advanced with a par on 4th playoff hole (Hole No. 2)
**Earned spot with par on 1st playoff hole (Hole No. 1)
Belmont Country Club’s history dates back to 1908 when Willard E. Robinson purchased an almost 90-acre site and old Colonial house in the sleepy suburban area between Belmont and Lexington, west of Boston. Originally known as Belmont Springs, the club expanded by purchasing more land, enough to enlarge the course to a full 18. Donald Ross came in to design the course, and many of his old-school features exist today, such as blind tee shots, punch bowl greens, and short holes up the hill.
Belmont has been the host site for numerous national golf championships, including the 1916 U.S. Women’s Amateur, the 1937 Men’s PGA Match Play Championship, and most recently, the Constellation Senior Players Championship in 2015. It has also served as the home course for Belmont High School, the Belmont Hill School, Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School, and Tufts University for several years.
As legend has it, in 1920, about 7,000 people, estimated at that time, watched English professionals Harry Vardon and Ted Ray play the leading U.S. amateur team of Francis Ouimet and James P. Guildford. English and Ray won, 4 and 2, in a 36-hole exhibition match.
In 2005, the course shut down for a year for a restoration under Craig Schreiner, who also designed Ross classics such as Oak Hill and Country Club of Buffalo. In 2022, the course closed again for six months to replace all its green surfaces and bunkering, under the supervision of architect Brian Silva. According to Michael Rose, who has worked the grounds at Belmont for 35, the course’s heralded Greenwich Velvet greens were replaced by 007 Creeping Bentgrass. Developed at Rutgers University, 007 is known for its fine texture, tolerance to low mowing, and adaptability to warm summers and cold winters. It was also the type of surface used for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
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