By Dalton Balthaser

 

LINCOLN - Mike Hamilton stood 40 yards away from the 18th hole (par 4, 456 yards) in a do-or-die situation in the Quarterfinals of the 116th Rhode Island Amateur.

 

Sitting 1-down to Andrew O’Leary, Hamilton knew he had to make the pitch for birdie to have a chance to extend with O’Leary just three feet away for par.

 

In healthy rough below the surface of the green with no visual on the putting surface, Hamilton had no other choice. 

 

And he poured it right in the center. 

 

“To be honest, I blacked out,” said Hamilton, 31, of Lincoln. “I knew I hit it pretty good, and I wanted to have it rolling toward the hole with pace because that part of the green is soft. The adrenaline rushes right through you.

 

“I didn’t even pick my ball out of the hole. I started walking to the first tee and I didn’t have a ball in my pocket. My caddie Bob Walsh asked why I didn’t tell him to get it out of the hole like Jordan Spieth told his caddie Michael Greller at The Open Championship.”

 

Walsh had his hand up before the ball reached the front of the cup signaling it going in.

 

Once it did, Hamilton clenched his fists, bowed his head and uttered a celebration even Tiger Woods would have applauded.

 

“That shot Mike hit was the best shot I have ever seen,” said O’Leary, 21, of Norfolk, Mass. “There was nothing I could do other than smile and walk to the next tee. I was speechless.”

 

O’Leary would win a thriller on the 21st hole of the match (par 5, 514 yards), which is No. 3 at Kirkbrae and punch his ticket to the Semifinals. Hamilton hit it in the trees left off the tee and struggled to get out.

 

On Hole 20 (par 4, 420 yards), Hamilton lipped out a birdie putt from 30 feet that caught every part of the hole but the bottom.

 

O’Leary and Hamilton dueled last year at O’Leary’s home course of Pawtucket Country Club in the #RIAmateur. With O’Leary prevailing in 20 holes. But it wasn’t without some similar drama. Hamilton canned a 30-footer on the last at Pawtucket to extend that match. A total of 41 holes in their two matches. Remarkable.

 

“The similarities between our match last year and our match this year are scary,” said O’Leary, a rising senior at the University of Notre Dame. “Mike rolled in a 30-footer on the last at Pawtucket last year and this year he holed the wedge. Crazy. He is an unbelievable competitor.” 

 

It might be time to pitch a version of “The Match” with Hamilton and O’Leary. They always deliver.

 

“That’s the best shot I have ever hit under the circumstances,” said Hamilton, of the host club. “Although the match didn’t end up like I hoped, it will be something I’ll remember for a while.”

 

The Semifinal matches were washed out due to severe weather on Saturday. O’Leary is 4-up through seven holes over defending champion Jamie Lukowicz of Agawam Hunt and Wannamoisett Country Club’s Bobby Leopold is 1-up through eight over the host club’s Tom McCormick.

 

Play is scheduled to resume at 7:30 a.m. Sunday with the 36-hole Final following the conclusion of the Semifinal matches.