Warian Is Medalist & Gophers Are Team Champs at Highland Meadows
April 16, 2024
By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
INDEPENDENCE, Minn. – Entering the final round of the 117th Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship nine shots off the lead Friday, Minnesotan Derek Hitchner figured the odds of staging a triumphant comeback were against him.
The 21-year-old Pepperdine University golfer said playing from behind came with less pressure and freed up his golf game.
“I had the mindset that I had nothing to lose,” Hitchner said Friday. “I’ve played long enough that I knew anything was possible.”
With a string of five birdies in a span of six holes during his back nine Friday, Hitcher erased the sizable deficit to move into a share of the lead with 56-hole leader Derek Busby and force a playoff, which Hitchner would win on the second extra hole by sinking a 6-footer for birdie.
“Knowing the history of this tournament, it’s very surreal,” Hitchner said after his win Friday. “I definitely felt the local support here, which meant so much to me to have that many people backing me.”
With his win Friday Hitchner joins impressive company with past Trans-Miss champions, which include Jack Nicklaus, Bryson DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa.
Hitchner also becomes the second straight Trans-Miss winner to claim the championship on home soil after Plano, Texas native Pierceson Coody won the 2019 tournament at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas. The 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Playing his opening nine in 1-under, Hitchner moved to 4-under for the tournament and within four shots of Busby, who stumbled early Friday. Hitchner took bogey at the 10th, but would birdie the 11th and 12th holes to get to 5-under, three shots back.
Back-to-back birdies from inside of four feet at the 14th and 15th put Hitchner into a share of the lead with Busby and University of California-Berkeley golfer Kaiwen Liu at 7-under. Hitchner would grab the outright lead at the par-3 16th by rolling in a 4-footer, but gave back a stroke with a bogey at the 17th and would finish in a two-way tie with Busby at 7-under 277.
After missing his birdie chance from 20 feet on the first playoff hole, Hitcher’s approach on the second stopped six feet from the cup, where he’d tuck his putt inside the right edge to claim the championship.
“The theme all day was playing too much break, so I wanted to play a little less and die it in,” Hitchner said. “I was extremely nervous, but I tried to just put a good stroke on it. Fortunately, it caught the right corner.”
Hitchner’s casual stroll and demeanor around Windsong this week was still very much the same as when broke a tournament record at the 2016 Class AA championship at Ridges at Sand Creek as a sophomore at the Blake School, with an opening-round 65, claiming medalist honors the following day for his only state victory to date.
Since 2019, Hitchner has claimed eight top-10 finishes in the state, with his most recent coming at the Minnesota Golf Association Amateur Championship last July at Edina Country Club.
Hitchner, who will begin his senior season at Pepperdine this fall, entered the week ranked No. 198 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. The Waves claimed the 2021 NCAA Division I team championship this spring, though Hitchner was not selected to compete in the postseason.
“With how good this team was, I wasn’t playing in the post-season lineup. I knew I was still playing good golf, and so to finally get the job done when I needed to is a huge boost in confidence.”
Through his three seasons at Pepperdine, Hitchner has appeared in 21 tournaments where he’s placed inside the top-10 eight times. He currently sits eighth in school history with a 72.08 scoring average.
Following the completion of the collegiate season earlier this year, Hitchner claimed a top-20 finish at the Sunnehanna Amateur at Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pa.
Entering Friday’s final round, the 37-year-old Busby showed zero sign of slowing after carding a bogey-free 66 during the opening round Tuesday, and followed it with a 6-under 65 Wednesday to take the outright lead.
A round of 1-under 70 during the third round Thursday would give Busby a seemingly comfortable six-stroke lead with 18 holes to play.
But Busby, who carded a total of 16 birdies through his first three rounds, was held without a single birdie during the final round Friday, and twice carded back-to-back bogeys during his opening nine to watch his lead evaporate after 14 holes.
“It was a great week, but today, obviously, I didn’t have my best stuff,” Busby said Friday. “The first six or seven holes I had balls that could’ve been in the bunker that were hanging on the edge. I knew it was going to be a battle and I battled as hard as I could, but I just came up one short.
“If I’m disappointed in anything, it’s that I got away from some swing keys and some feels that got me here. I’m building and trending in the right direction and there’s no rest for the weary, because I have U.S. Amateur qualifying Monday.”
THE 117TH TRANS-MISSISSIPPI AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
WINDSONG FARM
INDEPENDENCE, MINN.
7,191 YARDS, PAR 71
FRIDAY’S FINAL RESULTS
1. DEREK HITCHNER, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., 70-71-69-67—277 (won playoff)
2. Derek Busby, United States, 66-65-70-76—277
3. Kaiwen Liu, China, 69-71-67-71—278
T4. Michael Sanders, United States, 70-70-72-68—280
T4. Jansen Preston, United States, 68-72-70-70—280
T4. Ryan Eshleman, United States, 73-66-70-71—280
T7. Viraj Garewal, United States, 71-68-74-68—281
T7. Herman Sekne, Norway, 69-70-74-68—281
T7. Jackson Lake, United States, 72-73-70-66—281
T7. Enrique Dimayuga, England, 70-73-69-69—281
T7. Cal McCoy, United States, 69-66-74-72—281
T35. LINCOLN JOHNSON, CHASKA, MINN., 73-68-71-76—288
T48. BEN GREVE, EDEN PRAIRIE, MINN., 72-73-73-74—292
55. CONNOR GLYNN, WACONIA, MINN., 68-76-81-69—294
For complete tournament results go to: www.golfgenius.com/pages/6842310089806722837
April 9, 2024
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