Bloomington, IN: Lance Simpson may have been destined to win the 121st version of the Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship, starting with a course record opening round 64, followed by a pair of 67’s, which gave Simpson a five-shot cushion headed to the final round. Playing with a big lead is no easy task, but Simpson birdied both front-nine par fives and, for the second day in a row, finished with nine straight pars. At one juncture, it looked like this might get a bit closer, but a chip-in par and a 20-foot par save holes clinched the deal and a four-shot victory. Over 72 holes, Simpson made one bogey with a three-putt to start round 2. His ball striking and lag putting made it look easy to finish with a total of 17 under par.
The battle for second place was not decided until the final putt. Declan O’Donovan, Noah Kent, Jack Beauchamp, and Cooper Schultz were going back and forth all day. In the end, it was Schultz’s two birdies over the last three holes that got him into the clubhouse at -13, one shot ahead of O’Donovan and two over Kent and Beauchamp.
Michael Weaver finished as the low Mid-Am with an overall finish of T15/-2 for the tournament. Overall, twenty players finished with red numbers on the Steve Smyers par-71 layout. The course played just under 7500 during the final round and averaged just over 7400 each day. The course conditions were exceptional, and with little to no wind, made scoring conditions perfect for the talented field.
Simpson’s victory earned him an exemption into the 2025 U.S. Amateur and has put his name on the radar for the Walker Cup coming up this fall.
Kudos to the staff at The Pfau Course at Indiana University for their efforts, despite torrential rains just days before the tournament, and an extremely challenging second round; they met every challenge and provided a true championship test for the players. Many of the players are off to the U.S. Amateur qualifiers early next week and then off to the Southern for the next stop on the Elite Amateur Golf Series.