He sees old friends and waves. Sometimes they don’t recognize him. Sometimes they have to get up in his face to realize it’s really Joey Rice.
The Joey they knew weighed 240 pounds and didn’t do anything in name of exercise except play golf. At 6-foot-5, Rice used to have the body of Colin Montgomerie. Now he looks more like Dustin Johnson or Geoff Ogilvy. Rice, who now weighs 185, has discarded his size 40 pants and now wears 32s and 33s. One more advantage: He’s a better golfer.
On Sunday, Rice won the Metropolitan Amateur for the first time. His 6 and 5 victory in the 36-hole final over Ray Sheedy was virtually assured over the first nine holes at Woodmont Country Club’s North Course. Rice shot 32 on the opening nine and took a 5-up lead that was never seriously challenged as he became the 13th different champion in the last 13 years in the 93rd annual event.
“Yeah, it’s probably the biggest thing I’ve won.” said Rice, a member at Old South and Woodmore. “All the sudden I’m playing really well, not sure why.”
Rice, a recent graduate of Maryland, was thoroughly discouraged early this summer when he failed to qualify for the Maryland Open. It made his decision look good to forego a run at professional golf and get a 9 to 5 job at Associated Insurance Management in Silver Spring.
But after qualifying for the U.S. Amateur for the first time and winning the Metropolitan Am, Rice has other thoughts.
“I’m not closing the door on professional golf,” Rice said. “But right now, I’ve got a job and am a working guy.”
Rice, a DeMatha product and resident of Dunkirk, took an early lead with birdie putts of 5 and 10 feet at Nos. 3 and 4 respectively. With pars at the next two holes, Rice went 4-up, taking advantage of mistakes by Sheedy, a 27-year-old and former player at UNC Charlotte. At No. 8 Rice expanded his lead with a sand wedge gem to within 5 feet.
On the back nine, Rice faltered early, but got it all back and then some by winning the last three holes, including the final two with birdies.
Rice was quick to credit his brother, James, a soccer player at Gettysburg who caddied for him all week and spotted a glitch in Joey’s swing that he corrected.
Joey Rice’s long putter now resembles his build. He used both to win the 93rd D.C. Amateur Sunday at the North Course at Woodmont Country Club. / Photo by Kevin Dunleavy
“He’s a 25 or 28 handicap and he’s giving me the advice I needed to get my swing back,” said Rice who vanquished five match-play opponents, including U.S. Amateur qualifier Maclean Huge (Virginia Tech) in the quarterfinals, 3 and 2, and 2012 Maryland Amateur champion Josh Eure (Arkansas) in the semis, 2 and 1.
A year and a half ago, Rice “couldn’t even do a push up,” he said. But with the help of a personal trainer, he began losing weight and got to as low as 175 pounds. Rice said his flexibility is vastly improved, a big advantage in swinging a golf club.
“I definitely hit it further now,” Rice said.
On a high, Rice takes his new body and improved swing next week to Cherry Hills (Colo.) for the U.S. Amateur.
“I’m really excited. This is a confidence builder,” he said. “I can’t wait for next week to go out and see what I can do.”
