32-year-old wins event that skews younger
PHOENIX, Md. – In recent years, college-age golfers have ruled the Maryland Amateur. And why not? With the ability to play every day, they’ve often had the advantage over their older counterparts.
But Sunday at Hillendale Country Club, a pair of 30somethings with full-time jobs found themselves in the championship match. Showing games as sharp as players of any age, Mark Cusic, 32, and Brett Williams, 30, battled in a high-level match that went the distance.
With his ninth birdie of the day coming on the 36th hole, Cusic edged Williams, 2 up, to capture the 90th edition of the tournament.
“No question this is the biggest thing I’ve won,” said Cusic, a three-time club champion at Bretton Bay, who had never advanced past the Maryland Amateur quarterfinals. “There’s nothing but college kids up here. But I can still play I guess.”
Cusic, who works at Patuxent Naval Air Station, took control early, making four birdies on the final six holes of his opening nine Sunday morning. But Williams, a Baltimore Country Club member playing in the tournament for the first time, never let Cusic get comfortable.
When Cusic rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt on the 30th hole of the day, he went 3 up with six left, but Williams answered with birdies on two of the next three holes, getting up and down from a bunker at No. 13 and hitting a brilliant iron shot to within three feet at the 172-yard 15th.
“I couldn’t ask for much more from my game,” said Williams, a former player at Ohio State who now works in sales for Worthington Steel. “I gave myself opportunities, but the putts didn’t go.”
With his lead reduced to 1 up, Cusic remained rock solid despite missing the fairway on the final three holes. At No. 17 he saved par with a chip to within a foot. At No. 18, Cusic hit a wedge from 95 yards out to within 6 feet. After Williams clipped the edge on a 20-foot birdie attempt, he conceded Cusic’s birdie and the title.
The victory concluded an eventful tournament for Cusic, who beat 2008 Maryland Amateur champion Mike Mulieri in the semifinals, 2 and, 1, and 2010 Maryland Mid-Am champion Chris Baloga, 2 and 1, in the round of 16.
Cusic also needed to go 19 holes to defeat both high schooler Cas Dickerson (McDonough) in the first round of match play and college standout Josh Eure (Arkansas) in the quarterfinals. Against Dickerson, Cusic had to birdie the 18th hole to force extra holes, then birdied No. 1 to win. Against Eure, a two-time Maryland high school champ, Cusic nearly holed a flop shot on the first playoff hole to win.
“I felt good all tournament,” Cusic said. “I didn’t get nervous.”
