Andrew Bailey, a 34-year-old sales manager at golf-apparel company Holderness & Bourne, didn’t have to be at the 2026 US Open at Shinnecock Hills. He chose to be, volunteering his time to help out his brand in the hulking merchandise centre.
Bailey also will be in attendance at next year’s US Open at Pebble Beach — but in a markedly different capacity: as one of the 156 players in the field.
Bailey’s rags- … well, quarter-zips-to-riches story became a reality Thursday when he won the 45th US Mid-Amateur at Sand Valley Resort in Nekoosa, Wis., defeating Nate Smith, 5 and 4, in the 36-hole final.
To the victor go the spoils, and at the Mid-Am, those spoils include exemptions into the next 10 Mid-Ams and two US Amateurs; a likely invite to the ensuing year’s Masters; and, yes, a golden ticket to the ensuing year’s US Open, which in 2027 visits the California seaside cathedral known as Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Bailey, who is from Cleveland and was playing in his 12th USGA championship, sounded like he was still shell-shocked in the moments after this win. “I still think I’m trying to prepare for the next shot and there is going to be a match tomorrow that I don’t know about,” he said.
That won’t be the case. Bailey ensured as much when he birdied eight of the match’s last 16 holes on Sand Valley’s Lido course to close out Smith on the 32nd green.
Through the first 16 holes a convincing Bailey victory looked anything but a certainty, because at that point Smith had a 2-up lead. But then Bailey leaned on advice he’d gleaned from a golf pal, Mark Costanza, who was a finalist at the 2021 Mid-Am: You’re not going to win it if you play tight. You got to play loose and free.
“I think I just played tight this morning and I recognised it,” Bailey said after his win.
Then came more counsel, from one of Bailey’s fellow members at Canterbury Golf Club near Cleveland, who Bailey encountered between the morning and afternoon round.
“He’s like your game looks really good,” Bailey said. “He’s like, just let the putts fall. And so I just focused on feeling the putter head more, not trying to force it as much, and glad it worked out.”
Among those impressed by Bailey’s play: his opponent. “I didn’t do anything to lose,” Smith said afterward. “He just played an exceptional round of golf this afternoon.”
That Bailey, who formerly played professionally, was in the field at all can, in part, be traced back to a stroke of misfortune.
After starring at Cleveland State, Bailey made a run at the pro game, playing on mini-tours. But then, in 2015, he injured his wrist after falling 20 feet in a rock-climbing accident.
“A pretty serious wrist break,” Bailey said. “Tried to play an event after it healed up and just said, this is going to be too long of a road.”
He was done with pro golf. Bailey took a health-care job for a couple of years before transitioning to Holderness & Bourne.
The post has taken him to golf properties all over the country, including multiple visits to Sand Valley.
“I came here for six years for work and never got to play any golf,” he said. “Only came up here to sell. So to get to spend a little over a week here playing golf and to win here, I feel like it was you know a little bit of good karma on my side for having put in the hours.”
Job well done, indeed.
This article originated on Golf.com
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