The transition from summer to fall in the Commonwealth from a golfing perspective was highlighted by the 106^th playing of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Kentucky Amateur. Traditionally played in mid-June, this championship’s move to September was perhaps the oddest of all the schedule changes this year given the long history of it being played at the beginning of the summer. Off it went after Labor Day instead, and in many respects the event being played in September actually led to a lot of benefits. Namely, you could not possibly conjure up three better days of weather. It was about as perfect of golfing conditions as a player could ask for, and when coupled with the immaculate nature of Lexington Country Club, competitors had an incredible stage to prove themselves. The event’s field was also especially strong, and while it always is given the fact it’s the biggest amateur competition in the state, a postponed college golf season and so many other tournament cancellations allowed for an incredible field.

Yet there was clearly a player that week who was a cut above the rest and that was Alex Goff. The Kentucky Wildcat sophomore who hails from Kings Mountain, North Carolina made it clear shortly after he teed off in the opening round that he was going to be hard to beat. He was -5 thru 12 holes that day and went on to post 67 (-5) to join Andy Roberts and Josh Rhodes as one of the three players who were on their own separate tier that week. Goff had another 67 (-5) in the second round which gave him a three-stroke edge over Roberts and Rhodes entering the final round, while those two sat four ahead of the next closest players. In other words, Goff had seven strokes over the fourth-place golfer after just two rounds.

Any doubt that Goff might have been nervous or had used up his best stuff in the opening two rounds was squashed very soon in that final round which saw him make two straight birdies to open the day on the way to an outward nine of 32 (-4). He went onto win by four shots, and that was with him making two bogeys in the last four holes. The lead was as many as seven shots at one point, but the win as much about Goff as it was the late Cullan Brown, Goff’s good friend and college roommate who passed away a little more than a month before the final round. With nearly the entire UK golf team on-hand to celebrate with Goff after he wrapped up the victory, it was an emotional moment for Goff and his teammates as they reflected on their teammate’s life.

“If I could say anything to (Cullan) right now, I would just tell him that I miss him,” Goff said after the tournament had finished. “I know he’s in a better place, probably shooting ducks or making the best meal he’s ever made, but we all miss him down here and I know I’ll see him again one day. UK golf has been through a lot the last couple of months with his passing. We’re just one big family and it really meant a lot to win one for him.”

Reviewing 2020 in Kentucky golf would not be complete without touching on Brown’s passing. At the age of 20, Brown died in August after a battle with osteosarcoma. His passing was met with an overwhelming number of tributes and kind words from the Kentucky golf community. Regarded as one of the kindest and most enjoyable people to possibly be around on or off the golf course, it truly was perfect that Goff was able to win the State Amateur just a month later in his friend’s honor.

As for Goff, he used the momentum generated that week at Lexington Country Club to win the individual title in his first collegiate tournament of the fall season, The Blessings Intercollegiate in Arkansas. He then finished in third place at the Vanderbilt Legends Collegiate while riding his stretch of hot play. He’s now 259^th in the WAGR after getting as high as 218^th.

One of the other top players in the state won immediately before the State Amateur at Boone’s Trace National Golf Club, with Grover Justice picking up his latest KPGA victory in the Mobile Pro Shop Stableford Classic. The fun and unique format produced a three-point win for Justice over Daniel Iceman III and Andrew Stephens.

The professionals and amateurs from around the state then teamed up for the Titleist | FootJoy Team Championship at Picadome Golf Course; one of the most fun events of the season. The tournament produced a tie at the top with Jesse Massie/Trey Bowling finishing in a tie with Bruce Oldendick/Brian Hunt after both teams shot 63 (-9), but it was Oldendick/Hunt who took the title through a scorecard playoff.

The KGA Am Series got back in action with a visit to The Standard Club where Mike Brumfield had the top round of the day with a 67 (-5). Brumfield had a slow start that day by beginning the round +1 after three holes, but four birdies and an eagle were forthcoming which produced one of the best rounds in the year’s Am Series action. The other players finishing in first place that day were Eric King (Open Gross), Hayden Warren (Open Net), Tony Wise (Senior Net), Greg Engle (Masters Gross), James Harper (Masters Net), Bruce Walters (Legends Gross), while Dan Albers and Terry Bowman were joint winners (Legends Net).

Back on the Section side, University Club of Kentucky hosted a Pro-Pro on its Big Blue layout where Dan Utley and Tom Walters shot 63 (-9) in four-ball competition to best Keith Ohr and John Bachman by a stroke. Walters had a terrific day that helped him and Utley get the victory, as his 67 (-5) got the job done in the low pro competition as well which he won by two strokes over Ohr, Nick Johnston and Aaron McDowell.

The pros rounded out a busy month of tournament golf in the Section with the Stroke Play Championship at Heritage Hill Golf Club, the event that maybe featured the worst weather of the season. Players went around the Shepherdsville facility in a torrential downpour for a good part of the morning that eventually led to greens beginning to puddle forcing a suspension in play. When the skies (mostly) cleared, play resumed with two Section heavyweights in Jesse Massie and Andrew Stephens needing extra holes to decide a champ. Both shot 69 (-3) in regulation, but a birdie from Massie on the first hole of sudden-death to Stephens’ par produced the winning moment.

The KGA Women’s Team Championship took place at Elizabethtown Country Club where smiles and sunshine were abound as opposed to gloomy skies. Alaina Schmitt and Jessica Stephens got a six-stroke win in the Open Gross Division by shooting 68 (-4), the low gross score of the day. Whitney Hines/Angela Taylor (Open Net), Cynthia Powell/Judy Huffman (Senior Gross), and Charlotte Logsdon/Brenda Wilson (Open Net) captured the other winning prizes available to the field.

September also featured the first USGA Qualifier in far too long at Big Spring Country Club where Kentuckians and non-Kentuckians looked to secure a place in next spring’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship which will be at Chambers Bay outside of Seattle. In the June recap, it was mentioned how Andy Roberts had a bonkers round going for a little while in the Pro-Am Championship, also at Big Spring. Well, Roberts did it again alongside partner Rob Crockett II. Roberts shot 65 (-7) by himself which, if he played by himself, would have gotten him in a playoff with the second-place teams to qualify for the championship. But Crockett was no slouch either, and his 67 (-5) helped the duo get medalist honors with a four-shot cushion after a score of 61 (-11). They will head to the 2015 U.S. Open site in a few months barring the COVID-19 pandemic affecting anymore USGA championships. Allen Hamilton and Campbell Kremer will be the first-alternates.

Wrapping up September, we go to the junior side to focus on one of the biggest high school tournaments of the year which was the KGCA All-State Championships. The best players from around the state gathered at University Club of Kentucky for a round at each course on property, yielding Rylan Wotherspoon and Macie Brown as the individual champions. The boys of Madison Central and girls of Marshall County won the team contests in the second-year edition of the event whose magnitude has already gained traction as a premier event.