Wajda comeback

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)

Published: July 24, 2015

Wajda comeback

Brookfield native disqualified from last year’s event after being in top 15

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

TOWN OF ERIN — For a year, Eddie Wajda III repeatedly heard the story of him signing an incorrect scorecard at the WSGA Men’s Amateur Championship and was disqualified.

At the time, he was in the top 15.

One year later, he achieved something that easily erases that bitter memory.

Wajda held off charges by Patrick Sanchez and Matt Bachmann to win the 114th WSGA Men’s Amateur Championship on Thursday at Erin Hills.

“That’s just how crazy this game is,” Wajda said about the difference a year has made on him. “Everybody keeps bringing it up. Nobody seemed to forget it. Hopefully, this will help.”

Wajda, who entered the final round tied for fifth and three strokes behind the leader, shot a 2-under-par 70 in the final round.

“It was one of the best rounds I’ve played,” he said.

Wajda, 18, needed his best to not only hold off two hard-charging golfers, but to finish off a grueling four-day tournament on a championship golf course that played at more than 7,200 yards. In a way, a 2-under in the final round at the site of the 2017 U.S. Open felt better than that.

“It’s pretty crazy the way (WSGA Director of Rules and Competitions Bill) Linneman and (WSGA Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions Geoff) Pirkl and them and the way they set it up and try to make it like a U.S. Open,” Wajda said. “A 2under is pretty good.”

Bachmann, who will be a senior at Sheboygan Falls next year but is committed to Marquette, also shot 2-under after starting the day four strokes behind the leader.

“Overall, it was a pretty good day,” Bachmann said. “I played really solid. I really never had any trouble. I wish I would’ve finished a little better.”

The leader after 54 holes was Zach Gaugert. He led Sanchez by two strokes. Gaugert, the cousin of last year’s champion Alex Gaugert, shot a 6-over 78 and finished seventh. Wajda’s victory was part of a thrilling finish where, with less than six holes remaining, four golfers were tied for the lead.

The momentum swing came on holes 15 and 16. There, Wajda birdied both holes to take the lead. On 15, he pumped his fist, knowing he made an important shot. Otherwise, he didn’t know where he stood on the leaderboard.

“I just did my own thing out there,” Wajda said.

Wajda three-putted 18 after getting to the fringe at the front of the green on his third shot. His second putt was from about 10 feet, but it grazed the lip of the cup and he tapped in for bogey.

From there, it was a waiting game as two groups remained on the course, including Sanchez, and it wasn’t easy.

As those groups came to the 18th green, Wajda was crouching behind his bag, barely able to watch.

“I didn’t know if it was going to hold up,” Wajda said of his bogey on 18th.

Bachmann birdied 14, 15 and 17 to move into a three-way tie for the lead. He finished with a bogey on the par-5 18. “I was just trying to finish as well as I could,” Bachmann said. “I wasn’t really aware of where everybody was at.”

With Bachmann in the clubhouse and Wajda holding a one-stroke lead, it came down to how Sanchez finished.

Sanchez, a native of Mazatlan, Mexico, and a senior at Marquette University, birdied 14 and 16 to draw even with Wajda. Even after completing his round, Wajda didn’t pay attention to the scoreboard, but that didn’t stop others as he overheard rumblings of where he stood on the leaderboard.

Wajda got a break when Sanchez made bogey on 17, forcing Sanchez to make birdie on the 660-yard par-5 18 to force a playoff. At 660, it was the longest the hole was set up for all week.

On his third shot from about 115 yards out, Sanchez hit a 56-degree wedge and stuck the ball to within feet of the pin.

“That was an unbelievable shot,” Wajda said. “It was really tough over that slope and then we have the one slope in front of (the pin) and the one slope behind it and it falls off to the side. So to hit it within 5 feet was an incredible shot. Hat’s off to him for doing that. That’s good stuff right there.”

At that moment, the buzz began for a potential playoff. A playoff for the state amateur title hadn’t happened since Pat Boyle won at The Bog in 2004.

From about 15 feet, Sanchez gently rolled the putt toward the pin, but missed it right by less than 2 feet. When the ball came to a stop, the gallery groaned and many turned around to greet the new champion, who beamed wide.

“I expected Pat to make it on 18,” Wajda said. “Both him and Zach; I’ve played a lot against them this year. I expected him to make it because he’s a good player. You expect that from someone like that.”

In addition to earning a lifetime exemption, Wajda’s name will go alongside some of the state’s greats, including Andy North, Skip Kendall and Steve Stricker — as well as Jordan Niebrugge, winner of the 2013 tournament, who finished tied for sixth at The Open Championship at St. Andrew’s.

“It’s great,” Wajda said. “It’s a cool list to be a part of.”