Two Elon golfers have left their marks on the links this summer. Patrick Frodigh ’18 and rising senior Katherine Reilly performed at some of the highest levels an amateur can.
Frodigh, who played at Elon only during his senior year after spending time at the University of Denver and the University of Louisville, won the Massachusetts Amateur Championship title at the George Wright Golf Course on Friday, July 13. The recent Elon grad, who plans to turn professional after this season ends, slogged through two rounds of stroke play before advancing through three days of match play just to make it to the final.
Frodigh duked it out with the best The Bay State had to offer, including beating U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Matt Parziale, who gained notoriety by playing well at this year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, in a head-to-head match in the quarterfinals. The Westwood, MA native was ready to play in the 36-hole match play final against Herbie Aikens. Frodigh never trailed in the match, closing out the win 4&3 on the 15th hole, seven hours and eleven minutes after the pair had begun.
For Frodigh, he couldn’t help but feel he had a bit of a home-field advantage.
“I grew up playing here a fair amount,” Frodigh told Mass Golf. “I live like 15 minutes away, so I played here with a lot of buddies. It’s nice because it feels like it is in my backyard. It’s not too far away, and I am happy to have won this close to home and to have all my family and friends watching me.”
Friends and family were among one of the biggest crowds said to have ever followed the final duo. And while he was on the short end, Frodigh’s opponent Aikens couldn’t help but marvel at the level of competition he faced.
“It was impressive,” Aikens told Mass Golf. “He’s really solid, and then for him to make 30 footers, it was impressive. It was fun to watch. It stinks to be on the receiving end, but it was definitely fun to watch.”
The 110th edition of the Massachusetts Amateur was one of redemption for Frodigh, who finished as the runner-up in the tournament three years ago. But the man who was once his rival on the course turned out to be Frodigh’s biggest supporters this time around.
“We were talking last night,” Frodigh said of Nick McLaughlin, the 2015 MassAm champion. “He texted me about some things. It’s really cool to have someone who beat me come back and support me.”
Frodigh competed in 10 tournaments as a Phoenix. He had a stroke average of 74.47 and earned five top-25 placements, two top-10 finishes and a top-5 mark. Frodigh was also the top performer at the CAA Championships for the Phoenix, shooting a seven-over 223 across three days of play.
The Phoenix had another outstanding performance on the links via Katherine Reilly, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, which will take place on the fairways of the Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs during the second week of August.
It took a playoff, but the Falls Church, Virginia native claimed her stake in the tournament after finishing second in competition at the Glenmore Country Club in Keswick, Virginia. After finishing regulation in a three-way tie for second with a round of 70, Reilly made birdie on the par-five playoff hole to secure second place. This finish capped off a bogey-free round, which saw her make birdie twice before forcing a playoff.
Reilly now moves on to compete against the best amateur women golfers in the country across six days of competition. Reilly will have to navigate two days of stroke play, which will cut the field of 156 players down to the final 32. From there the rounds of 32 and 16 will be played on the same day before quarterfinal, semifinal, and final matches are completed on consecutive days.
Reilly called her performance a real confidence boost.
“Every summer, I've just been improving," Reilly said in a statement to the Virginia State Golf Association. "To be going into my senior year of college and finally competing at this type of level, it's great.”
Reilly competed in eight events in her junior year. She finished her year with an 80.87 stroke average across 23 rounds of play. She posted a career-best finish at the CAA Championships, tying for 14th with a +18 score of 234 across three rounds of play, good enough for second on the squad.