Former Brookstone golfers James Clark, Parker Derby take games to highest amateur level
Two young Columbus golfers who have tasted success at the local, state and collegiate levels will take their games to the U.S. Amateur this week, testing their mettle against the best the nation has to offer on a course that has been the scene of victories by some of the game’s greats.
Parker Derby and James Clark have been familiar names in local golf circles for years. Both were members of the honored Brookstone High School golf teams that won five consecutive state championships from 2010-2014, with both earning golf scholarships to prestigious colleges.
Now Derby, a College of Charleston senior, and Clark, a Georgia Tech junior, are spending their weekend getting to know the terrain and the challenges of Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Mich., where the champion of the 2016 U.S. Amateur will be crowned Aug. 21.
“I’m itching to get up there and see the course,” Clark said as he prepared for the weekend he’ll spend practicing for the Monday-Tuesday 18-hole medal rounds on the club’s North and South courses. The field of 312 golfers will then be cut to 64 who will advance to the Wednesday-Sunday match play rounds on the South course.
Neither golfer has played the course where Ben Hogan, Gene Littler, Andy North and Steve Jones recorded their U.S. Open victories and Ricky Barnes won the 2002 U.S. Amateur.
“I’ve looked at it online,” said Derby. “It’s a wonderful course and it’ll be a great challenge.”
Both golfers earned their births in the nation’s top amateur event through 36-hole qualifying matches, with Derby finishing second at 4-under par at the Oldfield Golf Club qualifier near Hilton Head Island, S.C. Clark was runner-up at 2-under par at the Newnan (Ga.) Country Club.
For each, keeping their expectations low, but their hopes high, was a key element in their approach to the pressure of the qualifying tests.
“I was just trying to go play my game and do the best I could,” said Clark. “When I got in at 2-under, I didn’t think there was much of a chance that I would make it, but the greens got pretty quick and the afternoon winds picked up. That worked in my favor.”
Clark waited and watched as four or five groups of golfers with potential to top his score completed their rounds.
“I was really surprised … I was really pumped,” he said of winning the berth into the national championship. “It was a good way to cap off the end of the season.”
Derby, an arts management major who transferred to the College of Charleston after two years on the University of Georgia golf team, said his qualifying strategy was to “stay patient, knowing it’s a long, 36-hole contest where you’ll have some opportunities to score. You just have to wait and they will come.”
Driving the ball well on the long, narrow fairways was a key to his success, leaving him with virtual assurance late in his round that he would be one of the four contestants to advance to the Open.
“I knew with two holes to go that I would be in if I parred the last holes,” Derby said. “ ‘Just don’t do anything stupid,’ I told myself.”
He didn’t, and now he’s hoping at the end of the 36 holes of stroke play he’ll compete in the match play format he enjoys so much.
“I’m a big fan of that format. You play your hand, make lots of birdies, play aggressively — I like that format a lot,” Derby said.
Clark said he’s looking forward to playing practice rounds with other Georgia Tech golfers who have qualified for the contest, and will enjoy the whole experience with his parents, Jim and Katherine Clark, who will be his biggest supporters. His twin brother, Mercer, is at Auburn University and couldn’t make the trip.
An added booster will be his caddy, Keith Brown, who is a chaplain at Georgia Tech — the school Clark’s father and uncle also attended.
Derby’s CofC coach, Mark McEntire, will be on his bag throughout the contest, with parents Larry and Melissa Derby, joined by his grandparents, providing a morale boost and encouragement.
“It’s going to be a big family outing,” he said.
And if Derby happens to make it to the final match on Sunday, there’s likely to be a huge celebration party. It also will be his 21st birthday.
This story was originally published August 14, 2016 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Former Brookstone golfers James Clark, Parker Derby take games to highest amateur level."