ANDOVER, Kan. (Sports Network) -- Stanford Lee defeated Sam Farlow, 4 & 3, on Thursday to win the USGA Senior Amateur at Flint Hills National Golf Club. Both finalists played on the PGA TOUR in the 1970s and later regained their amateur status.
"I felt honestly when I came up here that I was good enough to win it, but even with confidence you have to be a little bit lucky also," acknowledged Lee, of Heber Springs, Ark. "Things have to fall your way. And I played extremely well all week."
The pair halved the first two holes, but Lee parred the third to win the hole. He captured No. 4 with a par and No. 6 with a birdie and found himself 3-up out of the gate.
Farlow took the seventh, but Lee regrouped with a birdie to win at the eighth. At the ninth, Lee made a tricky par save, but Farlow made birdie to once again cut the margin to 2-down.
Lee again made birdie after a lost hole to go 3-up through 10.
"Even though I lost the hole, when I made that putt, that was an uplift for me. If that makes any sense," said Lee, referring to the ninth hole. "I thought I'm going to make everything and darn if I didn't go birdie the next hole."
Lee won the 14th with a par and closed the match with a birdie and win at 15.
Lee earned a gold medal and custody of the Frederick L. Dold Trophy for the ensuing year. He also received an exemption from local qualifying at the next U.S. Open, as well as exemptions from sectional qualifying at the next two U.S. Senior Opens, the next U.S. Amateur, the next U.S. Mid-Amateur, the next U.S. Amateur Public Links, and the next five USGA Senior Amateurs, if otherwise eligible.
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