Collegiate Times

Drew Weaver, a Virginia Tech golfer, survived two rounds of stroke play and six rounds of match play to become the 2007 British Amateur Champion on Saturday.

Weaver became the first American to win the tournament since Jay Sigel in 1979 and the first American to reach the finals since Jim Holtgrieve in 1983. He came into the tournament with an international amateur ranking No 181 and had not won a tournament in 2007.

“It feels great. It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’m incredibly honored. This is the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my career,” said Weaver, a rising junior in marketing management.

Weaver finished out his Tech season with a 12th place finish at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships and an ACC team co-championship. He also finished 23rd at the NCAA East Regional qualifiers and just missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

Weaver’s play improved in the weeks after regional competition when he tied the course record twice on his home course in High Point, N.C.

“I had a good fall with gradual improvements. In the spring, I didn’t think I was playing great until after regional competition. After Regionals I got a chance to relax and focus. Things started clicking when I shot two rounds of 64 on my home course before leaving for the British amateur,” Weaver said.

Play at the British amateur starts off with two rounds of stroke play in which the entire field plays a round at the Royal Lytham & St. Annes and a round at St. Annes Old Links. The top 64 players in stroke play then advance to a bracket style match play tournament. Each player is then matched against other individual players based on their performances in the previous days’ stroke play competition. Players then go head-to-head on each hole to try and better their opponent over 18 holes with the winner advancing to the next round.

Weaver finished his first two stroke play rounds in 26th place with scores of 69 and 70. He then went on to win his first round match against Luis Garcia by a score of 4 & 3. He continued his championship run with wins against Great Britian and Ireland Walker Cup teammates Simon Ward by two holes and Kevin McAlpine by 2 & 1. A quarterfinal win against Chris Wood by 2 & 1 and a semifinal defeat of Jason Shufflebotham by one hole landed Weaver in the Championship round. The final round consisted of two 18-hole rounds against Tim Stewart, the Australian Amateur Champion. Weaver pulled away throughout the match and won with a score of 2 & 1.

Match play and links-style courses were two things that Weaver was not necessarily accustomed to playing.

“I actually struggled with match play in the past. Recently I have learned how to close up a match. I learned how to stay aggressive and make birdies to go from 1 up to 4 up,” he said.

Drew’s mother Cathy Weaver traveled to Great Britain with optimistic expectations.

“I really hoped that Drew would make the cut,” she said. “It would have really given me a sense of satisfaction. Adjusting and playing the best while playing links golf, which is very different from what is played in the United Sates, was what I hoped for. I was looking forward to a day of sight-seeing after that, although I know Drew wanted to continue playing through the weekend.”

After the championship, Cathy Weaver is still adjusting to life after her son won a major amateur championship.

“I’m still in disbelief when I go to the bank or wash the clothes that Drew wore during the tournament,” she said. “He has always been good, but I have noticed an incredible new intensity since the shootings at Virginia Tech. Drew has reached a new dimension in his play and has become very focused.”

Over the next year, Weaver will be immersed in the circus of public relations and high-level tournaments. He has been given an automatic bid to this summer’s British Open along with an invitation to next year’s Masters Championship. He has also been granted a four-year exemption in the U.S. Amateur Championship and an invitation to this summer’s Scottish Open. Tiger Woods will be a likely pairing this summer for Weaver as it has become customary for the British Open to pair up last year’s British Open Champion with this year’s British Amateur Champion.

Such a high pressured level of competition will be a different experience for Weaver.
“(The Masters and the British Open) will be experiences that I will never forget. I would have loved to get more experience at the lower level before jumping in to the higher level right away, but obviously, it is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” he said.

As for the extra attention, Weaver has been asked what charity he would like to support by several of his supporters. He quickly decided that Virginia Tech was the best choice.

“A friend from my club in High Point offered to make a donation to a charity after my win,” Weaver said. “It wasn’t a hard decision to choose the Hokie Memorial Fund.”

The Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund began after the April 16 shootings at Tech. The fund has raised over $7 million so far and seeks to help the cost of memorials, counseling and individual memorial scholarships for each victim.

Weaver will be continuing play this week at the Atlanta Dogwood Invitational before he has to travel to Europe for the Scottish and British Opens.