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It's been an impressive two years for University of Hartford men's golfer Evan Russell. A rising junior, Russell recently won the Vermont Amateur Championship at the Burlington Country Club for the second straight year and four days later booked a return trip to the U.S. Amateur Championship after surviving a three-man qualifier at Trump National Golf Club in Briar Cliff, N.Y.
Russell's win in the Vermont Amateur followed a sophomore season in which he posted top-10 finishes in all 12 team events and qualified, as an individual, for the NCAA Regional in Raleigh, NC where he finished tied for 29th. Overall for the season, he posted a single-season record for stroke average carding a 70.56 average over 34 rounds, besting his previous school record of 73.06 from his freshman season.
"The NCAA Championship was different because you're playing for your school," said Russell. "I played ok but it was a little different because it was just me and coach [Pete] Stankevich. I'd like to go back next year with a few more of my teammates."
This year's U.S. Amateur Championship will be played at the Atlanta Athletic Club beginning August 11. The event features 36 holes of stroke play with the top 64 players making the cut to move on to match play. This will be Russell's second straight appearance in the championship. He missed the cut by two strokes at last year's event at The Country Club in Brookline, MA. Russell will be joined in Atlanta by Hartford teammate Will Betts. Betts, a junior from Leechburg, PA qualified on July 16 at Stonewall Golf Club in Elverson, PA.
At the Vermont Amateur, Russell trailed by four shots with just two holes to play in the final round yet somehow managed to force a playoff with a pair of birdies before winning the title after five grueling playoff holes. Russell's victory made him just the ninth back-to-back champion in the 108-year history of the Vermont Amateur.
"I was down by four shots when I went to the 17th tee box and I thought I was playing for second place," said Russell. "Somehow, by the time I got to the 18th green I had a putt to win."
Stankevich, the head men's golf coach at the University of Hartford since 2008, originally recruited Russell having seen him on just two occassions; at the US Junior's at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey and at the World Series of Junior Golf at Triggs Memorial in Providence.
"I had some other schools looking at me but at that time I was just a very average putter," said Russell. "I think that held me back and scared some schools away."
Russell eventually chose Hartford, where he could major in business management, and immediately made an impact in his freshman season. He was the team's best golfer in a year that saw Hartford effort one of the most successful seasons for the program in recent memory. Russell was named the America Sky Men's Golf Conference Newcomer of the Year and was also a First-Team All-Conference selection. Those honors came after Russell set the program record for single-season scoring average, shooting 73.06 strokes-per-round over 31 rounds.
Despite his success, Russell downplays his accomplishments and instead points to the flaws in his game. He used his driver to birdie each of the final two holes of regulation and force the playoff in the Vermont Amateur but says he still has to sharpen that part of his game to compete in Atlanta.
"The reason I won the Vermont Amateur was because I really didn't have to hit my driver so much. The Atlanta course is long. The biggest struggle with my game right now is with my driver and three-wood so I have to really focus on getting that figured out."
Russell is hoping to play well enough to at least make the cut in Atlanta. He says he'll then take the rest of the summer off as he looks ahead to his junior season.
"I think we'll have a good team," said Russell. "I know we've got some good freshmen coming in. I'm really looking forward to having them. I think they'll improve the squad tremendously and make it a lot more competitive through the whole roster."
Asked about his personal goals for the coming year Russell made it clear he doesn't think he's playing his best golf right now.
"I'd like to get my game back to where it was before," said Russell. "It's not where it was last fall. I'd love to have the fall I had last year again. I won a few times and played well. I'd love to do that again."
