UCI’s Chin denied

AURORA, Colo. — John Chin’s impressive run at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship came to an end in Saturday’s final as he was defeated 5 and 3 by Jack Newman of Des Moines, Iowa, at Murphy Creek Golf Course.

Newman closed out the match on the 33rd hole of the scheduled 36-hole final as he birdied the par-five, 603-yard 15th hole while Chin, a UC Irvine incoming junior, had a double bogey.

Newman’s drive hit the fairway while Chin’s first ball landed in the water hazard on the right side of the fairway. Chin received a one-stroke penalty and his second shot from the tee landed in the left rough.

Newman, who plays at Michigan State, laid up short of the green on his second shot. Chin’s fourth shot landed in the bunker and he chipped out to the front fringe 30 feet from the pin.

Newman’s third shot landed 27 feet above the hole. Chin missed his bogey putt from 31 feet and conceded the hole.

“I can play with the best amateurs in the world,” Chin told usapl.org. “On paper, on record, on stats, I haven’t shown it much. [But] after this week, I am a true believer in that.”

Chin, the 2008 Big West Conference medalist and Player of the Year, took an early 2-up lead in the match when he birdied the first and fourth holes.

The two traded leads until Newman went ahead for good with a birdie on the par-4, 459-yard 16th hole. He maintained the 1-up lead through the opening 18 holes and seized control of the match by winning the 27th, 28th and 29th holes (9, 10 and 11) to build a 4-up lead.

Chin and Newman reached Sunday’s final by defeating five consecutive match-play opponents following two days of stroke play to start the week.

— From staff reports