Lee brothers exhibit competitiveness, camaraderie

Louis Lee is embraced by his caddie/brother, Stanford Lee after his 5and4 victory at the 14th hole during the semifinal round of match play of the 2011 USGA Senior Amateur Championship at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va., on Wednesday, September 14, 2011.
Louis Lee is embraced by his caddie/brother, Stanford Lee after his 5and4 victory at the 14th hole during the semifinal round of match play of the 2011 USGA Senior Amateur Championship at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va., on Wednesday, September 14, 2011.

Stan and Louis Lee left Heber Springs on Tuesday morning for a 650-mile drive to Cashiers, N.C., but it’s not a vacation trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Lees, who have combined to win 12 Arkansas State Golf Association match-play and stroke-play titles, have business to attend to when they tee off today in the USGA Senior Amateur Championship as the only brothers in the field who each own a Senior Amateur trophy.

Stan, 61, won in 2007 in Andover, Kan., while Louis, 57, became the tournament’s youngest champion in 2011 when he chopped down the field - including Stan in a quarterfinal match - to win at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va.

It was Louis’ birdie putt on the 19th hole of that quarterfinal that turned Stan from a competitor to a cheerleader and ultimately into caddy in the span of five minutes.

“On the first hole of sudden death, he made a 25-foot birdie putt, and when it went in I went over and hugged him,” Stan said. “I was rejoicing with him for making that putt.”

It took a moment or two for both to realize that Stan still had to make a 20-footer to extend the match. He missed and was then relegated to serving as caddy the next day for the championship - a chore he knew he couldn’t pass up doing for his little brother.

“Maybe my greatest day of golf was when I carried for him when he won the championship,” Stan said. “It was just a remarkable and truly satisfying day when he won.”

Louis said the championship is an unforgettable moment in his life, but having to defeat his older brother to do so was bittersweet. They didn’t want to play each other or want the other to lose, but the more they kept advancing in the tournament, the more they knew the inevitable would happen.

“We kept talking throughout about how this thing is going to play out,” Louis said. “After 16, we knew the right thing was just play our best and that was the only way.

“It was a fairytale ending. I was 1 up on 18 and Stan made birdie to tie, then I made the putt there on the playoff hole. It was special. You can never anticipate that happening.”

Stan said the round felt like the brothers were back in Heber Springs, not near the Atlantic coast.

“We were laughing and cutting up the whole round,” he said. “A USGA official asked if we were taking this serious. We were, but it was just a different kind of feeling.”

Stan geared up for this week by knocking off some of the state’s finest in winning the ASGA Match Play championship last month at the Greens at North Hills in Sherwood. It was his fifth state match-play title but his first since 1974, a span of 39 years.

“Winning the state match play gave me more confidence,” said Stan, who has had to battle back from two surgeries.

The 156-man field will play stroke play today and Sunday. From there, the field will be cut to the top 64 with match play beginning Monday. Stan and Louis agree it’s not what their score is after Sunday, but to have one good enough to get into match play where seedings don’t mean as much.

“It’s an eight-round tournament, so if you are fortunate to be in that 64, it’s the luck of the draw,” Stan said. “If a guy jumps out and birdies the first five holes, look out, because you are going home early.

“You have to get through medal play then take the mind-set going into match play that you are going to be tough mentally and on top of your game and nothing is going to change that mind-set. You can’t panic. You are going to have a match or two where you are going have to overcome some tough holes and battle back.”

Stan and Louis arrived in North Carolina on Wednesday and played practice rounds on the Tom Fazio-designed course Thursday and Friday.

“Playing a USGA course is like playing at your home course. It takes some getting used to, but it can be pretty severe,” Louis said. “It’s again about surviving medal play and getting to Monday.”

Stan Lee said a Fazio-designed course fits his game with its undulating greens and forgiveness offered from off the tees. Other than that, he said, the course’s location almost felt like home.

“It’s up in the mountains,” he said. “It’s very rural, a little like Heber Springs. I think it’s going to be a good week for us.”At a glance USGA SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP WHEN Today-Thursday WHERE Wade Hampton Golf Club, Cashiers, N.C.

ARKANSANS ENTERED Bev Hargraves (Helena-West Helena), Stan Lee (Heber Springs), Louis Lee (Heber Springs), Ross McCaskill (Little Rock)

Sports, Pages 21 on 09/21/2013

Upcoming Events