Henry Amen second in Masters drive, chip and putt

    It was a long road to get to Augusta for nine year old Henry Amen of Imperial.
    After making it through the qualifiers in Grand Island and Kansas City, Missouri, Henry faced the final qualifier at Castle Pines Golf Club, in Castle Rock, Colorado.
    Henry passed the qualifier and earned a trip to the National Drive, Chip and Putt competition held in Augusta, Georgia, just before the start of The Masters golf tournament.
    Trevor Amen, Henry’s father got to be on his bag during the competition as his caddie. His mother Kari also attended but only one person could be inside the ropes for the competition.
    For each discipline, the participants earn a score of 1-10, with 10 points given to the winner of that discipline, 9 for second and so forth down to 1 point. After the three disciplines are complete, they tally the scores and whomever has the highest total wins. Henry was competing in the boys 7-9 year old division.
    In the first round, the contestants hit two drives. The longest drive in the fairway out of the two counts. Henry hit both drives in the fairway, one at 195 yards and the other was 195.4, the second drive was used and it scored eight points, being the third longest drive.
    Next is the chipping contest. Each person hits two chips and the total distance from the pin for each is added together. Henry hit chips that landed 1’ 8” and 4’ 7” for a total of 6’ 3” and earned a second place finish, scoring nine points.
    At 17 points after two rounds, Henry was tied for the lead with Waits Rodriguez of Houston Texas. Parker Tang of Buckeye Arizona was one point back at 16.
    The greens at Augusta are very quick. Henry ran both putts by the hole a little, one 3’ 11” and the second 4’ 10” for a total of 8’ 9”.
    Waits had puts of 8’ 11” and 5’ 3” for a total of 14’ 2”. That left Parker Tang. After Tang rolled his first putt to 2’ 10”, his second putt dropped in the hole, giving Tang 10 points and the win. Henry tallied four points in the putt competition, which was good enough to give him second place.
    Tang totaled 25 points, Amen had 21 and Berck Phipps of Raleigh, NC., claimed third with 18.5 points.
    Henry’s mother Kari said he was very comfortable and confident going into the competition.
    One of the big highlights was when Scottie Scheffler, this years winner of the Masters, presented Henry with his trophy. The family also got to attend a practice round on Monday where Henry got a lot of the professionals to sign a flag for him.
    This Sunday, April 21, the Imperial Rotary is hosting a parade in Henry’s honor. The parade starts at 2 p.m. MT and will travel from in front of the school, to the Imperial Country Club.
    Trevor and Kari Amen are the owners of Enders Lake Golf Course in Enders, Ne.
    Nebraka had three other qualifiers in the contest. Anna Midyett of Bennington finished in a four way tie for sixth in the girls 10-11, Patrick Vilai of Grand Island placed ninth in the boys 12-13 division and Naryn Kim of Lincoln finished in fourth in the girls 12-13 group.