His first national championship experience makes for picture perfect day on the golf course for a Janesville art teacher

The second round of U.S. Mid-Amateur tournament at Erin Hills and Blue Mound Golf and Country Club was delayed until Monday due to persistent inclement weather and unsuitable playing conditions Sunday. Play is scheduled to resume on both courses at 6:50 a.m., with player starting times remaining the same. Updates on the remaining U.S. Mid-Amateur schedule will be released at a later time.

WAUWATOSA – Amateur golfers from around the state have a Sam Van Galder in their home, somewhere, as the art teacher at Parker High School in Janesville has crafted artwork for the Wisconsin state men’s and women’s amateur tournaments which is handed out to players.

And after Van Galder qualified for the United States Golf Association’s Mid-Amateur Championship, the country’s governing body for the sport commissioned him to do something for the 41st playing of the championship. The tournament runs from Saturday through Thursday at Erin Hills in the Town of Erin and Blue Mound Golf and Country Club in Wauwatosa.

The USGA shared a time lapse video of his creation, which was shared with its 394,000 followers on Instagram and 377,000 followers on Twitter.

“They called me and said know it’s last minute but would you want to throw something fun together,” Van Galder said Saturday after he finished his first round at Blue Mound. “I said sure so I went for it and they blew it up for me, which was kind of nice. So it turned out kind of cool.”

The Mid-Amateur is the top national tournament for post-college amateur golfers. Competitors must be 25 years old as of the opening day of the tournament and carry a USGA handicap index of 3.4 or lower. By comparison, the U.S. Amateur, requires an index of 2.4 or lower and often draws the top college-aged golfers from around the world.

The 26-year-old Van Galder has qualified for the state amateur 10 times and owns nine Janesville city titles, but the Mid-Amateur is his first national championship. He had a small gallery following his play and said he left home with some good luck messages from his players on the high school team.

“Oh, it’s awesome,” he said of the experience of competing in the tournament. “There’s ropes. There’s (Titleist) Pro V1x’s for range balls. There’s a scorekeeper in your group. It’s pretty cool. It’s been awesome. Whatever I shoot (Sunday) it is what it is and I’m having fun.”

Unfortunately for Van Galder, he fell out of contention for a spot in the 64-person match play field after posting an opening round 9-over 79. The day was marred by an eight on the 215-yard, par 3 third hole (his 12th).

“My score sucks but it was mostly on one hole – I played pretty good,” he said. “Otherwise I would’ve been 74, 4-over without the eight on a par-3, which is brutal. But I just couldn’t get the ball to stay on the green.”

He did bounce back with consecutive birdies on Nos. 4 and 5. Van Galder will head to Erin Hills to finish up the stroke play portion of the championship.

“I had fun out there,” he said. “I hit some good shots and had some good holes, but I just didn’t know what to do on some of those shots on that one hole and it is what it is.”

Saturday’s local roundup

West Bend native Preston Dembowiak put himself inside the top 20 finishers following a 2-under 68 at Blue Mound Golf and Country Club. Dembowiak played collegiately at Liberty University in Virginia and was a 2009 all-Big South Conference selection and helped the Flames win the 2011 Big South Conference title by earning medalist honors in the conference tournament.

He is enjoying a solid summer with a tie for third in the North Carolina Amateur and a tie for the seventh in the Carolinas Amateur. He was the medalist in Mid-Amateur qualifying at The Patriot Golf Club in South Carolina on Aug. 18 with a 6-under 66.

He also competed in the 2011 U.S. Amateur, which was held at Erin Hills and Blue Mound Golf and Country Club.

Jack Schultz of Milwaukee put himself in solid position to make the match play field of 64 by shooting a an even-par 70 Saturday at Blue Mound Golf and Country Club. He is playing on a high ankle sprain on his right foot, but he made three birdies against three bogeys.

Schultz also hit the opening tee shot of the tournament, going off No. 1 at 6:50 a.m.

“This is my 10th USGA and it’s like every time in the past I’d get so nervous because it’s super important,” he said with a smile. “I remember the junior I played in in 2005 was kind of the same thing – it was a country club, out of bounds left and I smoked it left. I’ve gotten better this year at mentality and not getting nervous and so I didn’t feel anything.”

Mequon’s Nathan Colson shot a 4-over 75 at Erin Hills. The Marquette University alumnus opened with a 5-over 40 on the front nine but poured in three straight birdies to start his back nine. He bogeyed No. 13 and 14, however, before finishing with four straight pars.

Fond du Lac native and University of Wisconsin alumnus Mark Scheibach shot 7-over 77 at Blue Mound.

Hartland’s Ryan Zikeli shot a 7-over 78 at Erin Hills.

South African Brandon Cloete, a Marquette University alumnus who lives in Madison, shot a 3-over 74 at Erin Hills.

River Falls native Sammy Schmitz shot a 5-over 75 at Blue Mound Golf and Country Club and carded a birdie on the 331-yard par-4 sixth hole.

A look at the first-round leaders

Defending Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestand started strongly at Blue Mound Golf and Country Club and flirted with the championship scoring record before finishing with a 6-under 64.

The championship record is 63 (the USGA counts the score as the record, not its relation to par). Jim Wilson set the mark in the opening round of the 2000 Mid-Amateur at The Homestead (Lower Course) in Hot Springs, Virginia.

Dalton Melnyk tied Hagestand for top scoring honors by also going 6-under with a 65 at Erin Hills.

Hagestand did not have a blemish on his scorecard with six birdies through 16 holes, before he bogeyed the par-3 17th. He finished with a birdie on the par-5 18th to finish his day.

“I thought about it actually on 18 after I hit the green in two, like shoot, I think the record is 7 (under),” he said. “But no, I don’t know, I did a nice job of kind of staying present and just didn’t hit a great iron shot on 17. Hit a good chip and hit a good putt and missed it.”

James Leow shot a 5-under 65 and Hugh Foley fired a 4-under 66 at Blue Mound.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Janesville teacher Sam Van Galder enjoys U.S. Mid-Amateur experience