A Champion’s Perspective: Ryan McCormick Returns to Baltusrol

To commemorate the 125th New Jersey Amateur Championship, NJ Golf has produced special editorial content highlighting the history, people and significance of this milestone championship. 

KENILWORTH, N.J. –– Few venues in New Jersey Golf carry the weight of Baltusrol Golf Club. From major championships to unforgettable amateur victories, the club’s history is woven into the fabric of championship golf in the Garden State.  

For Ryan McCormick, Baltusrol represents more than just one of golf’s most iconic venues. It’s the site of one of the defining victories of his career.  

Fourteen years after his record-setting triumph at Baltusrol, McCormick remains the most recent New Jersey Amateur champion to win on the Lower Course. As this year’s field prepares to take on one of the state’s most iconic tests, McCormick’s victory still offers a blueprint for what it takes to succeed there.  

“That was one of the best weeks of my life,” McCormick recalled.  

McCormick’s win at the 2012 State Amateur Championship represented more than just another title. At the time, he was a rising talent at St. John’s University, coming off a spring season that sharpened both his confidence and his game.  

“I had goals that year that I really wanted to achieve,” McCormick said. “That was the first time I truly had a plan.”  

Just one day before the opening round at the 112th Amateur Championship, McCormick competed in the U.S. Open Local Qualifying. Later that same day, he watched his father, Mark McCormick, head professional at Suburban Golf Club, qualify for the U.S. Open.  

“It was such an awesome week,” McCormick recalled. “We had such good energy in the house.”  

That momentum carried into Baltusrol.  

As a 20-year-old already familiar with the course from years in the junior golf circuit, McCormick embraced the challenge rather than shying away from it.  

“If anything went wrong, it kind of just rolled off of me,” McCormick recalled from that week. “I just played some great golf.”  

McCormick’s success at Baltusrol was built on more than talent alone. His familiarity with Baltusrol’s demanding greens and difficult approach shots proved invaluable on a course where precision often separates contenders from champions.   

“If you’re going to win here, you’re going to putt well,” McCormick remarked. “It’s really a second-shot golf course.”  

“You need to perform well in and around the greens,” he continued. “That’s where this place shines.”  

And shine, McCormick did.  

Making waves through headlines across the state, he opened with a bogey-free 4-under-par 68, trailing the clubhouse leader Brandon Dalinka by one stroke. The round immediately reinforced his belief that he could contend.  

“My mindset was that I was going to score with my wedges and my putter,” McCormick recalled. “I wanted to leave myself chances to do that.”  

“I remember making some really nice up-and-downs and some putts that mattered, putts I probably hadn’t made consistently earlier in my career,” he continued.  

He closed the week at 12-under par 276, winning by five strokes in record-setting fashion.  

The performance cemented McCormick’s place in New Jersey Golf history. Later that year, he became the second-youngest player to earn New Jersey Golf Player of the Year honors.  

Still, McCormick remembers the experience itself just as much as the final score.  

“I remember looking at the leaderboard with about three holes to go and seeing where I stood,” McCormick said. “Having to play [hole 18] needing a birdie to win is brutal. It was nice to have that five-stroke lead.”  

The victory at Baltusrol became the centerpiece of what McCormick still views as one of the defining stretches of his amateur career.  

The West Long Branch-native entered the championship fresh off a Metropolitan Amateur title and continued his impressive run with a runner-up finish at the Metropolitan Open later that summer.  

Even now, more than a decade later, McCormick finds himself reflecting on the mindset that fueled that remarkable stretch.  
 
“There are still things that I try to grasp from that summer.” McCormick said. “I was really focused on what I wanted to achieve.”  

His victory at Baltusrol placed him among a distinguished group of champions in New Jersey golf history. While many different victories and accolades followed, including a Big East Individual Championship in 2014, the State Amateur title remains among McCormick’s proudest accomplishments.  

“It means a lot,” McCormick said. “I take great pride in being from New Jersey and representing that all over when I play. To come back here and be part of that group of champions is special.” 

As McCormick’s career progressed from standout amateur to professional golfer in 2014, the significance of his State Amateur victory only continued to grow.  

“Winning the State Am here at Baltusrol helped give me the résumé to get into bigger amateur events around the country,” McCormick remarked. “Over time, you start to believe you can play with those guys and beat them.”  

“I’m proud of myself for hanging in there through all the ups and downs and making it.”  

As this year’s competitors prepare to take on Baltusrol, McCormick offers a perspective only the venue’s most recent State Amateur champion can provide.  

His advice to this year’s field is simple: prepare, putt well, embrace the challenge and respect the golf course.  

“After the round, walk around the clubhouse and take in the history,” McCormick offered. “Think about everything that has happened here and the opportunity you have this week to be part of that history.”  

As a new generation prepares to chase its own place in New Jersey Golf history, McCormick knows exactly what awaits them at Baltusrol, a week of pressure, opportunity, and the chance to create a moment that lasts far longer than 72 holes.  

Fourteen years later, he still remembers the walk up the iconic 18th hole.  

“Winning a championship here at Baltusrol is one of the coolest things I’ve achieved in my career,” McCormick said. “So don’t avoid the atmosphere—embrace it.”  

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