It has been a strange summer for Mitchell Davis.
Davis, a 2018 Chesterton graduate, is looking forward to some sense of normalcy.
He will return home from Bloomington to defend his Northern Amateur title at Sand Creek Country Club. The 54-hole event runs Wednesday through Friday.
After finishing his sophomore year at Indiana University, Davis has spent a good chunk of his summer working maintenance at Bloomington Country Club.
He’s feeling good about the tournament for two reasons.
Sand Creek Country Club is his home course, and he broke through with a win last year against a top-notch field of college amateurs.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I’m hitting it really good now, way better than last year. My game is really starting to come around.”
It’s hard to gauge the credibility of that optimism.
Davis hasn’t played much competitive golf lately, and when he did, the results weren’t up to his standards.
Davis finished tied for 27th in the Indiana State Amateur, tied for 15th at the Indiana State Open, and he missed the cut at the Palmetto Amateur in Aiken, South Carolina.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected the normal rhythm of his summer.
There have not been any U.S Open qualifiers this year. The event is invitation-only, and the U.S. Amateur was canceled. Davis spent most of the spring working 40 hours per week.
That wasn’t his plan, but COVID-19 ended the college golf season. Indiana played in one spring event before the season was canceled.
Davis whittled his training hours in half after he figured out he couldn’t work on his game at a high level and also work full time.
“My game started to take a hit when I was working 40 hours a week,” he said. “I had to cut back.”
Davis, who said he would practice eight hours a day in the summer, is still trying to regain his old form.
He’s hoping he finds it this week.
“It takes a lot of time to get sharp after you are rusty,” he said. “It’s easier to stay sharp when you are playing a lot. Getting back to being sharp isn’t something I’ve had to do. I’ve always been ready to go.”
Davis isn’t the only local competitor in the field.
Crown Point’s Yianni Kostouros, who just finished his sophomore year at Ball State, is playing. So is Aidan Gutierrez, a 14-year-old high school freshman from Valparaiso.
Gutierrez just finished second in the Indiana Boys State Junior Championship. Tommy Philpot, a junior at Lake Central, also is in the field along with Mark Civanich and Andrew Karr, both 2020 Valparaiso graduates.
Last year, Davis set a tournament record for 54 holes, finishing 12-under. He won by four strokes over Wake Forest’s Marco Steyn.
Davis’ championship run was fueled by a hot putter.
In April 2019, Davis broke his hand. He couldn’t make full swings for several months, so he spent all of his time on the putting greens.
It paid off.
“My putting was extremely good,” he said.
![A co-defendant in a Hammond home invasion case may get his plea deal dropped after he failed to show in court from jail Thursday. Garrett Whittenburg, 41, formerly of Chicago, also refused to testify at co-defendant Valentine Torrez’s trial earlier this month. That was required by his agreement, documents show. He also declined to give a deposition in March. He was originally charged with nearly a dozen felonies, including rape and criminal confinement. Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar asked Judge Natalie Bokota to withdraw his plea. She took it under advisement. The hearing is rescheduled for May 30. Bokota granted a […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Post-Tribune.jpg?w=620 "A co-defendant in a Hammond home invasion case may get his plea deal dropped after he failed to show in court from jail Thursday. Garrett Whittenburg, 41, formerly of Chicago, also refused to testify at co-defendant Valentine Torrez’s trial earlier this month. That was required by his agreement, documents show. He also declined to give a deposition in March. He was originally charged with nearly a dozen felonies, including rape and criminal confinement. Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar asked Judge Natalie Bokota to withdraw his plea. She took it under advisement. The hearing is rescheduled for May 30. Bokota granted a […]")
![The Lake County Sheriff’s Department has purchased 20 new police vehicles and two 4×4 pick-up trucks as part of its annual vehicle replacement program. Lake County Commissioners Wednesday took bids for paint on the vehicles — as well as outfitting them with lights, sirens and equipment — under advisement. After the meeting, Commissioners’ President Michael Repay, D-Hammond, said the vehicles were purchased through the state’s quantity purchase agreement (QPA) from Bloomington Ford-Lincoln. Items purchased through the QPA do not have to go through the bidding procedure. “The vehicles are part of the annual vehicle replacement,” Repay said. Vehicles purchased in […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/XP24X3GDK5A7NG5FWQSFGGS6WU.jpg?w=481 "The Lake County Sheriff’s Department has purchased 20 new police vehicles and two 4×4 pick-up trucks as part of its annual vehicle replacement program. Lake County Commissioners Wednesday took bids for paint on the vehicles — as well as outfitting them with lights, sirens and equipment — under advisement. After the meeting, Commissioners’ President Michael Repay, D-Hammond, said the vehicles were purchased through the state’s quantity purchase agreement (QPA) from Bloomington Ford-Lincoln. Items purchased through the QPA do not have to go through the bidding procedure. “The vehicles are part of the annual vehicle replacement,” Repay said. Vehicles purchased in […]")
