U.S. MID-AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

September 30, 2026

Mikel Martinson

Sand Valley Resort

Quick Quotes

Q. Obviously you carried your own bag all week. How exhausted are you right now?

MIKEL MARTINSON: I'm exhausted. No excuse. Nate played awesome. It was a fun match. Somebody told me earlier I would get a two-year exemption after getting to the final four. I will have a caddie the next couple years, so...

It's a lot of golf.

Q. Okay. Was there a reason you didn't bring or hire a caddie?

MIKEL MARTINSON: I had a couple buddies who said they were going and then didn't last second. And then, I mean, when you start the week it sounds like a good idea and then when you get deeper and deeper into it you're like, all right, now you don't want to mess the vibes up, you know.

I mean, honestly, like I caddied for a living for a while.

Q. You did?

MIKEL MARTINSON: I caddied for Peter Malnati, Bobby Gates, Brice Garnett, Harold Varner, couple guys like that, so I'm familiar with it.

Q. Okay. And you played briefly how long as a pro?

MIKEL MARTINSON: I played too long as a pro.

Q. Too long?

MIKEL MARTINSON: I had Korn Ferry pre-COVID. Didn't play very good through that whole stretch. Lost my card pretty quick. That's about it on the Korn Ferry. Played some Latin America, PGA Canada.

Q. What was the decision to...

MIKEL MARTINSON: So I lost my Korn Ferry card, went back to Q-School, bogeyed my 72nd hole at Q-School. Hit out of bounds. Kicked out of bounds, hit a tree, re- tee'd, birdied my last -- my next shot, and then missed by one on getting my card back.

Picked up bow hunting after that.

Q. Bow hunting? What year was this, Q-School?

MIKEL MARTINSON: That would have been probably 2020, '21, somewhere in there.

Q. Okay. Assess your week here.

MIKEL MARTINSON: Now I'm Oldfield Sales out in West Texas.

Q. So you're not living in Throckmorton?

MIKEL MARTINSON: No. I'm in Odessa, Texas where this gentlemen right higher is. We are actually at the same Country Club.

Q. Same Country Club?

MIKEL MARTINSON: Yes, sir.

Q. The population of Throkmorton is less than the number of people that work here.

MIKEL MARTINSON: Throckmorton on the high side is 700 people.

Q. Yeah. 900 people at this resort.

MIKEL MARTINSON: Yeah.

Q. Assess your week here. First timer at the Mid-Am, getting to the semis.

MIKEL MARTINSON: I mean, I'm disappointed. I wish I could have gave Nate a little better fight. I know we pushed it to 17, but I'm not sure what happened on my 11th hole today. That bunker is 260. For my ball not to cover that downwind hitting it pretty decent, I mean, I don't know if something happened to my driver or what.

Didn't really hit another good drive after that.

Q. So that was pretty much the turning point.

MIKEL MARTINSON: So that was the turning point. Lost some confidence or something happened with the driver.

Yeah, overall I'm happy with myself. I fought hard. I was 2-down going into my last -- I guess my second or third match and then won three holes in a row; won in 19.

So I'm proud.

Q. You took out the local guy this morning.

MIKEL MARTINSON: Local guy, yeah. They were awesome. It was everybody against me in that match. They were awesome. Everybody was pulling for me today, so it was great. The staff here has been awesome.

Q. See you for the next couple years.

MIKEL MARTINSON: Yes, sir.