Matthew Vital, 13-year-old Putt National Champion
By: Sports Editor Jordie Clark ‘19
Augusta, Georgia-April 7, 2019—Matthew Vital, of Bethlehem, Pa., made a 30-foot putt at Augusta National’s 18th green that helped win him a national championship. Vital hit his hole within four feet and finished second in the putting portion of the competition to win the overall title by 2.5 points. Vital won the boys 12–13 age group at the annual youth skills competition.
The weekend began with a total of 80 participants, and Vital placed first in the chipping competition and third in the driving, putting challenges to win in his age groups of 10 competitors. Vitals’ hole of a difficult chipped proved his superiority to his competition, which allowed him to be so deserving of this championship.
The young eighth-grader from Lehigh Valley Academy accomplished his sixth annual Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals. In attendance of this major even for young boys and girls, were Green Jacket winners, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, Nick Faldo, Mark O’Meara, Bernhard Langer, Mike Weir, and Patrick Reed. The young golfers had pros just a few steps away from them to turn to throughout the tournament.
This weekend gave Vital another huge championship under his belt and potentially many more to come.
