Making his mark

Monday, Crawford was on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. The 17-year-old senior-to-be at the School for Independent Learners in Los Altos qualified for the U.S. Amateur after a stellar performance at Fort Washington Country Club in Fresno.

Battling triple-digit temperatures, Crawford was one of two players out of the 48-player field to qualify to play in the U.S. Amateur late next month at Chambers Bay Golf Links at University Place, Wash.

"I'm still on an emotional high," Crawford said. "I feel a lot more confident in my game since Monday because the last few tournaments I had I kind of stumbled down the stretch. It was nice to finally put things all together."

Crawford definitely earned his spot in the U.S. Amateur. While temperatures have been well below average in the Bay Area this summer, the Central Valley has been blistering hot as usual. Crawford teed off at 7:30 a.m. and didn't finish until 6:50 p.m. After carding rounds of 68-68 to finish at 8-under par, Crawford wasn't done.

There were still a half-dozen other golfers still on the course who could beat Crawford's score or tie it, which would've forced a playoff. And that's exactly what happened, as Taylor Travis of Fremont finished at 8-under along with Crawford and Ryan Carter of Stockton. Carter was in the last group to tee off for the second round, so by the time he finished, Crawford had been in the clubhouse for 90 minutes.

"It was nice to have that hour and a half break," Crawford said. "I carried my own bag and there wasn't much water around the course. It was very challenging to keep my concentration because you were out there all day."

In a nice twist, Menlo School senior-to-be Patrick Grimes -- the reigning Daily Journal Boys' Golfer of the Year -- caddied for Crawford on the playoff hole (Grimes finished at 4-under to miss the playoff by four strokes) and Crawford played his best when it counted the most.

He recorded four birdies on the back nine of his second round, and needed to two putt from 50 feet on his final hole of regulation to reach 8-under. Playing a four- to five-foot break, Crawford hit his first putt about as well as one could, getting to within a couple of feet for par.

"I had a comfortable two-foot tap in," he said.

Crawford, Carter and Travis went to hole No. 10 for the playoff, where Crawford and Carter both made par while Travis finished with a bogey. Only the top two from the Fort Washington qualifier were going to advance, so the tournament ended right there with Crawford and Carter as co-medalists. While the saying goes that ties are like kissing your sister, Crawford was downright ecstatic to finish in a tie on this occasion.

Crawford is a rising star. He's a member of the Olympic Club Golf team and the junior champion at Menlo Country Club. Earlier this year he won a prestigious junior tournament in Alameda, carding a 71-65 to win by a stroke. The 5-foot-6, 125-pound Crawford is the junior version of 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir. Blessed with a sweet swing, Crawford isn't long off the tee, but he more than makes up for it by being particularly adept at hitting his short to mid irons.

Crawford is also a solid putter and straight as a zipper off the tee. That's why, ironically enough, Crawford struggles more on short courses than long ones.

"I don't hit it very long, but I'm very straight off the tee," Crawford said. "I'm used to playing long courses because the Olympic Club is about 7,000 yards from the back tees and a very tough course."

Crawford is also similar to Weir in that he was a standout junior hockey player. In fact, hockey was far and away Crawford's favorite sport growing up. He was a center on the traveling club team Belmont Rangers, competing in tournaments across the U.S. and Canada. However, when Crawford was 12, he knew if he wanted to pursue a career in hockey, he would have to go to a boarding school in Canada and play in one of the powerhouse junior leagues.

"It was one of the toughest decisions of my life," he said. "I had played both sports all my life and at the time, hockey was by far my favorite sport and most fun thing to do. (The only drawback was) it consumed my life."

After qualifying for the Junior Worlds golf tournament in San Diego when he was 12, Crawford quit hockey cold turkey.

"Qualifying for Junior Worlds gave me a spark to pursue golf," he said. "It was a new experience that I really wanted to pursue and in the end, I felt like I could take golf a lot farther than hockey."

After Monday's experience, it's apparent Crawford made a great decision. After finishing the playoff hole, Crawford was trying to grasp the enormity of his accomplishment. Things didn't fully register until a United State Golf Association official handed him an envelope, which contained all the information he would need to know about the U.S. Amateur.

"That's when I realized what I had just done," Crawford said. "And it's a moment I'll never forget."