NOW PLAYING: U.S. Amateur Championship

17 Aug 2024
by United States Golf Association
see also: U.S. Amateur, a USGA Championship, The Olympic Club - Lake Course, Luke Clanton Rankings
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The premier amateur championship of the year teed off this week, with qualifying taking place at both Hazeltine National Golf Club and Chaska Town Course in Minnesota on Monday and Tuesday.

The two courses will each provide a unique and different challenge, with Hazeltine playing 7,500 yards and a par 72 and Chaska Town Course playing to 6,804 yards and a par 70. Hazeltine was opened in 1962, while Chaska is fairly new, opening in 1997. All matches will be held at Hazeltine National.

Last year, Nick Dunlap made an impressive run to the U.S. Amateur final, taking down Neal Shipley in the final and seven months later, winning the American Express on the PGA Tour and turning pro.

2023 championship

Nick Dunlap, of Huntsville, Ala., and a sophomore at the University of Alabama, defeated Pennsylvanian Neal Shipley, 4 and 3, in the 36-hole final at Cherry Hills Country Club in suburban Denver. Dunlap joined Tiger Woods as the only players in USGA history to have won a U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur. Dunlap won his U.S. Junior Amateur title in 2021.

“Well, I think it’s only a third of what Tiger’s actually done. But just to be in the same conversation as Tiger is a dream come true and something that I’ve worked my entire life for. It’s the hours and hours that nobody sees to try to get to this point and even have a chance to win this trophy. It’s unbelievable; can’t put it into words.” Dunlap told the USGA after his win.

18 players are in the Top 20 of the Men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking® as of Aug. 7:

No. 1 – Gordon Sargent
No. 2 – Jackson Koivun
No. 3 – Luke Clanton
No. 5 – Ben James
No. 6 – Preston Summerhays
No. 7 – Jackson Van Paris
No. 8 – David Ford
No. 9 – Ian Gilligan
No. 10 – Jose Luis Ballester Barrio
No. 11 – Brendan Valdes
No. 12 – Calum Scott
No. 13 – Christiaan Maas
No. 14 – Omar Morales
No. 15 – Stewart Hagestad
No. 17 – Jackson Buchanan
No. 18 – Tommy Morrison
No. 19 – Andrew Goodman
No. 20 – Bastien Amat

Past events at Hazeltine

1966 U.S. Women's Open (Sandra Spuzich)
1970 U.S. Open (Tony Jacklin)
1977 U.S. Women's Open (Hollis Stacy)
1983 U.S. Senior Open (Billy Casper)
1991 U.S. Open (Payne Stewart)
1994 U.S. Mid-Amateur (Tim Jackson)
2001 USGA Men's State Team (Minnesota)
2002 PGA Championship (Rich Beem)
2006 U.S. Amateur (Richie Ramsay)
2009 PGA Championship (Y.E. Yang)
2016 Ryder Cup (Team USA)
2019 KPMG Women's PGA Championship (Hannah Green)

Notable champions

Francis Ouimet (1913, 1931); Chick Evans (1916, 1920), Bob Jones (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930), Arnold Palmer (1954), Jack Nicklaus (1959, 1961), Deane Beman (1960, 1963), Lanny Wadkins (1970), Craig Stadler (1973), Mark O'Meara (1979), Hal Sutton (1980), Jay Sigel (1982, 1983), Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1994, 1995, 1996), Matthew Fitzpatrick (2013), Bryson DeChambeau (2015)

Notable runner-ups

Chick Evans (1912, 1922, 1927), Bob Jones (1919, 1926), Francis Ouimet (1920), Tom Kite (1970), Ben Crenshaw (1972), Scott Hoch (1978), Trip Kuehne (1994), James Driscoll (2000), Hunter Mahan (2002), Michael Thompson (2007), Patrick Cantlay (2011), Corey Conners (2014)

What the champion receives

-A gold medal
-Custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for one year
-Exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Amateurs
-Exemption into 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club
-Exemption into 2025 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, at Royal Portrush (must be an amateur)
-Likely invitation into 2025 Masters Tournament (must be an amateur)

Schedule of play

Monday, Aug. 12 (18 holes, stroke play)
Tuesday, Aug. 13 (18 holes, stroke play)
Wednesday, Aug. 14 (Round of 64, match play)
Thursday, Aug. 15 (Round of 32/16 matches)
Friday, Aug. 16 (Quarterfinal matches)
Saturday, Aug. 17 (Semifinal matches)
Sunday, Aug. 18 (36-hole championship match)

Future U.S. Amateur sites

2025: The Olympic Club, San Francisco, Calif. (Aug. 11-17)
2026: Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pa. (Aug. 10-16)
2027: Oak Hill Country Club, Pittsford, N.Y. (Aug. 9-15)
2030: Atlanta Athletic Club, Johns Creek, Ga. (Aug. 12-18)
2031: The Honors Course, Ooltewah, Tenn. (Aug. 11-17)
2033: Chambers Bay, University Place, Wash. (Aug. 15-21)
2034: The Country Club, Brookline, Mass. (Aug. 14-20)
2032: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore. (Aug. 9-15)
2036: Scioto Country Club. Columbus, Ohio (Aug. 11-17)
2041: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore. (Dates TBD)
2047: Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (Dates TBD)

ABOUT THE US Amateur

The U.S. Amateur, the oldest USGA championship, was first played in 1895 at Newport Golf Club in Rhode Island. The event, which has no age restriction, is open to those with a Handicap Index of .4 (point four) or lower. It is one of 15 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. A new two-stage qualifying process went into effect in 2024, providing exemptions through local qualifying for state amateur champions and top-ranked WAGR playres. See the USGA website for details -- applications are typically placed online in the spring at www.usga.org.

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