While winning a national championship is a massive deal, a Masters berth is also awaiting the winner. One of the greatest invites in all of golf. 

Here are some storylines for this week’s U.S. Mid-Amateur:

Will the weather be a story… again?

In 2022, the weather was disastrous in Wisconsin. The final was held two days later than planned due to heavy rains. Last year at Sleepy Hollow, rain hampered the start of the tournament and once again gave the USGA headaches as they tried to stay on schedule. 

This year, it looks like the stroke play rounds will see rain and wind, particularly on Saturday and Sunday morning. 

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U.S. Mid-Amateur Inside the Field

Stewart Hagestad chasing a fourth U.S. Mid-Amateur title.

A win this week for Stewart Hagestad would be his fourth in the last eight editions of the U.S. Mid-Amateur, tying him with Nathan Smith for the most U.S. Mid-Amateurs. He first won at Stonewall in 2016. Five years later he won in Nantucket and then he did it again in 2023 at Sleepy Hollow. 

Last week at the Crump Cup, Hagestad reached the semi-final, a good sign of his form. However, he did admit that he didn’t hit the ball all that great at Pine Valley and managed his way around the challenging course. A birdie blitz from Jimmy Ellis turned a 2-up lead into a 1-down loss for Hagestad. 

Hagestad’s legacy as an amateur golfer is already solidified. He’s a four-time Walker Cup winner and a lock to captain the team in the future. But a fourth USGA championship would be a massive accomplishment. 

Colin Prater has to write sub-plans

Colin Prater, a biology teacher from Colorado, played in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst and won the Colorado Amateur for the third time this summer (2016, 2020, 2024). He has never played in the Mid-Amateur because he has never tried to qualify for it, as it falls at the start of the school year. However, he was exempt this year and took the opportunity because it’s a week where he could earn a spot in The Masters. 

Related: Amateur Golf Podcast with Colin Prater

Can Evan Beck break through in his home state?

Evan Beck is a consistent presence in USGA events and has come close to winning a couple of times. He was the runner-up in the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur, losing to Cameron Peck, and reached the semifinals of the 2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with partner Dan Walters, his former assistant coach at Wake Forest University.. He advanced to the Round of 32 in the 2022 Mid-Amateur at Erin Hills and has played in four U.S. Amateurs and was runner-up in the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur.

He was the medalist in the Crump Cup in 2023 and also won the George L. Coleman Invitational and George C. Thomas Invitational this year. 

Which senior can make the deepest run?

Michael McCoy (61), Mark Gardiner (61), Louis Brown (61), Dan Sullivan (57), Rick Stimmel (57), Todd White (56) are the oldest players in the field. Brown beat Sullivan in the U.S. Senior Amateur at The Honors Course last month. White is the 2023 U.S. Senior Amateur Champion and Gardiner has player all over the world as a member of the Air Force’s golf team. Stimmel almost conquered the Mid-Amateur; he was the runner-up in 1997.

McCoy, an Iowa Golf Hall of Famer, is the oldest player to win the Mid-Amateur. He was 50 year when he won in 2013 at the Country Club of Birmingham (Ala.). McCoy, who has a 27-14 Mid-Amateur match-play record, was the low amateur in the 2014 and 2015 U.S. Senior Opens. The insurance executive also won the 2022 R&A Senior Amateur. He has played in 61 USGA events. 

Is there Crump Cup momentum?

Andrew Price won the Crump Cup last week over Jimmy Ellis. Price is the Illinois Mid-Amateur champion. Ellis won the Florida Amateur champ and shocked the amateur golf world when he shot 61 at Chaska Town Course and earned medalist honors in the U.S. Amateur. Six of the quarterfinalists in the Championship Flight will be at Kinloch (Price, Ellis, Hagestad, Hugh Foley, Mark Costanza, and Mattew McClean).

Could the winner come from that group who is fresh off a good challenge at Pine Valley? It's not a bad place to start looking for a winner.

Segundo Oliva Pinto is on the scene.

The Argentinian Segundo Oliva Pinto won conference titles in two different conferences. First he won the Colonial Athletic Conference title for UNC-Wilmington and then locked up the SEC title while competing for Arkansas. He graduated from college in 2023 and remained an amateur. He finished eighth in this year’s Latin America Amateur Championship in Panama and has twice represented his country in the World Amateur Team Championship (2022, 2023). With a 25-year-old Hana Ryskova winning on the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur at Brae Burn last week maybe a young winner is due on the men's side. Pinto should be on a short like of favorites this week in Virginia.