Evan Beck won the 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur (USGA Photo)
After two previous runner-up finishes in USGA championships—most recently in 2023—Beck finally found his moment in the 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. He didn’t just win; he did it in commanding fashion and in front of a home-state crowd at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia. It booked him a spot at Augusta National in April.
“It’s incredible that it happened so close to home,” Beck said. “Being from Virginia, Vinny (Giles) is like my golfing hero. So it’s really cool to be here holding this trophy.”
Beck, 33, defeated Bobby Massa 9 and 8 in the final match, one of the most lopsided victories in the championship’s history. The win earned him an invitation to both the 2025 Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open at Oakmont—an enormous reward for an amateur who has stayed committed to the game while pursuing a professional career off the course.
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He currently works as an associate portfolio manager for Brown Advisory in Washington, D.C., and the balancing act between work and competitive golf hasn’t always been easy.
“I’ve been thinking about it every day,” Beck said of the chance to play in the Masters. “Try not to get emotional, try to stay in the moment… There’s a lot of great names on this trophy, and somehow mine’s going to be on there too.”
His journey to this point has been defined by both promise and patience. A former All-American at Wake Forest, Beck was runner-up in the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur, losing to Cameron Peck. That final taught him hard lessons about how to handle pressure—and how to prepare for the moment.
“2008, Cameron Peck… he came out hot, and it took me however many years to learn how to do it the right way,” Beck said. “Slow learner, but I got it.”
The turning point in the 2024 Mid-Am final came early. After building a lead in the morning round, Beck delivered a haymaker with a 40-foot birdie putt to start the afternoon.
“The crowd went crazy,” he said. “That was a really cool moment. It shouldn’t have dropped in… but we’ll take it.”
He leaned heavily on caddie Mikey Moyers throughout the final, crediting him for keeping his focus where it needed to be.
“We played, what, 28 holes, and he must have said ‘Come on, Mike’ like 750 times,” Beck laughed. “Just to try to stay thinking about what we’re doing and not thinking about what comes with this.”
The weight of the moment wasn’t lost on Beck. “To be able to push through and prove that you can do it to yourself, more than anything, it’s pretty awesome,” he said.
His win also brings him back to Kinloch next year as the reigning Mid-Am champion for the inaugural Giles Invitational, a new event honoring Virginia golf legend Vinny Giles.
“This is an incredibly special place, and I think we’re going to do right by honoring Vinny and his legacy,” Beck said. “I’ve been getting texts and calls from guys wanting to play. I don’t know if we’re going to have to turn guys away, but it’s in pretty high demand.”
Before that, of course, comes Augusta and Oakmont. Beck’s never played Augusta National—he missed a Wake Forest team trip years ago—but the dream is finally coming true.
“Pretty wild,” he said. “It obviously hasn’t sunk in yet… You’ve seen me cry like three times, I’m probably going to do some more of that later.”
A long journey marked by disappointment has finally led to triumph. And now, Evan Beck heads into 2025 as a USGA champion with a tee time at Augusta. After 16 years of chasing that moment, he’s finally earned it.