Match Play field set at U.S. Amateur
Peter Williamson
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. -- Starting on the par-4 10th hole at Cherry Hills Country Club Wednesday morning, 17 players -- playing in three threesomes and two foursomes -- teed off to determine the 14 remaining spots in the 64-player match-play field at this year’s U.S. Amateur Championship.The 17 finished 36-holes of stroke play qualifying Tuesday with scores of 2-over-par 143, tying for 51st.Seven players advanced after one hole, led by T.J. Mitchell, who made birdie. The other six moved on with pars -- Patrick Duncan Jr., NCAA champion Thomas Pieters, Patrick Newcomb, Eli Cole, Drew Evans and North & South and Southern Amateur winner Peter Williamson.Two more advanced at the par-5, 11th hole as Edouard Espana and Denny McCarthy made birdies.At the par-3, 12th, Devon Purser and Michael Weaver moved on with birdies while Cameron Smith (bogey) and A.J. McInerey (double bogey) were eliminated.That left four players for the final three spots at the par-4, 13th hole. Filling those positions by making par were Evan Browser, Steven Fox and Taylor Hancock. Blaine Woodruff was the odd man out after making a bogey.Among some of the notable players who did not shoot 143 or lower and failed to advance to match play: Cody Gribble (144), Anthony Paolucci (144), Beau Hossler (144), Hideki Matsuyama (145), former U.S. Junior champion Cory Whitsett (145), Porter Cup winner Richy Werenski (145), and Gary Nicklaus (145), son of the legendary Jack Nicklaus.Others were: U.S. Amateur Public Links champion T.J. Vogel (146), Northern Amateur winner Trey Mullinax (147), former U.S. Junior champ Jin Liu (147), former U.S. Public Links winner Tim Hogarth (147), Northeast and Western Amateur runner-up Jordan Russell (148), former three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Nathan Smith (148), reigning U.S. Mid-Am champ Randy Lewis (151), Robert Mize (153), son of former Masters winner Larry, Bowen Sargent (154), current men’s golf coach at Virginia, and Andy Zhang (160), t 14, the youngest player in the starting field of 312.
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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