Met Amateurs visit Chicago for U.S. Amateur
UPDATE (August 20, 2015 - 12:30 p.m.) - A day after ousting the defending champion, Scarborough, N.Y.'s Cameron Young was eliminated from the 2015 U.S. Amateur by Jon Rahm of Spain, 7 & 6.
Rahm, a senior this fall at Arizona State, quickly gathered a 4-up lead through six holes of play using a pair of birdies and taking advantage of two bogeys from the soon-to-be Wake Forest golfer. Young made his only birdie of the match on the par-4 eighth to cut into the deficit, but it wouldn't be enough. Rahm won the next four holes–two with birdie including a chip-in on the par-4 11th–to advance in the event.
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UPDATE (August 19, 2015 - 5:00 p.m.) - Cameron Young of Scarborough, N.Y., advanced to match play of the U.S. Amateur for the second straight year, following rounds of 71 and 70 on Olympia Fields' North and South courses on Tuesday.
After the remainder of the field finished stroke play on Wednesday morning, Young found himself squared against Gunn Yang of Korea--the defending U.S. Amatuer champion who halted Young's run last year in the quarterfinals. But, Young came out on top in this meeting by claiming a 3 & 2 victory on the North Course, where the entire match play portion of the championship will be contested.
A par on the first earned Young a 1-up lead in a match that featured just five halves. Young won seven holes though, including three with birdies on holes 8, 11 and 12. While the win on the 12th earned Young a 3-up advantage, Yang was able to cut into the lead with a par on the following hole. After two straight halves, Young clinched the 3 & 2 win with a par on the 16th.
Young will return to action Thursday morning and will face the winner between George Cunningham of Tucson, Arizona and John Rahm of Spain. Two rounds of match play are scheduled to take place.
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ELMSFORD, N.Y. (August 13, 2015) – A group of 15 golfers from the Met Area are set to take part in the USGA’s oldest national championship, the U.S. Amateur, competing amongst a field of 312 at Olympia Fields in Chicago, August 17-23.
Cameron Young of Scarborough, N.Y., is one of 66 golfers who were exempt from qualifying for the event based on past performances in USGA championships. Young was a quarterfinalist in last year’s U.S. Amateur and will look to make another run in the 115th playing. The future Wake Forest Demon Deacon hasn’t slowed since his victory at the 2015 Ike, competing in the WGA Open, NYSGA Amateur, the AJGA’s Wyndham Cup, and Junior PGA Championship. Most recently, Young tied second at the Mittlemark Invitational.
Related: U.S. Amateur Home | Starting Times | Championship Facts
Several top collegiate players from the Met Area will look to make a run at Olympia Fields. Sean Kelly, a senior at University of South Carolina from Staten Island, N.Y., and 2015 N.J. Amateur and N.J. State Open champion Max Greyserman, a senior at Duke University, both came from the sectional held at Forsgate. Kelly medaled with an impressive 9-under 133 and Greyserman earned another qualifying position at 5-under 137.
2014 Met Open low amateur and Columbia senior Harrison Shih of Saddle River, N.J., who qualified with a 1-under 143 at Lakewood in Rockville, Md., and 2014 Carter Cup winner Erick Alonso of Haworth, N.J., who shot 144 to medal at Manhattan Woods are also in the field.
Sophomores Paul Pastore, who competes at Hartford and is from Greenwich, Conn., and Kieran Purcell, who competes at Delaware and is from Jersey City, N.J., will each make their first appearance in the event. Pastore qualified at Hop Meadow in Simsbury, Conn., and Purcell at Manhattan Woods. Purcell was a semifinalist in this year’s Met Amateur.
Meanwhile, a group of former collegiate golfers are also looking for success on the national stage. Stewart Hagestad, a University of Southern California graduate who now resides in New York City, quickly jumped into the golf scene in the area, finishing second at the Ike, advancing to the semifinals of the Met Amateur and recently winning the Mittlemark by three shots. Hagestad medaled at Hop Meadow to make the field. Former Yale golfer Sam Bernstein was medalist at Laurel Links. Also a resident of New York City, Bernstein has put together a quality summer as well, finishing as runner up in the NYSGA Amateur and advancing to the quarterfinals of the Met Amateur. Bernstein also qualified for the U.S. Amateur in 2013.
Norwalk, Conn.’s Ross Kronberg, a former player at Sacred Heart University, qualified at GlenArbor, shooting 7-under 137 for his first U.S Amateur bid, while former Boston College player John Jackopsic of West Hartford, Conn., qualified at Shuttle Meadow in Kensington, Conn., as the medalist. Matt Yun of Flushing, N.Y., who just finished his golf career at Nyack College, qualified at Manhattan Woods.
Accomplished veterans David Szewczul of Farmington, Conn., and Doug Kleeschulte Jr. of Kingston, N.Y., are also in the field. Szewczul has competed in more than 25 USGA national championships and also qualified at Shuttle Meadow. Kleeschulte qualified out of Laurel Links and will be playing in his fourth U.S. Amatuer, adding to his previous appearances in 2007, 2011 and 2012. David Weisfeld of Scarsdale, N.Y, a 2009 semifinalist in the Met Amateur, qualified out of GlenArbor.
The field will play 18 holes of stroke play on both August 17 and 18, playing one round on both the North and South Course at Olympia Fields. The field will then be cut to the low 64 fields for match play, which will be conducted for the remainder of the championship. The 36-hole championship match is slated for August 23.
Fox Sports 1 will televise the championship August 19-21, while matches for the semifinals and championship on August 22 and 23 will be available on Fox.
The winner of the Havemeyer Trophy will receive an exemption into next year’s U.S. Open and the following 10 U.S. Amateurs.
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