U.S. Amateur underway at Erin Hills
For the second straight year, the United
States Amateur will be played against record
yardage. Fortunately for the field teeing off
Monday at 7,760-yard Erin Hills in Erin, Wisc.,
it's a long-hitting crew, featuring the top
amateurs in the world.
At the top of the list is defending champion
and the world's No. 1 amateur
Peter Uihlein.
The Oklahoma State senior is coming in off a
solid year since winning the Havemeyer Trophy
last summer. This season, Uihlein won the
Northeast Amateur, tied for third at the NCAA
Championship and placed ninth at a Nationwide
Tour event and the NCAA's South Central
Regional.
Uihlein is clearly one of the favorites heading
into this, the 111th playing of the Amateur
Championship.
One player who might be heading to Erin Hills
hotter than Uihlein is
Patrick Cantlay.
Cantlay, the world's No. 2-ranked player, won
the NCAA's West Regional and Southern
California Amateur. Cantlay, an incoming junior
at UCLA, also placed second at the Western
Amateur and NCAA Championship. He has
continued to keep his name in the headlines as
the low amateur at the U.S. Open and through
stellar play at three successive PGA Tour
events.
Other players who are likely to be battling for
leaderboard positioning include
Harris English,
Emiliano Grillo,
Beau Hossler,
Luke Guthrie,
Ben Campbell,
Tom Lewis,
Jordan Spieth and
Patrick Rodgers.
As usual with USGA events, the courses at Erin
Hills and will be bordered by high rough and
strict conditions. The greens will ranged from
12.5-13.5 on ths Stimpmeter throughout the
course of the championship. The majority of
the 2011 field worked its way into the
Championship through one of 98 nationwide
qualifying rounds.
The match-play portion of the event, which
will be played Aug. 24-28, will be broadcast
nationally by the Golf Channel and NBC.
Amateurgolf.com will provide complete
coverage of the event with results and leaders
updated daily. Click on the link below for a live
leaderboard.
ABOUT THE U.S. 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 2.4 or lower. It is
one
of 14 national championships conducted
annually by the USGA, 10 of which are
strictly
for amateurs. It is the pre-eminent
amateur
competition in the world.
Applications are typically placed online in the spring
at www.usga.org.
View Complete Tournament Information