Four-Ball teammates Todd White (left) and Nathan Smith (Photo by Darren Carroll/USGA)
MAMARONECK, NY (May 19, 2016) - The 2nd playing of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball will tee off Saturday at the famed Winged Foot Golf Club and continue through Wednesday. Two Winged Foot courses will serve as tournament host tracks. The Saturday and Sunday stroke play rounds will be played on both the East and West Course's while the East Course will serve as the host for the match play rounds.
128 two-man teams will arrive with the hopes of winning this very popular format but it certainly won't be easy. Only 32 teams will advance to the match play portion of the event -- set to begin on Monday -- with the tournament wrapping up on Wednesday with the semifinal and championship matches. Tuesday's and Wednesday's matches will be televised on Fox Sports 1.
In last years inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Nathan Smith and Todd White won the title at The Olympic Club’s Lake Course by defeating Sherrill Britt and Greg Earnhardt 7&5. Smith and White will be teaming up again this year, and of course looking to repeat.
TEAMS TO WATCH
Nathan Smith and Todd White
There is nowhere to start but the top when it comes to teams to watch. The question is can Smith and White repeat against a deep talented field on a very tough Winged Foot layout. Smith, from Pittsburgh, PA has enjoyed years of success in USGA events winning the Mid-Amateur title four-times.
White is no stranger to USGA events either and has played in a U.S. Open. In three ranking events this year he has placed inside the top-15 with his best finish coming at the South American Amateur (where Smith placed eighth). In 2015 the Spartanburg, SC resident won the Azalea Invitational and also made it as far as the quarterfinals in the U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Smith and White were teammates on the winning 2013 USA Walker Cup Team.
Tim Mickelson and Jake Yount
Could a Mickelson find redemption at Winged Foot? Tim Mickelson, the younger brother five-time major winner Phil, certainly hopes so. Mickelson lives in Tempe, AZ and is the head coach of the Arizona State men's golf team. Mickelson was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year following the 2014-2015 season.
Yount was recruited to San Diego State when Mickelson coached there and went on to have a decorated career for the Aztecs. While playing for Mickelson the Danville, CA resident won the 2008 West Coast Conference Player of the Year award.
This is the second-straight year that Mickelson and Yount have teamed together. In 2015 they reached the Round of 16.
Scott Harvey and Todd Mitchell
Disappointment was how this team's run at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball ended last year. Harvey and Mitchell made it all the way to the semifinals before losing on the 19th hole. Harvey, from Greensboro, NC won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur and is off to a good stat this year finishing in second place twice. He is coming off a 2015 season that saw him win two ranking events.
Mitchell, a reired minor league baseball player who resides in Bloomington, IL reached the U.S. Mid-Amateur quarterfinal last year.
Sean Maruyama and Clay Seeber
Maruyama and Seeber make up the youngest team in this years field. Maruyama, 15, is the son of former Top-20 World Ranking Player and three-time PGA Tour winner Shigeki Maruyama. The younger Maruyma, who resides in Los Angeles, CA, has already begun to make a name for himself and he picked up a big win last year at the Southern California Junior Amateur.
Seeber, from Newport Beach, CA, is also 15 years old and has already committed to UCLA. With the season still relativity young Seeber has notched three 2016 PGA Southern California Junior Tour wins thus far.
-The USGA provided information for this story
ABOUT THE U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
The U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, the newest USGA
championship, was played for the first time in
2015 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif.
The event, which has no age restriction, is open
to those with a Handicap Index of 5.4 or lower.
It is one of 14 national championships conducted
annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly
for amateurs.
View Complete Tournament Information