Wannamoisett Country Club
(Wannamoisett Country Club Photo)
RUMFORD, RI (June 21, 2016) -- The rich
history of the Northeast Amateur will once more be on
display at Wannamoisett Country Club from June 22-
25.
An invitation only event, the Northeast Amateur is one
of the Majors of Amateur Golf, and is ranked fourth
among all U.S. amateur events according to the R&A
World Amateur Ranking List.
Last year Hunter Stewart finished 10-under and
four shots clear of Kyle Jones as he won the Northeast
Amateur. Stewart will not be in the field to defend his
championship when play begins on Wednesday.
The tournament, which began in 1962, is the only
72-hole amateur event that is played in twosomes. A
cut will be made following the first three rounds of
play.
The tournament plays with a limited field of 90 golfers
from around the world.
NOTEABLE PAST CHAMPIONS
NAME
| YEAR(S)
|
Ben Crenshaw
| 1973 | |
Scott
Hoch | 1977 | |
John
Cook | 1978, 1979 | |
Hal Sutton | 1980 | |
Brett Quigley | 1988 | |
Jay Sigel | 1984, 1985, 1991 |
|
David Duval | 1992 |
|
Jonathon Byrd |
1999 | |
Luke Donald |
2000, 2001 | |
Anthony
Kim | 2004 | |
Dustin
Johnson | 2007 | |
Peter Uihlein | 2011 | |
“Every year our goal is to put together the
strongest field possible," said tournament director Ben
Tuthill. “We have a limited field size and last year we
stayed within the top 250 ranked amateurs in the world
for the event. The only exceptions were the amateurs
that fell outside of that number because of our
exemption list. It is a very, very competitive event and
we get hundreds and hundreds of applications from
players every year.”
Wannamoisett Country Club, located in East
Providence, RI is a Donald Ross layout that plays as a
par 69 (34-35). The course has just one par-5 and that
is the 558 yard 17th. Donald Ross who has designed
many world famous courses including; Pinehurst No. 2,
Oak Hill Country Club and East Lake has said of
Wannamoisett, “This is the best layout I ever made. A
fine course on 100 acres of land. No congestion, fine
variety and excellent golf.”
Taking a deeper look at the course, the front nine
generally plays more difficult. However, the key to
scoring each year is the course condition.
“We like to see the scores finish somewhere
around
par. When the course is soft, you have years like 2011
(when Peter Uihlein won at 11-under par) where
players
just put up record numbers. Generally speaking though
if you are even-par going into the back nine you have a
chance (at winning). The last couple years, it hasn’t
been quite been the case, but if the conditions allow us
to make it fast and firm and the wind blows a little the
course definitely becomes more challenging,” explains
Tuthill the fifth chairman in the 55 years of the event.
PLAYERS TO WATCH NAME |
ACCOMPLISHMENTS |
Sean Crocker | The 4th ranked
amateur in the world recently won the Monroe
Invitational. Crocker will be entering his junior year at
USC. | |
Will Dickson |
A local product from Providence, RI who attends
Moses Brown High School. Dickson is committed to
Georgia Tech. | |
Matthew
Gilchrest | Through the first three years of
his Auburn career, Gilchrest has been one of the best
players in the SEC. In 2014 he was on the All-SEC
Freshman team and in 2015 he was an All-SEC first
teamer. | |
Tony Gil |
The Canada resident made a splash earlier this
season when he won the Terra Cotta Invitational. |
|
Cole Hammer | The first
time Hammer entered the national spotlight was in
2015 when as a 15-year-old he qualified for the U.S.
Open at Chambers Bay. Hammer is committed to the
University of Texas. | |
Cheng
Jin | The 2015 Asia-Pacific Amateur
champion played in this years Masters. In 2014 Jin
became the youngest amateur to lead a PGA Tour
China
event. | |
Kyle Mueller |
A 2016 All-Big Ten first teamer, Mueller will enter
play this week fresh off playing in last weeks U.S. Open
at Oakmont Country Club. Mueller will begin his junior
year at Michigan in the fall. | |
Garrett Rank | The 2nd ranked mid-
amateur in the world finished in a second place tie at
last weeks Sunnehanna Amateur. Rank won the 2015
Canadian Mid-Amateur. | |
Scottie
Scheffler | One of the few players to finish
his first round on Thursday of last weeks U.S. Open,
Scheffler fired a 1-under 69 and was in the top-10 after
the completion of the opening 18-holes. The 2015 All-
Big 12 first teamer will be a junior at Texas in the fall.
| |
Nathan Smith |
One of the top mid-amateur players in the
country,
Smith has won a record four U.S. Mid-Amateur
championships. | |
Zach
Zaback | From Farmington, CT and a recent
UConn graduate, Zaback has been on a tear this spring
winning the Connecticut Amateur and Russell C. Palmer
trophies. | |
Andy Zhang |
Heading to Florida in the fall, Zhang has showed
well in ranking events so far this year. Zhang won the
Azalea Invitational and then finished runner-up a week
later at the Terra Cotta Invitational. In 2014, at 14-
years-old Zhang became the youngest player to
compete in the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club. |
|
The Wannamoisett Country Club membership
sponsors the entire tournament and is involved with
every aspect of the event. “We get a lot of support
from
the members and the club absolutely loves the event,
even though we give up our beautiful course for a week
in the summer every year,” said Tuthill. “I would say it
is one of the most enjoyable weeks of the year for
most
of our members because we do bring in these world-
class golfers, that you really haven’t heard of for the
most part, but will down the road.”
Each year members host players, something that
is
very popular amongst the players. Last year 60 of the
90 contestants stayed with host families. The players
are also required to take a caddie and a lot of the
players will take junior kids or members of the clubs
caddie program.
Each year the tournament also supports the mid-
amateurs in order to add some local flavor to the
event.
This year the Northeast Amateur will focus on the
junior
golfers and a few more will be in field, as a lead into
the
club hosting the Junior PGA Championship from August
9-12.
The week officially kicked off on Monday with
registration and the beginning of practice rounds.
Tournament preparation continued on Tuesday with
open practice and then the Amateur/Member event.
This event is very popular amongst the Wannamoisett
members who get to play alongside many of the games
bright young stars. The day concludes with the Opening
Ceremony the night before tournament play begins.
ABOUT THE Northeast Amateur
The Northeast Amateur has a historic list of winners,
including Ben Crenshaw, Dustin Johnson, Collin
Morikawa, Luke
Donald,
Scott Hoch, John Cook, Hal Sutton, and David Duval.
It
has been annually held at the Donald Ross-designed
Wannamoisett Country Club since 1962. The event
is
limited to 90 elite players; there is a cut after 54
holes
and the entire tournament is played in twosomes.
View Complete Tournament Information