BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI (August 14, 2016) -- Beginning
Monday Oakland Hills Country Club is set to host the
116th playing of the U.S. Amateur. The field will include
312 golfers representing 46 states and 29 countries.
Monday and Tuesday play will include 18-holes of
stroke play qualifying with the top 64 advancing to
match play starting Wednesday. Match play will
continue through Sunday when the 36-hole
championship
match will be held.
Oakland Hills CC boasts two Donald Ross designed
courses; the South Course opening in 1918 and the
North Course opened in 1924.
Over the years Oakland Hills CC has hosted
numerous major tournaments, including one previous
U.S Amateur in 2002, won by Ricky Barnes. The course
has also hosted six U.S. Open's, three PGA
Championship's, a pair of U.S. Senior Open's and the
2004 Ryder Cup won by Europe.
Notable winners include Ben Hogan in the 1951
U.S. Open, Gary Player at the 1972 PGA Championship,
Arnold Palmer in the 1981 U.S. Senior Open, Jack
Nicklaus at the 1991 U.S. Senior Open and Padraig
Harrington in 2008 when he won his third major
championship in two years.
Throughout the week both the South and North
Courses will be used. The South Course, the better
known of the two, is a par-72 that when played from
the tips is 7,445 yards long while the par-70 North
Course can be stretched to 6,908 yards.
CONTENDERS
Gunn Yang: The 2014 U.S. Amateur
champion is back as he looks to capture his second title.
In 2014 Yang defeated Corey Conners 2&1 in the final
match at Atlanta Athletic Club. Yang is fifteen months
removed from back surgery.
Maverick McNealy: The Stanford senior
has been the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year each
of the last two years and made a run to the Round of 16
at last years U.S. Amateur. McNealy played in the 2014
U.S. Open and on the 2015 Walker Cup team.
Sam Horsfield: Despite falling in the
championship match at the Western Amateur, Horsfield
is coming in full of confidence after dominating the field
during medalist play. The Florida sophomore has played
in two straight U.S. Opens and won last years Phil
Mickelson Award, given to the top freshman in the
nation.
Jack Hume: From Ireland, Hume was a
member of the winning GB&I Walker Cup team in 2015.
Hume has won two ranking events this year and also
finished second at the Irish Open Amateur.
Scott Gregory: The winner of the British
Amateur, Gregory played in the 2016 British Open at
Royal Troon.
Cheng Jin: Heading to USC in the fall, Jin
won the Players Amateur Championship by two-strokes
this summer. Jin, from China, played in the Masters
after claiming the 2015 Asia-Pacific Amateur
Championship. Over the years Jin has competed in the
U.S. Junior Amateur three-times, making it to match
play each time.
Harrison Endycott: The Australian has
certainly found himself in the winners circle on a regular
basis this year. To date Endycott has five wins including
a come from behind win in the final round of the Porter
Cup.
Robert MacIntyre: Match play seems to
be a forte of MacIntyre's. Last year the Scotsman won
the Scottish Amateur and this year he
finished runner-up at the British Amateur.
Derek Bard: The U.S. Amateur runner-up
last year to
Bryson DeChambeau, Bard has since played in the
Masters and U.S. Open. Bard, a senior at Virginia won
the 2015 Sunnehanna Amateur and is entering play this
week fresh off a strong showing in the New York State
Amateur.
William Zalatoris: One of the hottest
players in the field, Zalatoris has won the Trans-
Mississippi and Pacific Coast Amateur in recent months.
Zalatoris, winner
of the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur, is a junior at Wake
Forest.
DARK HORSES
Fred Wedel: The recent Pepperdine
graduate won both the Texas State Amateur and
the Northeast Amateur in back-to-back weeks this June.
KK Limbhasut: A junior at California,
Limbhaust has won twice during his collegiate career.
He recently showed well at the the Pacific Coast
Amateur as he finished tied for third.
Doug Ghim: The experience in USGA
events is there. Ghim is playing in his third U.S.
Amateur while also previously finishing runner-up at the
2014 U.S. Amateur Public Links and as a semifinalist at
the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur. Ghim is a junior at Texas
were he was a
second-team All-American and Big 12 first teamer.
OTHERS TO WATCH
Philip Barbaree: The LSU commit rallied
from 5 down with eight holes remaining to win the 2015
U.S. Junior Amateur. He was also
the 2015 Rolex Junior Player of the Year.
Scott Harvey: A member of the 2015
Walker Cup team, this will mark Harvey's 20th USGA
competition. The Greensboro, NC resident won the 2014
Mid-Amateur and played in the 2015 Masters.
Michael McCoy: The 2013 U.S. Mid-
Amateur winner finished as the low amateur in the 2014
and 2015 U.S. Senior Open's. McCoy is from Des
Moines,
IA.
Sammy Schmitz: The River Falls, WI
resident won the 2015 Mid-Amateur and played in the
this April's Masters.
Nathan Smith: Making his third U.S
Amateur appearance, Smith from Pittsburgh, PA has
won four U.S. Mid-Amateur titles. Smith along with the
other mid-amateurs in the field will be looking to
become the first mid-am to win the U.S. Amateur in 23
years
when John Harris won.
Karl Vilips: The youngest competitor in the
field this week, Vilips is 14-years-old. Vilips was born
August 16, 2001.
-The USGA contributed to this stroy
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.
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