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A Closer Look at Who's Playing in the U.S. Four-Ball
Pinehurst Resort, host of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
Pinehurst Resort, host of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball

PINEHURST, NC (May 25, 2017) - Field Notes for the 2017 U.S. Four-Ball Championship at the Pinehurst Resort:

Ryan Smith, 15, of Carlsbad, Calif., is the championship’s youngest competitor. He is 99 days younger than 15-year-old Akshay Bhatia, of Wake Forest, N.C.

By the first day of the championship, the two youngest teams in the field will have a combined age of 31: Ryan Smith, 15, and Dylan Menante, 16, of Carlsbad, Calif., and Akshay Bhatia, 15, and Grayson Wotnosky, 16, of Wake Forest, N.C. Bhatia is also one of the youngest players to advance to U.S. Open sectional qualifying, which will be contested on June 5. He is scheduled to play in the Ball Ground, Ga., qualifier.

The championship’s oldest competitor is Jay Sessa, 61, of Garden City, N.Y., who is nearly four months older than Philip Pleat of Nashua, N.H. Pleat turns 61 on May 23.

The average age of the field is 32.89.

The team with the oldest combined age of 118 is Sessa and Don Enga, 57, of Queens Village, N.Y.

The team with the largest age difference of 35 years is the father-son team of Philip and James Pleat, 26, of Nashua, N.H.

There are seven countries represented in the championship: Canada, England, Hong Kong, Scotland, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States of America.

There are seven USGA champions in the field:
Kenny Bakst, 59, of New York, N.Y. (1997 U.S. Mid-Amateur)
Stewart Hagestad, 26, of Newport Beach, Calif. (2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur)
Doug Hanzel, 60, of Savannah, Ga. (2013 U.S. Senior Amateur)
Scott Harvey, 38, of Greensboro, N.C. (2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur)
Tim Hogarth, 50, of Northridge, Calif. (1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links)
Nathan Smith, 38, of Pittsburgh, Pa. (2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur; 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with Todd White)
Todd White, 49, of Spartanburg, S.C. (2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with Nathan Smith)

Three players were members of USA Walker Cup Teams: Scott Harvey (2015), Nathan Smith (2009, 2011 and 2013) and Todd White (2013).

There are three brother teams in the field, including one set of twins:
Jason Higton, 37, and Ryan Higton, 34, of Fresno, Calif.
Dan Murphy, 27, and Tim Murphy, 27, of Fairfield, Conn.
Daniel Wetterich, 20, and Matthew Wetterich, 21, of Cincinnati, Ohio

There are three father-son teams in the field:
Ben Corfee, 22, and Dan Corfee, 52, of El Macero, Calif.
Philip Pleat and James Pleat
Mike Riley, 56, of Panama City, Fla., and Michael Riley Jr., 25, of Tampa, Fla.

Twenty-six sides are composed of current or former college teammates:

  • Boise State University - Jacob Byers, 20, of Sandy, Utah, and Tristan Rohrbaugh, 20, of Carbondale, Colo.
  • California Polytechnic State University - Jordan Wright, 23, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., and Jesse Yap, 25, of Singapore
  • College of William & Mary - Alex Shattuck, 21, of Sioux Falls, S.D., and Thomas Simmonds, 21, of Scotland
  • Delta State University - Shane Humphries, 43, of Ridgeland, Miss., and David Sinclair, 42, of Brandon, Miss.
  • Drexel University - Sean Semenetz, 30, of Philadelphia, Pa., and Jack Wallace, 33, of Beverly, N.J.
  • Indiana University - Michael Chambers, 45, of Roswell, Ga., and Jody Roudebush, 45, of Noblesville, Ind.
  • Lewis University - Jason Buffone and Andy Roderique

  • Loyola Marymount University - Connor Campbell, 23, of Orange, Calif., and Blake Meek, 22, of Pasadena, Calif.
  • Loyola University Maryland - Connor Flach, 21, of Ellicott City, Md., and Will Wears, 22, of Latrobe, Pa.
  • Michigan State University - Jimmy Chestnut, 35, of Royal Oak, Mich., and Casey Lubahn, 36, of East Lansing, Mich.
  • Murray State University - Will Snodgrass, 45, of Murray, Ky., and Jeffrey Wells, 48, of Bloomington, Ill.
  • Ohio State University - Clark Engle and Will Grimmer
  • Ohio University - Jimmy Ellis, 31, of Venetia, Pa., and Chuck Nettles, 28, of McMurray, Pa.
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Brandon Mader and Michael Souliotis, 23, of Acton, Mass.
  • Rice University - Mario Carmona, 21, of Houston, Texas, and Mitchell Meissner, 20, of San Antonio, Texas
  • Rutgers University - Jason Bataille and Brian Whitman
  • Towson University - Christopher Baloga and Jeffrey Castle
  • University of California, Davis - Jesse Bratz, 20, of Colleyville, Texas, and Nicolas Noya, 23, of San Francisco, Calif.
  • University of Connecticut - Eric Dietrich, 22, of Cheshire, Conn., and Jimmy Hervol, 19, of Hopkinton, Mass.
  • University of Dayton - Matt Savage, 35, of Massillon, Ohio, and Tim Skufca, 34, of Westlake, Ohio
  • University of North Alabama - Daniel Creel, 33, of Creel, Ala., and Matthew Gourgeot, 31, of Decatur, Ala.
  • University of North Texas - Brian Hatter, 34, of Little Elm, Texas, and Thomas Kulcak, 36, of Plano, Texas
  • University of Southern California - Stewart Hagestad and Sam Smith, 26, of Turlock, Calif.; Jordan Nasser, 33, of Irvine, Calif., and Taylor Wood, 33, of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
  • Xavier University - Daniel and Matthew Wetterich
  • Yale University - Michael Lewis-Goldman, 25, of New York, N.Y., and Thomas McCarthy, 28, of New York, N.Y.

General Player Notes:

Matthew Anderson, 37, of Tampa, Fla. & Scott Kennedy, 37, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Born in Canada, Kennedy moved to the United States to play golf at Florida Atlantic University. He and his wife, Krista, were married at Pinehurst, and they will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary on May 26, the day before Kennedy tees off in his first USGA championship with partner and groomsman Anderson. Kennedy owns Smoke BBQ, an acclaimed barbecue restaurant in southern Florida.

Luke Bakke, 36, of Seattle, Wash. & Jay Reynolds, 34, of Austin, Texas
Bakke is playing in his 10th USGA championship. He has also played in the U.S. Junior Amateur, four U.S. Amateurs, the U.S. Amateur Public Links and three U.S. Mid-Amateur championships. Reynolds, the 2001 Dixie Amateur champion, broke Ben Crenshaw’s 40-year course record at the Lions Municipal Golf Course when he carded a 60 in the 2015 Austin Men’s City Championship. Passionate about live music, he has served as Monte Montgomery’s tour manager and has worked with NOFX. In 2008, he and his father, Peach, were contestants on Golf Channel’s Highway 18. He is playing in his seventh USGA championship.

Kenneth Bakst, 59, of New York, N.Y. & Jonathan Doppelt, 56, of Great Neck, N.Y.
Bakst, the 1997 U.S. Mid-Amateur and 1996 MGA Amateur champion, played in his first USGA championship 42 years ago – the 1975 U.S. Amateur. Through four decades, he has played in more than 20 USGA championships.

Christopher Baloga, 33, of Baltimore, Md. & Jeffrey Castle, 33, of Baltimore, Md.
Baloga and Castle, who both coach golf at the collegiate level, are playing in their third consecutive U.S. Amateur Four-Ball together. Baloga, who is in his seventh year as head coach at Loyola University in Maryland, was named the 2014 and 2015 Patriot League Coach of the Year. He advanced to the Round of 64 in the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur. Castle is a third-year assistant coach at his alma mater, Towson (Md.) University. A two-time Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year for the Tigers, he reached the Round of 32 in both the 2006 U.S. Amateur and 2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links championships.

Jason Bataille, 34, of Bridgewater, N.J. & Brian Whitman, 35, of Tinton Falls, N.J.
Bataille and Whitman played collegiate golf together at Rutgers University. Whitman and his father, Ed, often caddie for one another during USGA championships. Whitman caddied for his father in the 2000 U.S. Open.

Daniel Belden, 48, of Massillon, Ohio & Don Padgett III, 42, of Akron, Ohio
Padgett, executive director of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, is the grandson of the late Don Padgett Sr., who served as director of golf at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club from 1987-2002. His father, Don Padgett II, served as CEO and president of Pinehurst from 2004-2014.

Akshay Bhatia, 15, of Wake Forest, N.C. & Grayson Wotnosky, 16, of Wake Forest, N.C.
Bhatia, the second-youngest player in the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball field, aced the 17th hole on Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014 at age 12. Bhatia and Wotnosky are both playing in their first USGA championship.

Jesse Bratz, 20, of Sacramento, Calif. & Nicolas Noya, 23, of San Francisco, Calif.
Bratz and Davis are teammates on the University of California-Davis golf team. Bratz’s father, Mike, played in the NBA for nine years and now serves as the assistant general manager for the Sacramento Kings.

Sherrill Britt, 51, of West End, N.C., & Greg Earnhardt, 51, of Greensboro, N.C.
Britt and Earnhardt reached the championship match of the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, losing to Nathan Smith and Todd White, 7 and 5. Britt, a self-employed building contractor, has played in four USGA championships, and won the 2015 Carolinas Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship. Earnhardt, an insurance agent, has competed in eight USGA championships, including two U.S. Amateurs. He became the first back-to-back North Carolina Mid-Amateur winner by defending his title in 2016, and was a member of the North Carolina squad that tied for second in the 2003 USGA Men’s State Team Championship.

Chip Brooke, 41, of Bartow, Fla. & Marc Dull, 31, of Winter Haven, Fla.
Brooke, the 2016 Florida State Golf Association Mid-Amateur champion, helped develop the caddie program at Streamsong (Fla.) Resort, which hosted the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Dull, who caddies at Streamsong, finished runner-up in the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur. His late great-grandfather, Dexter Daniels, won the 1961 and 1966 U.S. Senior Amateur Championships.

Ed Brown, 47, of Lewes, Del. & Jay Whitby, 30, of Wyoming, Del.
Brown, an All-American quarterback at West Chester University, was a golf course superintendent for 16 years before becoming an insurance consultant. Whitby has won several Delaware State Golf Association titles, including three Delaware Amateurs (2006, 2015 and 2016) and the Delaware Open (2013).

Jon Brown, 49, of Clive, Iowa & Jon Olson, 37, of Ankeny, Iowa
Brown, an Iowa Golf Hall of Fame member, won the 2006 Iowa Amateur and was named Iowa Golf Association Player of the Year in 2004 and 2006. Olsen, the head men’s golf coach at Central College in Pella, Iowa, has won several IGA titles, including three IGA Mid-Amateurs (2011, 2014 and 2015), the IGA Amateur (2012), the IGA Open (2007), and the IGA Public Links (2001). In 2013, he coached the winning Iowa High School 4A State Championship team and individual champion, and was named Iowa High School golf coach of the year.

Ben Campbell, 41, of Cleveland, Va. & Chip Spratlin, 45, of Jonesborough, Tenn.
Campbell, who played baseball at Virginia Intermount College, is competing in his third USGA championship. Spratlin is playing in his second USGA championship and first since the 1994 U.S. Amateur. In 1995, he became Auburn’s first and only individual NCAA golf champion, leading a field that included Tiger Woods, a freshman at Stanford.

Frankie Capan, 17, of North Oaks, Minn., & Shuai Ming Wong, 17, of Hong Kong
Capan, a high school junior, set a tournament scoring record in winning the 2016 Puerto Rico Junior Open. He advanced to the Round of 64 in the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur. Wong, a high school senior, won the Shell Houston Open Junior in 2015 when he established the 54-hole scoring mark (205) and was 12 strokes ahead of his nearest competitor. Wong competed in the 2013 and 2014 U.S. Junior Amateurs.

Robert Castor, 35, of Columbus, Ohio & Jason Gerken, 32 of Columbus, Ohio
Castor, who has struggled with hip issues since breaking it at age 12, played golf at Duke University in the early 2000s. In 2008, he had hip replacement surgery, and while playing in a local tournament in 2015, he experienced severe dizziness, later learning he had suffered a stroke, which hospitalized him and forced bedrest for several months. This is the first USGA championship he has qualified for since experiencing the stroke. In 2016, Gerken won his club (Columbus C.C.), city (Columbus) and state (Ohio) four-ball championships. Gerken and Castor, both practicing attorneys, partnered to win the Columbus Four-Ball.

Michael Chambers, 45, of Roswell, Ga. & Jody Roudebush, 45, of Noblesville, Ind.
Chambers and Roudebush were teammates at Indiana University in the early 1990s. The two have gone on a golf trip dubbed, “Sleep When You’re Dead,” with a few of their teammates nearly every year for the past 20 years. Chambers, an executive director at Morgan Stanley, is playing in his first USGA championship. Roudebush, who was a quarterfinalist in the 1993 and 1994 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships, is playing in his sixth USGA championship.

Jimmy Chestnut, 35, of Royal Oak, Mich. & Casey Lubahn, 36, of East Lansing, Mich.
Chestnut and Lubahn, who is in his sixth season as the head golf coach at Michigan State University, were teammates on the Michigan State golf team. Chestnut, a 2008 U.S. Mid-Amateur quarterfinalist, won the Michigan Amateur and was named Michigan Player of the Year in 2008.

Patrick Christovich, 38, of New Orleans, La., & Garrett Rank, 29, of Canada
Christovich, a realtor, was a quarterfinalist in the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur and has claimed three Louisiana Mid-Amateur titles. Rank, an official for the National Hockey League and American Hockey League, overcame a cancer scare at age 23. He was the runner-up in the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur and reached match play in the 2015 U.S. Amateur.

Matt Clarke, 56, of Loudonville, N.Y. & Tony Hejna, 49, of Ellicottville, N.Y.
Clarke won the 1983 NCAA Division III individual and team championships. In 2005, he won the New York State Mid-Amateur. Hejna played collegiate ice hockey at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute and was drafted to play for the St. Louis Blues in 1986.

Tyler Cooke, 25, of Warwick, R.I. & Bobby Leopold, 32, of Coventry, R.I.
Cooke, a former ice hockey player at the University of Connecticut, now plays on the Huskies golf team. He is playing in his first USGA championship. Leopold, a two-time Rhode Island Amateur champion (2009 and 2014), is married to Cooke’s sister, Taylor. He has played in four U.S. Amateur Championships, making it to the Round of 16 in 2011 and 2012.

Micah Dean, 33, of Loveland, Ohio & Alex Rodger, 38, of Cincinnati, Ohio
Playing in his first USGA championship, Dean is a virtual medicine program manager at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He and his wife, Katie, are expecting their first child – a girl – who is due in May. Rodger and his identical twin, Bobby, played golf at Pepperdine University. An attorney, he is playing in his second USGA championship, and first since the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur.

Don Enga, 57, of Queens Village, N.Y. & Jay Sessa, 61, of Garden City, N.Y.
A State Farm insurance agent for more than two decades, Enga finished runner-up in the 2015 Metropolitan Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship. He is playing in his first USGA championship. Sessa is a fourth-generation funeral director whose great-grandfather opened his first funeral home in Brooklyn in 1883. An executive board member for the Long Island Golf Association, he played in the 2011 and 2012 U.S. Senior Amateur Championships, making it to the Round of 64 in 2011.

Clark Engle, 22, of Springfield, Ohio, & Will Grimmer, 20, of Cincinnati, Ohio
Engle and Grimmer are teammates on the Ohio State University golf team. Engle, a senior, earned All-Midwest Region and All-Big Ten Conference honors in 2015 and recorded three top-10 finishes during the 2015-16 season. He won the 2011 Ohio Division II high school state title. Grimmer, a sophomore, advanced to the Round of 32 in the 2015 U.S. Amateur and qualified for the 2014 U.S. Open, where he was the youngest player in the field (17). Grimmer, who carded an 11-under-par 59 in the 2013 North & South Junior Amateur, tied for 12th in the 2016 Big Ten Championship.

Jeff Fujimoto, 43, of Phoenix, Ariz. & Patrick Moore, 34, of Phoenix, Ariz.
Fujimoto, a sports agent, and Moore, an insurance salesman, missed the cut in the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball where Moore aced the sixth hole on Winged Foot’s East Course during the second round of stroke play. Moore finished the 2013 Ironman Arizona in under 11½ hours and is the grandson of Col. Ricard Moore, a United States Air Force pilot who flew several missions in Vietnam and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in 2015 with full military honors.

Wilson Furr, 18, of Jackson, Miss. & Davis Shore, 18, of Knoxville, Tenn.
Furr and Shore have both verbally committed to attend the University of Alabama in the fall of 2017 where they plan to be roommates. They partnered in 2016 for both the Wyndham Cup and USA Junior Ryder Cup matches and have a 4-0 record in foursomes and four-ball. In 2015, Furr became the youngest player to win the Mississippi State Amateur. Shore is a three-time Tennessee Golf Association Junior Player of the Year (2014-16).

Ben Garrett, 34, of Seattle, Wash. & Erik Hanson, 52, of Kirkland, Wash.
Hanson, who played baseball at Wake Forest, is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. During his 11-year career, he pitched for the Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays. He’s playing in his 12th USGA championship. Garrett, an active volunteer and vice president for The First Tee of Greater Seattle, is playing in his second USGA championship.

Stewart Hagestad, 26, of Newport Beach, Calif. & Sam Smith, 26, of Turlock, Calif.
In 2016, Hagestad, a financial analyst, won both the U.S. Mid-Amateur and Metropolitan Golf Association Amateur Championships. The low amateur in the 2017 Masters Tournament, he and Smith were teammates on the University of Southern California golf team.

Doug Hanzel, 60, of Savannah, Ga. & Bob Royak, 55, of Alpharetta, Ga.
Hanzel won the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur and is a two-time low amateur in the U.S. Senior Open. A physician, he is the only player in USGA championship history to make match play in the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur in the same year (2012). Royak won the 2007 Atlanta Open and owns a technology and staffing company with his wife, Patricia.

Scott Harvey, 38, of Greensboro, N.C., & Todd Mitchell, 38, of Bloomington, Ill.
Harvey and Mitchell advanced to the semifinals of the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. Harvey was a member of the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team and won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur. A property manager for S&K Triad Properties, he has competed in 22 USGA championships. Mitchell reached the Round of 16 in the 2015 U.S. Amateur and was the 2008 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up. He has competed in 24 USGA championships. Mitchell, who did not play college golf, was a shortstop at Illinois State and chosen in the 14th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Yankees.

Jason Higton, 37, of Fresno, Calif. & Ryan Higton, 34, of Fresno, Calif.
Brothers Jason and Ryan Higton own and operate a real estate firm in Northern California. The Higtons were quarterfinalists in the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, losing to eventual champions Nathan Smith and Todd White.

Tim Hogarth, 50, of Northridge, Calif. & Corby Segal, 45, of Santa Clarita, Calif.
Hogarth, who was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, won the 1996 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, 8 and 7, over Jeff Thomas at Wailua (Hawaii) Golf Club. He also finished runner-up in the 2010 U.S. Mid-Amateur. A PGA Tour caddie, Segal won the 2016 Southern California Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship and 2013 Kelly Cup Invitational.

Cameron Hooper, 29, of Atlanta, Ga. & David Noll Jr., 45, of Dalton, Ga.
Hooper, the 2013 Georgia Mid-Amateur champion and Player of the Year, was college roommates with 2016 U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson at Coastal Carolina University. Noll, a nine-time Georgia State Golf Association Player of the Year, won the Georgia Amateur in 2003 and 2011 and the Georgia Mid-Amateur in 2007, 2012 and 2014. The two qualified to play in the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, but Noll injured his hand in an accident the week before the championship, forcing Hooper to play by himself in the inaugural team event in which he missed the cut by 9 strokes.

Russell Humphrey, 45, of Lodi, Calif. & James Watt, 42, of Lodi, Calif.
Humphrey, an avid four-ball player, is playing in his first USGA championship. He and Watt partnered to win the 2012 Northern California Golf Association Four-Ball Championship. A trial lawyer for more than 15 years, he has tried more than 100 jury trials to verdict. Watt played professionally from 1998-2004 and now works as an insurance agent.

Thomas Hunter, 32, of Florence, S.C. & Charles Ipock, 30, of Darlington, S.C.
Both Hunter and Ipock are playing in their first USGA championship. Ipock, now an attorney, majored in professional golf management at North Carolina State University and worked at several golf resorts, including Pinehurst Resort & Country Club. He was standing next to the 18th green when Payne Stewart made his putt to win the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

Ryan Kelly, 43, of Gig Harbor, Wash. & Ryan Welborn, 45, of Tacoma, Wash.
Kelly caddied for his brother, Troy, in the 2005 U.S. Open Championship at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, the 2012 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, and the 2015 U.S. Open Championship at Chambers Bay.

Alex Kephart, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colo. & Kurtis Lucas, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colo.
Kephart works as a civil service contractor for the United States Air Force Academy. Lucas, who served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2011-16, played on two all-Marine golf teams. He is playing in his first USGA championship.

David Kocher, 21, of Charlotte, N.C. & William Rainey, 21, of Charlotte, N.C.
Kocher, a junior at the University of Maryland, won the 2014 North & South Junior Championship at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club. In 2015, he finished runner-up in the Carolinas Golf Association Amateur Championship. A senior at the College of Charleston, Rainey won the 2016 North Carolina Amateur Match Play Championship.

Sachin Kumar, 18, of Trinidad and Tobago & Fletcher Wunderlich, 16, of Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Kumar and Wunderlich both attend Club Med Golf Academy in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Kumar represented his country in the 2015 Pan American Games. He won his second Trinidad and Tobago Open Amateur in March and claimed the 2015 South Florida PGA Junior. In 2016, Kumar and Club Med Golf Academy teammate Alberto Martinez lost in the Round of 32 in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.

Stephen Marland, 50, Houston, Texas & Michael Sullivan, 46, of Spring, Texas
Marland played soccer at American University and played in 1985 NCAA Championship game, an eight-overtime loss against UCLA. Born in England, he played for England’s Under-18 national team and always books afternoon tee times during the English football season so he can watch Manchester United. Sullivan is the president/CEO of Champion Energy Services.

James Pleat, 26, of Nashua, N.H. & Philip Pleat, 61, of Nashua, N.H.
Philip and James, a father-son team, have long supported one another on the golf course. James has caddied in several USGA championships for his father, including the 2012 U.S. Senior Open, and Philip caddied for James in his first USGA championship, the 2011 U.S. Amateur. The two have also competed against each other, including the 2012 U.S. Amateur. Philip, who has played in more than a dozen USGA championships, has won 18 New Hampshire Golf Association titles and is the 2016 New England Senior Amateur champion. James’ maternal grandfather, Thomas J. Leonard Jr., was also an accomplished New Hampshire golfer, claiming eight NHGA Amateur titles.

Nathan Smith, 38, of Pittsburgh, Pa., & Todd White, 49, of Spartanburg, S.C.
Smith and White won the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship with a 7-and-5 triumph in the final. The two players were also members of the victorious 2013 USA Walker Cup Team. Smith is a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (2003, 2009, 2010, 2012). An investment advisor, he is playing in his 40th USGA championship. White, a high school history teacher, is playing in his 23rd USGA championship. He advanced to the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur semifinals and reached the quarterfinals in 2014 and 2015.

Richard Taylor, 41, of Charlotte, N.C. & Cam Warren, 40, of Charlotte, N.C.
Taylor and Warren are both playing in their first USGA championship. A financial advisor, Taylor helped Florida Southern College win back-to-back NCAA Division II Championship titles in 1998 and 1999.

Daniel Wetterich, 20, of Cincinnati, Ohio & Matthew Wetterich, 21, of Cincinnati, Ohio
Brothers, Daniel and Matthew were teammates on the Xavier University golf team that won the 2016 Pinehurst Intercollegiate.

Compiled by Vanessa Zink, assistant director of USGA championship communications.

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.

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