2016 Northeast Amateur Preview
6/21/2016 | by Sam Dostaler of AmateurGolf.com
see also: View results for Northeast Amateur, Wannamoisett Country Club
An elite field tees off tomorrow at Wannamoisett Country Club
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.
Results: Northeast Amateur
| Place | Player | Location | Pts | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Woodlands, TX | 1200 | 68-69-66-67=270 | |
| T2 | Birmingham, AL | 900 | 68-66-68-69=271 | |
| T2 | Long Beach, CA | 900 | 69-67-65-70=271 | |
| T4 | Dallas, TX | 700 | 67-67-72-66=272 | |
| T4 | Madison, CT | 700 | 69-67-67-69=272 |
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...
Most Popular Articles
2025 PGA TOUR Q-School Guide: Sites, Scores, and Who Advanced
Dec 5, 2025Second Stage is complete and Final Stage awaits at Sawgrass — follow every Q-School leaderboard and the players still chasing
2025 LPGA TOUR Q-Series: Final Qualifying Stage FINAL SCORING
Dec 8, 2025Helen Briem earns medalist honors, 31 players headed to the LPGA next year
2025 PGA TOUR Q-School Final Stage: Ewart Leads Five New TOUR Card Winners
Dec 14, 2025A.J. Ewart topped Final Stage at TPC Sawgrass, leading five players who secured PGA TOUR membership for 2026.
Australian Open at Royal Melbourne: Preview, amateur bios, and how to watch
Nov 30, 2025Rory McIlroy headlines one of the championship's top fields in years - at least four amateurs will have their chance at glory
Inside Gil Hanse’s Restoration of Baltusrol’s Upper Course: A Return to Tillinghast’s
Dec 11, 2025Renowned architect Gil Hanse reveals how he brought Baltusrol’s Upper Course back to life by honoring A.W. Tillinghast’s original