First Major of the Year: The Jones Cup is Underway in Georgia
2/1/2017 | by Sam Dostaler of AmateurGolf.com
see also: View results for Jones Cup, Ocean Forest Golf Club
With the first weekend of February comes the 12th playing of the Jones Cup Invitational hosted by the Ocean Forest Golf Club
Played every other year until 2010, the event has included many past and present PGA Tour stars including Luke Donald, Rickie Fowler, Lucas Glover, Dustin Johnson, Chris Kirk, Jeff Overton, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Bubba Watson and Gary Woodland as well as past winners DJ Trahan (2001), Gregg Jones (2003), Nicholas Thompson (2005), Luke List (2007), Kyle Stanley (2009), Patrick Reed (2010), John Peterson (2011) and Justin Thomas (2012).
Since the inception of the event, the Rees Jones designed Ocean Forest Golf Club has served as the home course of the Jones Cup. Opened in 1996, Ocean Forest plays as a par-72 that when played from tips can be stretched to 7,321 yards.
With 2016 champion Beau Hossler now competing in the professional ranks here is a look at some of the players to watch this weekend:
PLAYERS TO WATCH| NAME | ACCOMPLISHMENTS | |
| Matthias Schwab | The No. 4 ranked amateur in the world finished tied for fourth at the Jones Cup last year. Schwab is a senior at Vanderbilt where he has twice been named All-SEC First Team. | |
| Dylan Meyer | Few players had a better summer of 2016 then Dylan Meyer. The Illinois junior highlighted the summer months with a win at the Western Amateur while also reaching the U.S. Amateur quarterfinals and sharing fourth at the Sunnehanna Amateur. Meyer is currently the eighth ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. | |
| Nick Hardy | Hardy, a junior at Illinois, has played in each of the last two U.S. Open's making the cut in 2015. Hardy won the Big 10 individual title in 2015. | |
| Dawson Armstrong | The Lipscomb junior won the Dogwood Invitational and Western Amateur in 2015. Armstrong tied for 15th at last years Jones Cup. | |
| KK Limbhaust | Limbhaust is redshirting this year to focus on his Cal degree but the AGC member is still a threat to win it all this week. Last year, as a sophomore Limbhaust led Cal in top-10 finishes and scoring average. Over the summer Limbhaust made a run to the U.S. Amateur Round of 16. | |
| Davis Riley | A sophomore at Alabama, Riley was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team and All-SEC Second Team a year ago. Riley reached the 2016 Western Amateur semifinals. | |
| Sam Burns | Burns, a sophomore at LSU, picked up a big win in the fall at the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic. As a freshman Burns was named to the PING Honorable Mention All-American list. | |
| William Gordon | Gordon is a second year player for Vanderbilt, where in 2015-2016 he earned spots on the All-SEC Freshman and All-SEC Second Team's. Prior to his freshman year with the Commodores Gordon captured the 2015 Greystone Invitational. | |
| Patrick Martin | Just a sophomore at Vanderbilt, Martin made a splash over the summer with two tied for second finishes at the Northeast Amateur and The Players Amateur. As a freshman Martin was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team and All-SEC Second Team. | |
| Branden Thornberry | Few players had a better fall season than Ole Miss sophomore Branden Thornberry. During the first half of the season Thornberry won three-times and finished in the top-10 of all five Rebel events. | |
NOTABLE JUNIOR PLAYERS TO WATCH
| NAME | ACCOMPLISHMENTS | |
| Noah Goodwin | The ninth ranked amateur in the world is a 2018 SMU commit. | |
| Garrett Barber | The 2018 LSU commit won the 2016 Jones Cup Junior Invitational in December. | |
| Colin Bowles | A recent Ohio State commit, Bowles made waves when he claimed the 2016 Georgia Amateur. | |
| 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. |
| NAME | ACCOMPLISHMENTS | |
| Stewart Hagestad | Hagestad is the reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion. The former USC golfer also finished second at the 2016 George C. Thomas Invitational. | |
| Charles Waddell | Last year Waddell earned three AmateurGolf.com top-15 finishes with his best showing coming at the Lupton Invitational in the form of a T2. Waddell won the Lupton in 2015 and the Timuquana Cup in 2014. | |
| Todd White | White is returning to the Jones Cup after a 14th place finish in 2016. He also tied for sixth in the 2013 Jones Cup. White has reached match play at the U.S. Mid-Amateur each of the last five years and in 2015 he won the Azalea Invitational. |
Results: Jones Cup
| Place | Player | Location | Pts | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olive Branch, MS | 1200 | 67-72-73=212 | |
| 2 | Edmond, OK | 900 | 72-75-70=217 | |
| 3 | Houston, TX | 700 | 72-75-71=218 | |
| T4 | , Austria | 700 | 72-73-74=219 | |
| T4 | Medford, OR | 700 | 71-78-70=219 |
About the Jones Cup
The Jones Cup is probably the biggest of the springtime amateur majors in the United States, and the reason is the venue and the strong U.S. and international field. The past champions list is littered with PGA Tour stars, including Justin Thomas, Pa...
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