Players to Watch at the 2018 U.S. Mid-Amateur

9/21/2018 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

As the biggest championship in mid-amateur golf begins Saturday, here are some of the key players

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (September 20, 2018) - The 264-player field for the 38th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship is set, and players will tee it up at Charlotte Country Club and Carolina Golf Club as stroke play qualifying begins on Saturday.

Related: 38th U.S. Mid-Amateur: A Closer Look at the Field
Related: 2018 U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying Roundup

Here is a look at some of the key players to watch:

Joe Alfieri

Joe Alfieri, 49, of Lutz, Fla., has competed in 18 USGA championships and reached the Round of 32 in four of five U.S. Mid-Amateurs played (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017). Alfieri is a reinstated amateur who played on the Nationwide Tour (now Web.com Tour) from 2005 to 2007, notching six top-25 finishes. Alfieri, who is a vice president of a graphic design services company, has won the Florida State Match Play, Mid-Amateur and Four-Ball championships.

Brett Boner

Brett Boner, 44, of Charlotte, N.C., qualified for his second U.S. Mid-Amateur by carding a 67 to earn medalist honors in the Blue Bell, Pa., sectional. Boner, whose brother-in-law, Stephen Woodward, is also in the field, advanced to match play in the 2016 Mid-Amateur. Boner, a financial advisor who is a member at Carolina Golf Club, this year’s stroke play co-host course, and Woodward, qualified as team for the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Winged Foot Golf Club. Boner won his second Charlotte City Amateur by one stroke at Charlotte Country Club on Aug. 26.

Derek Busby

Derek Busby, 34, of Ruston, La., made the semifinals of last week's Crump Cup at Pine Valley and made the quarterfinals in 2017. Last year Busby won the Crane Cup and the Louisiana Amateur. He has made match play in the last two U.S. Mid-Amateurs, making the final 16 in 2016. Earlier this year Busby finished 5th in the Gasparilla Invitational, the final 32 at the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst, and T21 at the Monroe Invitational.

Patrick Christovich

Patrick Christovich, 40, of New Orleans, La., has competed in 14 USGA championship and four U.S. Mid-Amateurs. He advanced to the quarterfinals in 2014 and reached match play in 2012 and 2013. Christovich, a realtor, had advanced with partner Garrett Rank to at least the quarterfinals in three consecutive U.S. Amateur Four-Balls. He has claimed four Louisiana Mid-Amateur titles and been runner-up three times. In 2012, Christovich also won the Louisiana State Amateur.

Claudio Consul

Claudio Consul, 35, of Germany, is playing in his third consecutive U.S. Mid-Amateur and advanced to the Round of 16 in 2016. Consul, who competed against 2014 U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer as a junior golfer, earned his doctorate in engineering from the University of Oxford in England. In 2018, he advanced to the Round of 32 in the Amateur Championship, conducted by The R&A. He won the 2002 German Amateur, 2004 Italian Amateur and 2016 European Mid-Amateur.

Marc Dull

Marc Dull, 32, of Winter Haven, Fla., was the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up to Sammy Schmitz. Dull, who is a caddie at Streamsong (Fla.) Resort and owns a lawn service company, also reached the finals of the 2018 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with partner Chip Brooke, losing to Cole Hammer and Garrett Barber, 4 and 3. Dull and Brooke also reached the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball semifinals the previous year. Dull, who has played in eight USGA championships, won this year's Gasparilla Invitational and Florida Mid-Amateur and was the runner-up in the Florida Amateur.

Gene Elliott

Gene Elliott, 56, of West Des Moines, Iowa, has competed in 30 USGA championships and 13 U.S. Mid-Amateurs. Elliott, who has reached match play in 12 of 13 U.S. Mid-Amateurs played, won this year’s Golfweek Senior National Match Play and the George C. Thomas Senior Invitational. He also finished third in the 2018 Seniors Amateur, conducted by The R&A. Elliott, who was a 2006 U.S. Mid-Amateur quarterfinalist, is the #1 player in the AmateurGolf.com Senior Rankings. He was inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.

Stewart Hagestad

Stewart Hagestad, 27, of Newport Beach, Calif., won the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship by defeating Scott Harvey in 37 holes and was a member of the winning 2017 USA Walker Cup Team. Hagestad, who became the second-youngest Mid-Amateur champion, produced the largest comeback victory (4 down with 5 holes to play) since a 36-hole final was introduced in 2001. Hagestad, who advanced to the Round of 16 in this year’s U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links, has played in two U.S. Opens (2017, 2018) and was the low amateur in the 2017 Masters Tournament, tying for 36th.

Scott Harvey

Scott Harvey, 40, of Greensboro, N.C., has competed in 28 USGA championships, including 10 U.S. Mid-Amateurs. He won the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa., and was the runner-up to Stewart Hagestad in 2016. Harvey, a property manager, has a 20-9 match-play Mid-Amateur record. He has reached match play in four U.S. Amateur Four-Balls with partner Todd Mitchell and was a member of the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team. In 2017, Harvey qualified for his first U.S. Open at Erin Hills.

Reid Hatley

Reid Hatley, 37, of Hayden Lake, Idaho, won the Washington State Mid-Amateur this summer and followed it up with a win at the Pacific Northwest Mid-Amateur earlier this month. Earlier this year, he tied for sixth in the Mexican Amateur, and made it to the quarterfinals of the PNGA Men’s Amateur. He was also on the winning WSGA team that won the Morse Cup competition within this summer’s Pacific Coast Amateur, held at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Hatley has been named the PNGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year the past three years (2015-17).

Joshua Irving

Joshua Irving, 31, of Dallas, Texas, is competing in his fifth consecutive U.S. Mid-Amateur and has advanced to the quarterfinals three times (2015, 2016, 2017). Irving, who has played in seven USGA championships, also reached match play with partner Will Osborne in the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. Irving, who works as a state manager for a company that imports vodka, is a two-time state player of the year. He was a two-time captain of the Stephen F. Austin University team.

Brad Nurski

Brad Nurski, 39, of St. Joseph, Mo., was the runner-up in last week's Crump Cup at Pine Valley. He was the runner-up to Scott Harvey and shared medalist honors in the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur. He has played in 14 USGA championships and advanced to the Round of 16 in last year’s Mid-Amateur. Nurski, who also reached match play in the 2018 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with partner Skip Berkmeyer, works as a conductor and switchman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway. In 2018, he claimed his third Missouri Golf Association State Amateur title.

Kevin O’Connell

Kevin O’Connell, 30, of Cary, N.C., has competed in four USGA championships, including this year’s U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach Golf Links and advancing to match play in the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur. O’Connell, who works for a club manufacturer, earned All-America and All-Atlantic Conference honors at the University of North Carolina. O’Connell, who was the 2008 ACC rookie of the year, has had a solid summer He tied for sixth in the Porter Cup, tied for fourth in the Carolinas Mid-Amateur and tied for third in the North Carolina Mid-Amateur at Ballantyne Country Club in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 9.

Sam O’Dell

Sam O’Dell, 40, of Hurricane, W.Va., has a family and cosmetic dentistry practice. He graduated from the West Virginia University School of Dentistry in 2005. O’Dell, who has competed in nine USGA championships, including four U.S. Mid-Amateurs, has won four state amateur and five state mid-amateur championships. O’Dell, who earned all-conference and all-academic recognition at Marshall University, reached the Round of 16 in last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur.

Matt Parziale

Matt Parziale, 31, of Brockton, Mass., won the 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship by defeating Josh Nichols, 8 and 6, at Capital City Club. Parziale became the first Mid-Amateur champion to earn a full exemption into the following year’s U.S. Open. His margin of victory matched the third-largest in championship history. Parziale, a firefighter with the Brockton Fire Department, and Luis Gagne were the low amateurs in the 2018 U.S. Open, tying for 48th at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. Parziale, who was reinstated as an amateur five years ago and has played in 11 USGA championships, competed in the 2018 Masters and reached the quarterfinals of this year’s Massachusetts State Amateur.

Nathan Smith

Nathan Smith, 40, of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion (2003, 2009, 2010, 2012). Smith, who is tied for second in career Mid-Amateur match-play wins (34) behind Jerry Courville Jr.’s 36 victories, also won the 2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball title with partner Todd White. A member of three USA Walker Cup Teams (2009, 2011, 2013), Smith works as an investment advisor. He has played in 43 USGA championships, including 13 U.S. Mid-Amateurs. In 2015, he was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame and has won two Pennsylvania State Amateurs.

Bradford Tilley

Bradford Tilley, 35, of Easton, Conn., advanced to the quarterfinals and was the medalist while competing in his first U.S. Mid-Amateur last year. He has played in six USGA championships, including four U.S. Amateurs, and made match play at Pebble Beach earlier this summer. Tilley, who has founded tech start-up companies, including one that rates caddies and another that handles social gifting, competed on professional tours for eight years before regaining his amateur status. He was a member of the University of Virginia team from 2003-2006.

Jeff Wilson

Jeff Wilson, 55, of Fairfield, Calif., is the general sales manager at an automobile dealership. He abandoned a professional golfer’s life, bouncing around mini-tours, for a more stable career path. Wilson, who was reinstated as an amateur in 1997, won the 2018 U.S. Senior Amateur on Aug. 30, a 2-and-1 victory over defending champion Sean Knapp. He tied for 31st in this year’s U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor and became the second player to earn low-amateur honors in both the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open, joining Marvin “Vinny” Giles III. Wilson, who was low amateur in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links, has competed in 31 USGA championships and 11 U.S. Mid-Amateurs.

Related: The AmateurGolf.com Mid-Amateur Rankings

- The USGA contributed to this article.

About the U.S. Mid-Amateur

The U.S. Mid-Amateur originated in 1981 for the amateur golfer of at least 25 years of age, the purpose of which to provide a formal national championship for the post-college player. 264 players begin the championship with two rounds of sroke play q...

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