The sixth event in the Elite Amateur Series tees off on Wednesday with the playing of the 116th Southern Amateur Championship at Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simons Island, Ga.
This marks the second time the Southern Amateur has visited Sea Island. In 1999, Ed Loar won the 93rd championship at Ocean Forest Golf, which is a short drive from Sea Island's Plantation Course.
Last year, Ohio State's
Maxwell Moldovan won the Southern Amateur with a 72-hole total of 2-under 264 at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss., shattering Justin Leonard’s previous Southern Am scoring record of 270 set in 1993. Moldovan strung together rounds of 64-68-65-67 and didn’t make a bogey in either of his final two rounds.
The Field
Players from 10 countries will be chasing the title this week at Sea Island, including defending champion Maxwell Moldovan. Moldovan, currently ranked seventh in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com rankings.
Charlie Reiter comes to Sea Island in excellent form after playing in the U.S. Open at Brookline and winning the California State Amateur a week later, as does Georgia Tech senior
Bartley Forrester, who won the
Monroe Invitational last weekend in Pittsford, NY.
Harrison Crowe, who became just the sixth amateur in tournament history to win the Golf Challenge New South Wales Open in March, and
Karl Vilips, the medalist at the North & South Amateur who was the runner-up to
Dylan Menante at the Northeast Amateur, are two of eight Australians included in this year's field.
Last year's AJGA Male Player of the Year,
Nick Dunlap, is also in the field as is
Cohen Trolio, the player Dunlap defeated to win the U.S. Junior Amateur last summer at the Country Club of North Carolina.
Virginia-bound
Ben James, the top-ranked American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) in the country who reached the quarterfinals of North & South Amateur earlier this month, will be looking for his first Elite Amateur Series title.
CLICK HERE for complete field and pairings
History
The Southern Amateur was first played in 1902 at Nashville Golf & Country Club in Nashville, Tenn. A.F. Schwartz of New Orleans, La. defeated Percy Whitling 4 and 2 to win the inaugural event. The Southern Amateur was not played in 1918 due to World War I and 1942-1945 due to World War II.
The greatest amateur of them all, Bobby Jones, won this tournament three times. Past champions of the Southern Amateur also include: Harris English, Kyle Stanley, Webb Simpson, Justin Leonard, Len Mattiace, Scott Dunlap, Steve Lowery, Mark Brooks, Bob Tway, Ben Crenshaw, Bill Rogers, Lanny Wadkins, Hubert Green, and Gay Brewer.
Elite Amateur Series Recaps
Bryce Lewis holds onto win Sunnehanna Amateur
Record setting title defense for Menante at Northeast Amateur
North & South Amateur: Luke Clanton wins tight final match
Trans-Miss Amateur: William Mouw wins in a three-way sudden death playoff
ABOUT THE Southern Amateur
The Southern Amateur, which dates back to 1902, is
one of two competitions held by the Southern Golf
Association (the other is the Southern Junior). This
is a 72-hole stroke play championship with a cut
made after 36 holes. Entries are open to any male
amateur golfer who has a current USGA Handicap
Index® not exceeding 3.4 under the USGA Handicap
System. Non-exempt players must pre-qualify at
one of the qualifying sites held across the southern
U.S. in the two months leading up to the
championship.
View Complete Tournament Information