LIVE SCORING: 121st Western Amateur is the Elite Amateur Golf Series finale

July 31, 2023 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com

The grueling test of golf is back at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Illinois for the first time since 2011.

This week, the amateur golf world will descend on Glen View, Ill., and North Shore Country Club for the playing of the 121st Western Amateur.

The Western Amateur is the third-oldest amateur golf tournament, with a long list of accomplished winners and participants over the years.

HISTORY

The Western Amateur is renowned for being the toughest test in amateur golf. It has been a prestigious national championship since its founding in 1899. Many of golf's greatest players have etched their names on the George R. Thorne Trophy.

The field features 156 invited players from across the world. They play 18 holes of individual stroke play on Tuesday and Wednesday, after which the field is cut to the low 44 scores and ties. The remaining players play 36 holes of individual stroke play on Thursday to determine the low 16 finishers. The "Sweet Sixteen" compete in match play on Friday and Saturday to decide a champion.

NORTH SHORE COUNTRY CLUB

The last time the Western Amateur was played at North Shore Country Club was 2011 with Ethan Tracy of Hillard, OH., winning 1-up over current PGA Tour star Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos, Calif. Chris Williams was the medalist and followed that up as the medalist in 2012 at Exmoor Country Club.

North Shore has hosted some of golfs most prestigious championships, hosting the U.S. Open (1933), The U.S. Amateur (1939, 1983), The Western Open (1928), and was the host site of the Encompass Championship on the Champions Tour from 2013 to 2015.

LAST CHAMPIONSHIP

Austin Greaser won the 120th Western Amateur over Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira after being 2-down with just eight holes to play in the championship match.

The North Carolina golfer made four straight birdies and got up and down on hole No. 18 to win the championship. He barely advanced past stroke play, as he played in a seven-for-two playoff to make match play, and he was the No. 15 seed when the field was cut to 16 players.

Greaser also made it to the semifinals in 2021, where he lost to the future champion Michael Thorbjornsen.

STREAMING COVERAGE

The drama and excitement of the 121st Western Amateur Championship at historic North Shore Country Club will be streamed live on thewesternamateur.com and Peacock in August.

Beginning with the Sweet 16 match play competition, the Western Golf Association will provide more than 12 hours of live streaming coverage on Friday, Aug. 4, and Saturday, Aug. 5, bringing the conclusion of golf’s third-oldest amateur championship to homes and mobile devices worldwide.

The live stream will be available for free at thewesternamateur.com and with a subscription on the Peacock streaming service.

On Friday, Aug. 4, fans can watch the finish of the eight Sweet 16 matches from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT at thewesternamateur.com. Coverage will resume from 3-6 p.m. CT for the finish of the quarterfinal matches.

On Saturday, Aug. 5, coverage of the two semifinal matches will run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CT. The championship match will be streamed in its entirety, with an expected starting time of 1 p.m. CT.

2023 WESTERN AMATEUR QUALIFIER

72 amateurs played in the qualifier on Monday for seven spots into the field. Pierce Grieve of Lake Forest, Ill., and Connor Gdovin of Highland Heights, Ohio, both posted 7-under 65s to lead the field. Grieve finished birdie-eagle on the last two holes.

Cameron Huss of Kenosha, Wis., carded a 6-under 66 to finish in solo third place. Drew Wrightson of Carmel, Ind., and Luke Gutschewski of Elkhorn, Neb., both posted 5-under 67s finishing T4. Ryan Voois of Ladera Ranch, Calif., and Ben Sluzas of Lockport, Ill., both shot 4-under 68 to qualify in the final spots.

More from the Western Amateur Qualifying

FIELD

Past champions include Francis Outmet, Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Andy North, Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Hal Sutton, Scott Verplank, Chris DiMarco, Ryan Moore, Beau Hossler, Cole Hammer and 2021 champion Michael Thorbjornsen.

Charles (Chick) Evans Jr. has the most championships with eight.

Accomplishments of past participants include:

* 27 major championships since 2000
* 18 PGA TOUR Player of the Year Awards since 1990
* 21 wins during the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season
* 7 FedExCup titles
* 7 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Awards since 1990
* 15 participants in the 2019 Presidents Cup

Walker Cup participants Nick Dunlap, Michael Thorbjornsen, Caleb Surratt and David Ford are all teeing it up this week. Thorbjornsen, Surratt, and Ford paired together for the first two rounds.

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Another notable pairing is Maxwell Moldovan, Luke Clanton, and Stewart Hagestad.

2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Matthew McLean is in the field along with runner-up Hugh Foley.

Bryan Kim is fresh off his U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and is in the field this week.

ELITE AMATEUR GOLF SERIES FINALE

The Western Amateur is the seventh and final event in the Elite Amateur Golf Series. Currently, Nick Dunlap sits in first place with two wins. Jackson Van Paris, Kazuma Kobori, Neal Shipley, and Luke Clanton round out the top five.

Dunlap, Van Paris, and Kobori are paired together for the first two rounds of the Western Amateur and will tee off at 8:00 a.m. ET for the first round.

The points race is close, and a good showing this week will go a long way to determining the winner of the Series.

The Western Amateur contributed to this report.

Results: Western Amateur

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
Win	Kazuma Kobori	, New Zealand	1500	69-69-72-65=275
Runner-up	Christiaan Maas	, South Africa	1200	65-72-69-69=275
Semifinals	Drew Goodman	Norman, OK	900	66-74-66-65=271
Semifinals	Matthew McClean	, Northern Ireland	900	69-68-64-71=272
Quarterfinals	Nick Dunlap	Huntsville, AL	700	69-70-67-66=272

View full results for Western Amateur

About the Western Amateur

LIVE SCORING: 121st Western Amateur is the Elite Amateur Golf Series finale

Invitational event, and the most important tournament in American amateur golf outside of the U.S. Amateur. With a grueling schedule, it's quite possibly the hardest amateur tournament to win. 156 invited players come from across the globe to play on...