Take a breath. You've earned it.
The 126th U.S. Amateur wrapped up at Merion just a week ago, with Florida State's Jack Whaley — a kid who learned the game at a driving range in Rotherham, England, and who needed a 16-for-11 playoff just to reach match play — beating Stanford's Jay Leng Jr. 4 and 3 for the Havemeyer Trophy.
"I kind of thrive off of that," Whaley told us at Merion. "I like being the underdog."
His dad and caddie, Andy, put it even better: "Never in our wildest dreams did we think that this was possible. Jack has just achieved the impossible, frankly."
If that felt like the finish line of the amateur golf season, we have great news: it isn't even close. This past weekend alone, state mid-amateur championships teed off from Little Rock to Sacramento to Fort Worth. We have officially hit peak season — that glorious stretch where there's a leaderboard worth refreshing every single week from now until the calendar flips.
Here's what's still to come, and — more importantly — what you can still play in.
The USGA's fall finale: four championships, five weeks
The USGA saved some of its best venues for last. Starting this weekend, four national championships play out in a five-week window.
First up, a doubleheader beginning August 29: the U.S. Senior Amateur at Baltimore Country Club's East Course — A.W. Tillinghast's Five Farms masterpiece — and the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur at Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, New Jersey. Both run August 29 through September 3, which means two Wednesdays from now, two more national champions will be holding hardware.
Then comes the heavyweight week for the post-college set. From September 26 to October 1, the U.S. Mid-Amateur heads to Sand Valley in Nekoosa, Wisconsin — 264 of the best 25-and-over players in the world battling the Coore-Crenshaw sand barrens for a spot in match play and, for the winner, a likely trip down Magnolia Lane. That same week, the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur takes over Portland Golf Club in Oregon.
Still dreaming of Sand Valley? U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifying runs at sites around the country through September 2. Shoot the round of your life and we'll see you in Wisconsin.
The Walker Cup: Lahinch, September 5-6
Circle it now. The USA and Great Britain & Ireland renew amateur golf's greatest rivalry September 5-6 at Lahinch on the west coast of Ireland — and thanks to Merion, the matches come with a fresh subplot. Whaley's U.S. Amateur win punched his ticket onto the GB&I side. Leng, the man he beat in the final, was named to the American team the same afternoon. Round three, anyone?
Asked about taking his game to a links course, the new champ reached back to his Yorkshire roots: "We went out there and we were 6 under through six... I feel like I'm better in match play." Consider that a warning shot across the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, on the invitational circuit...
Fall is when the great invitationals come alive. The crown jewel is the Crump Cup at Pine Valley, September 24-27 — four days of mid-am royalty at the course perennially ranked No. 1 in the world. If you know someone with a badge, be very nice to them.
The state circuit keeps humming too: the Connecticut Mid-Amateur at Mill River, the Ohio Mid-Amateur at Shawnee, the West Virginia Mid-Amateur in Morgantown, the Maryland Women's Mid-Amateur at Talbot Country Club, and the Missouri Mid-Amateur at Jefferson City — all inside the next ten days. And in October, don't sleep on the Winter Park Amateur (October 3-4) at Florida's beloved nine-hole muni, the WP9, or the Golfweek Senior Desert Showdown (November 3-5) outside Las Vegas.
Your turn: the AmateurGolf.com championship season rolls on
Enough spectating. Here's where you get inside the ropes.
The AmateurGolf.com Two Man Links and Father & Son at Pinehurst, presented by Titleist, runs November 8-11 — with a final round on Pinehurst No. 2, the anchor site of American championship golf. Grab your regular partner, your son, your mother, or your college roommate: any two-person team is welcome, with gross and net divisions.
Then December belongs to the Winter Series, our annual answer to the offseason blues:
The Winter Invitational on the Monterey Peninsula (December 5-6) at San Juan Oaks kicks things off. A week later, the Christmas Classic in Monterey (December 12-13) brings competitive golf to historic Del Monte, the oldest continuously operating course west of the Mississippi. And December 15-18, the Two Man Links and Father & Son at Torrey Pines puts your team on the South Course — the same ground that hosts the PGA Tour every January. Registration for Torrey closes September 18, so that decision needs to happen soon.
Come the new year, the Silicon Valley Amateur (January 11-13) returns to Stanford University Golf Course — with an open qualifier at Boulder Ridge on January 4 — followed by the Pacific Grove Championship (February 20-21) on everybody's favorite poor-man's Pebble.
And speaking of Pebble Beach...
Here's the headline for the planners among you: registration is now open for the AmateurGolf.com 2027 Two Man Links and Father & Son at Pebble Beach, March 19-22, 2027. Three tournament rounds — Poppy Hills, Spyglass Hill, and a Monday finale on Pebble Beach Golf Links itself — with three nights at The Lodge, $10,000 in tee gifts and prizes, and separate Father & Son and Open divisions. It's the event that leads off our season-long 2027 Two Man Links Series, which also visits Bandon Dunes in April and Sand Valley in May. Space is, as always, extremely limited — these fields fill on word of mouth alone.
One more Pebble note worth savoring: the 2027 U.S. Open lands there next June, and Jack Whaley — driving-range kid, underdog, national champion — is already exempt. Play the Two Man Links in March and you can spend the whole U.S. Open week telling people you hit the same shots. (Results may vary.)
The takeaway
From here, the season never really ends — it just migrates. East for the USGA's fall finale, to Ireland for the Walker Cup, to Pine Valley for the Crump, then west and south with us for the winter. Pick your leaderboards to follow, pick your events to play, and get your name on a tee sheet.
Peak season isn't a moment. It's a lifestyle. See you out there.
