Wolfes tees it up at U.S. Amateur Monday
8/11/2013 7:44:00 PM | Men's Golf
BROOKLINE, Mass. – Georgia Southern golfer Scott Wolfes will tee off Monday at 8:30 a.m. from hole 10 at the Charles River Country Club in the 113th U.S. Amateur Championship, the oldest golf championship in the country.
The rising junior is in a field of 312 players who will play 18 holes Monday and Tuesday with 64 advancing to 18-hole match play Wed., Aug. 14. The championship concludes with a scheduled 36-hole match Aug. 18.
Along with the prestigious Havemeyer Trophy, among the spoils for the winner is an exemption from local and sectional qualifying for the next U.S. Open, an exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Amateurs, an exemption from qualifying for the next British Open Championship and a likely invitation to the next Masters Tournament.
That pressure as well as the difficulty of the course will try the field this week.
"It is a very tough test of golf," said Wolfes. "If you don't hit fairways and greens, you will shoot a high number."
Wolfes advanced to the U.S. Amateur Championship by surviving a five-hole playoff in qualifying, sinking a 20-foot putt for birdie on hole 18 at the Capital City Club Crabapple Course in July. He shot a 139 (69-70) in the 36-hole qualifier to tie Victor Perez of France, a member of the University of New Mexico golf team, and the fifth and final qualification spot had to be determined by the playoff.
On the fifth hole of the playoff, Wolfes hit a 7-iron to within 20 feet on his second shot. Perez left his third shot four feet from the hole, and Wolfes rolled in his putt to clinch the final spot. A field of 132 players competed in that qualifier, and the USGA accepted 7,002 entries for the 2013 championship. Entries were open to any amateur golfer with a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 2.4.
A PING all-region selection, the Southern Conference Golfer of the Year and an All-SoCon selection for the second consecutive season, Wolfes won two tournaments, placed first or second in five events and posted seven top-10 finishes for the Eagles in 2012-13.
Earlier this summer, Wolfes advanced to Sectional Qualifying, the final stage for U.S. Open hopefuls, by winning his local qualifying tournament in May.
About the 113th U.S. Amateur
PAR AND YARDAGE: The Country Club (http://www.2013usamateur.com) will be set up at 7,310 yards and will play to a par of 34-36–70. The companion stroke-play qualifying course, Charles River Country Club (http://www.charlesrivercc.org) will be set up at 6,574 yards and will play to a par of 35-35–70.
ARCHITECTS: The Country Club evolved as a collaborative design. In 1893, the first six holes were designed by the club's first golf committee, which comprised members Arthur Hunnewell, Laurence Curtis and Robert Bacon. Willie Campbell was hired as the professional in 1894 and helped add three new holes and redesign the original six. The club expanded to 18 holes in 1899. William Flynn designed a third nine in 1927, which is called Primrose.
The course used for championships, including the 2013 U.S. Amateur, is a composite that incorporates three-and-a-half holes from the Primrose. Geoffrey Cornish made changes before the 1963 U.S. Open. Rees Jones supervised revisions to the course before the 1988 U.S. Open. Gil Hanse has also done some recent restoration to the course. Charles River Country Club was designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1921.
COURSE SETUP: Green speeds are expected to be between 10.5 and 11 feet on the Stimpmeter at The Country Club and 10.5 to 11.5 feet at Charles River. The first cut of primary rough (15- to 20-foot width) will be 3 inches, while the second cut of primary rough will be 4 to 5 inches. The primary rough at Charles River will be 3.5 inches.
About the field
WHO CAN ENTER: The USGA accepted 7,002 entries for the 2013 championship, which was 599 more than in 2012. The record for entries is 7,920, in 1999. The 7,002 entries is the most since the 2008 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2 (7,298). Entries were open to any amateur golfer with a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 2.4.
SECTIONAL QUALIFYING: Sectional qualifying, played over 36 holes, was held between July 13-30. Wolfes survived a 132-player qualifier by tying for fifth and gaining the automatic qualifying spot in a playoff.
THE WINNER RECEIVES: Among the benefits enjoyed by the U.S. Amateur winner are:
1) A gold medal and custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for the ensuing year
2) An exemption from local and sectional qualifying for the next U.S. Open
3) An exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Amateurs
4) An exemption from qualifying for the next British Open Championship
5) A likely invitation to the next Masters Tournament
HISTORY: This is the 113th U.S. Amateur Championship. The U.S. Amateur Championship is the oldest golf championship in this country, one day older than the U.S. Open. Except for an eight-year period, 1965-1972, when it was contested at stroke play, the Amateur has been a match-play championship.
Throughout its history, the U.S. Amateur has been the most coveted of all amateur titles. Many of the great names of modern professional golf, such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Mark O'Meara, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, grace the Havemeyer Trophy.
2012 CHAMPION: Steven Fox, 21, of Hendersonville, Tenn., and a member of the Chattanooga golf team, made an 18-foot birdie putt on the 37th hole to defeat Michael Weaver, 21, of Fresno, Calif., at Cherry Hills Country Club, near Denver Colo. Fox, who like Weaver advanced to match play as one of 14 survivors of a 17-man playoff earlier in the week, became the lowest seed, No. 63, to win the U.S. Amateur since the USGA began the seeding process in 1985. Fox became the first to win the Amateur after advancing through a playoff since Italy's Edorardo Molinari in 2005.
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