The U.S. Amateur will have a definite Georgia flavor. Six members of the Georgia Tech golf team and four from the University of Georgia have qualified for the championship, to be played Aug. 12-18 at the Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
For Georgia Tech, Bo Andrews became the first in the field when he won a playoff to earn a slot at the qualifier in Midlothian, Va. Anders Albertson was medalist in the first Georgia qualifer at Capital City Crabapple, where Seth Reeves and Ollie Schniederjans also qualified. On Tuesday, it was Richy Werenski and Michael Hines who earned a spot, Werenski in Cape Cod, Mass., and Hines in Loudon, Tenn.
Among the UGA players qualifying for the 312-player field, Michael Cromie was co-medalist at the Whispering Pines, N.C., site and Nicholas Reach qualified in New Jersey. Greyson Sigg, an incoming freshman, was medalist at the second Georgia qualifier at the Athens Country Club, where Sam Straka also qualified.
Anthony Maccaglia, a rising junior at Oglethorpe, became to the first player in school history to qualify for the U.S. Amateur. He earned one of two spots at the qualifier in Tarpon Springs (Fla.) Country Club. Maccaglia recently tied for fourth at the Southwestern Amateur in Arizona.
Others who earned a place in the field were: two-time Georgia Junior Amateur champion Scott Wolfes of St. Simons, who plays at Georgia Southern; two-time Georgia Amateur champion Lee Knox of Augusta, who just finished his career at Alabama; Zach Estep of Lawrenceville, who plays at Southern Miss; and Chase Parker of Augusta, who made the SEC’s All-Freshman team at Kentucky.
The 2014 U.S. Amateur will be hosted by the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek.
Around the Tours: His performance over the last two weeks has helped secure Jason Bohn's spot on the PGA Tour for next season. The Acworth resident finished in a four-way tie for second at the Canadian Open and jumped from No. 146 to No. 98 in the money list, which should be enough to keep the popular Alabama graduate exempt. Bohn began to show signs of emerging from a slow season when he tied for 22nd at the John Deere Classic and last week, he tied for ninth at the Sanderson Farms Championship, his first top-10 of the year. It was the first time in his career that Bohn has put together back-to-back top-10s. …
Georgia Tech grad Matt Kuchar picked up his seventh top-10, the first since winning the Memorial, and fellow Yellow Jacket Roberto Castro picked up his second top-10 of the season in Canada. … Kevin Tway, whose father Bob grew up in Marietta and played at Wheeler High School, has earned a spot on the 2013-14 PGA Tour. The Oklahoma State product did it by winning the Web.com Tour’s Boise Open.
Odom hired at WCU: Former Georgia All-American Bryant Odom has been named head golf coach at Western Carolina University. Odom has spent the last two years as assistant coach at Wisconsin.
The Cartersville native was a four-year letterman at Georgia from 1998-2002. He won the SEC championship in 2001 and helped the Bulldogs win three conference championships and the NCAA title in 1999.
Odom played professionally from 2002-05 and spent 2006-07 as a PGA apprentice at the Ocean Forest Golf Club at Sea Island. Odom returned to playing in 2008 and won the Georgia Open.
Etc: Bailey Tardy of Norcross qualified as the No. 1 seed at the the U.S. Girls Junior at Sycamore Hills in Fort Wayne, Ind., and wound up reaching the second round of match play. Tardy was medalist in the two stroke-play qualifying rounds with a 6-under 138. She beat Abbey Carlson of Florida 1 up in the first round before being upset by Sabrina Bonanno of Illinois 4 and 3 in the second round. Rinko Mitsunaga of Roswell tied for 46th in stroke play and lost in the first round of match play. … Jacob Joiner of Albany was the lone Georgian to qualify for match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Joiner lost in the first round.
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