Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci from Georgia Tech and University of Georgia senior Davis Thompson will represent the United States this weekend in the 48th Walker Cup, considered by most to be the pinnacle of amateur golf.
The matches against the Great Britain and Ireland team will be held at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., an iconic Donald Ross design that runs along the Atlantic Ocean. The United States leads the series 37-9-1, but holds only a 9-7 advantage since 1989. The U.S. won 15.5 to 10.5 in 2019 at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England.
It will be the final amateur event for Strafaci, who won the U.S. Am at Bandon Dunes and the prestigious North and South Amateur at Pinehurst in 2020 and competed in the Masters this year. It will be the seventh USGA championship in which he has participated, including four U.S. Amateurs and the 2018 U.S. Open.
Thompson, who has spent much of the year as the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, competed in the 2020 U.S. Open and shot 69 in the first round. He reached the match-play round of the 2020 U.S. Amateur and was a member of the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup. The all-SEC player and All-American will turn professional at the end of the college season.
The competition begins Saturday with four foursome – or alternate-shot -- matches in the morning and eight singles matches in the afternoon. It concludes Sunday with four foursome matches and 10 singles matches.
UGA’s Hung qualifies for U.S. Women’s Open
University of Georgia junior Jo Hua Hung shot 2-under 142 and earned a spot in the U.S. Women’s Open at the 36-hole qualifier at Druid Hills Golf Club. Hung birdied three of her final six holes to grab one of three spots.
The qualifier was plagued by bad weather. Hung finished only two holes Monday before play was suspended by rain. She got through the sixth hole Tuesday before the monsoon caused another suspension. That left her with 30 holes to play Wednesday.
Hung was 1 over through 28 holes and, finishing on the front nine, rallied with birdies at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 7 to finish at 2 under and avoid a playoff.
“When I checked live scoring after the second 18 holes, I saw I was in the third spot, and I wanted to cry,” she said. “When I knew I was going to finish third, I was really, really excited.”
She is the sixth different Bulldog to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open over the past six years.
UGA teammate Jenny Bae was first alternate for the championship, which will be held June 3-6 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Former South Carolina standout Ana Pelaez Trivino was medalist at 8-under 136, and Alexandra Swayne of Clemson was second at 3 under. Michaela Williams-Luck was second alternate.
Three NCAA men’s qualifiers draw same regional
No. 11 Georgia, No. 27 Georgia Tech and No. 32 Georgia Southern will go head-to-head at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, May 17-19 at Seminole Legacy Golf Club, to qualify for the national championships. The top five teams from the 14-team field advance to the national championships, May 28-June 2 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Other teams in the regional are top-seeded Florida State, ASUN-champion Liberty, LSU, TCU, Indiana, Kansas, Southern Cal, Ohio State, Davidson, Florida A&M and Long Island.
Keller Harper of Furman, an Atlantan who graduated from Westminster Schools, is one of five individuals in the field.
Georgia Parks Golf Cup to crown champion
Fifteen four-player teams will compete for the inaugural Georgia State Parks Golf Cup on Saturday at Arrowhead Pointe Golf Course in Elberton.
Each team in the tournament, played as a scramble, qualified at one of eight events hosted by each of the state-park courses. The event has continued to build momentum since it began in late February, with the spots in most qualifiers sold out. The winning foursome earns an expenses-paid weekend trip to Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris.
“The Georgia State Parks and everyone involved has been very excited about the overall turnout in our first year for this event,” said Doug Hollandsworth, founder of the Georgia Golf Trail, who was instrumental in helping start the event. “Each event was almost sold out, with more than a hundred players at each course, which was beyond our goals.”
Eight advance in U.S. Open local qualifier
Chris Waters of Atlanta, Jonathan Keppler of Marietta and Chris Guglielmo of Cumming each shot 67 at the U.S. Open local qualifier at Marietta Country Club. They advance to the sectional qualifier at Piedmont Driving Club on June 7.
Others who moved on were Andrew Hughes of Dawsonville, John Marshall Butler of Louisville, Georgia Tech’s Noah Norton, Eric Cole of Florida, and Matthew Larkin of Atlanta. Jacob Tilton of Smyrna and Nicolas Cassidy of Johns Creek are the two alternates.
The second local qualifier will be Monday at Callaway Gardens.
Credit: USGA Museum
Credit: USGA Museum
Locals fare well at U.S. Four-Ball
The side of Loralie Cowart of Carrollton and Ava Merrill of Johns Creek reached the quarterfinals round of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas. They were beaten 1 up by Gianna Clemente and Avery Zang in a match that was tied after nine holes.
Sara Im of Duluth and Thienna Huynh of Lilburn advanced to the round of 16 before losing 2 and 1 to Taylor Ledwein and Megan Welch.
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