Federal Way, Wash. – U.S. Amateur qualifying is set to commence at the Tumble Creek Club at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Wash. on Tuesday, July 22, as 77 players will look to earn one of this qualifier’s three available spots into the U.S. Amateur Championship, to be held August 11-17 at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga.
This qualifier will be contested over 36 holes, with the day’s first tee time at 7:00 a.m.
The Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) is the local representative of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and conducts this qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Championship.
Notable players in the field at Tumble Creek include Li Wang of Sammamish, Wash., who just finished his freshman year at Yale University. Wang was a four-time WJGA State Champion, and won the 2013 Seattle Amateur. Other notables include James Feutz of University Place, Wash., the sophomore from UNLV who was 2010 Washington State High School 4A Boys Champion; and Jack Kelly of North Bend, Wash., who just finished his junior year at Western Washington University, and won the 2010 PNGA Men’s Amateur Public Links.
This year marks the 114th U.S. Amateur Championship, the oldest golf championship in the United States, being just one day older than the U.S. Open. Aside from an eight-year period when it was stroke play (1965-1972), the U.S. Amateur has been a match-play championship. The U.S. Amateur’s storied history includes such past champions as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, to name a few. Last year, Matt Fitzpatrick of England defeated Oliver Goss of Australia in the final match, 4 and 3, at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
The U.S. Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.