U.S. Amateur Coming to Atlanta Athletic Club


The 114th U.S. Amateur is set to start next Monday, August 11, at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga. Both the Highlands and Riverside courses at the 36-hole facility will be used for the stroke-play portion of the championship, with Highlands hosting match play.

The field includes 312 players. The large group ranges in age from 57-year-old Douglas Hanzel of Savannah, Ga., to 13-year-old Will Thomson of Pittsford, N.Y.

Hanzel, a physician who specializes in pulmonary critical care at Southeast Medical Group, is competing in his 12th U.S. Amateur. He won the 2013 U.S. Senior Amateur. In 2012, Hanzel made USGA history by becoming the first player to qualify for match play at the Amateur, Mid-Amateur and Senior Amateur in the same year. Hanzel, who wears an insulin pump to control diabetes, was the low amateur in the 2012 and '13 U.S. Senior Opens.

Thomson is the youngest competitor in U.S. Amateur history and is playing in his first USGA championship (Ryota Ito was 14 when he competed in 2004). Thomson, an eighth-grader at Barker Road Middle School, shot rounds of 68 and 66 to earn medalist honors in the sectional qualifier at Mendon, N.Y.

There will be 22 nations represented at the 2014 U.S. Amateur. Countries with players in the field include: United States (269), Australia (7), Canada (7), England (5), South Africa (3), Spain (3), Scotland (2), Chile (1), People's Republic of China (1), Chinese Taipei (1), Colombia (1), France (1), Germany (1), India (1), Republic of Korea (1), Malaysia (1), Mexico (1), The Netherlands (1), Peru (1), Singapore (1), Wales (1) and Zimbabwe (1).

The U.S. will have 42 states represented at the 2014 U.S. Amateur; California leads the way with 45 contestants.

In addition to Hanzel, there are seven other USGA champions entered, including: Tim Jackson (1994, 2001 Mid-Amateur), Michael McCoy (2013 Mid-Amateur), Byron Meth (2014 Amateur Public Links), Jordan Niebrugge (2013 Amateur Public Links), Scottie Scheffler (2013 Junior Amateur), Nathan Smith (2003, '09, '10 and '12 Mid-Amateur) and William Zalatoris (2014 Junior Amateur).

Last year's U.S. Amateur champion, Matthew Fitzpatrick of England, who beat Australian Oliver Goss 4 and 3 in the championship, has turned pro and won't be returning to defend. Goss has also gone on to the pro ranks.

The above report is courtesy of the USGA. For more information, visit www.usga.org. For live scoring, visit www.usamateur.org, and for storylines of the players, go to http://www.usga.org/ChampEventArticle2.aspx?id=21474871213.