Western Amateur Set to Start Next Monday


It has been a busy summer for players who will compete in the upcoming 112th Western Amateur at The Beverly Country Club, July 28-August 2, on Chicago's southwest side.

The 156-man field features 50 of the world's top-100 players, including 21 of the top 37. Here's what some of them have been up to this summer:

• Earlier this month, defending Western Amateur champion Jordan Niebrugge made the most of a sponsor exemption he received at the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic, finishing in a tie for 27th with an aggregate score of 10-under par at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. In April, he played in the Masters.

• University of Iowa sophomore Raymond Knoll, 18, of Naperville, Ill., also played the John Deere Classic after he earned co-medalist honors at that event's Monday qualifier. Though he missed the cut against the pros, Knoll went on to win the Illinois State Amateur July 17 in a four-hole playoff against incoming Illinois freshman Nick Hardy of Northbrook, Ill. Hardy earned his spot in the Western Amateur field earlier this summer by coming in second at the Western Junior at Flossmoor Country Club.

• Taiwan native Cheng-tsung Pan, a two-time Western Amateur medalist (2009 and '10), competed in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England. It was the first time the University of Washington standout had played the British Open but was his second appearance in a major championship. Pan made the cut at the 2013 U.S. Open.

• University of Texas freshman Doug Ghim of Arlington Heights, Ill., and University of the Pacific's Byron Meth of San Diego tied for medalist honors at the U.S. Public Links then wound up facing one another in the 36-hole match play finals in July. Meth won on the 37th hole, earning a spot in next year's Masters. Earlier in match play, Ghim narrowly got by Niebrugge, the event's defending champion.

• Alabama sophomore Robby Shelton played in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst after having helped lead the Crimson Tide to the national championship, going undefeated in match play in that event.

• Stewart Jolly, a senior at LSU, won the Northeast Amateur by two shots over Niebrugge.

• South Africa's Zander Lombard finished runner-up at the British Amateur while Gerardo Ruiz of Mexico won the World University in Switzerland by two strokes over Malaysia's Gavin Green, a senior to be at New Mexico.

• Michael Cromie, a member of the University of Georgia golf team, won the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst, thereby becoming the first player to win that event and the North & South Junior.

• Oregon State senior-to-be Alex Franklin was runner-up at the weather-shortened Trans-Miss Am, and Cal State Fullerton's Mark Anguiano won the Sahalee Players in Washington. Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent, a senior at Virginia Tech, won the Players Am in South Carolina over defending champion Hunter Stewart.

• Scottie Scheffler finished third at the Northeast Amateur not long after the 17-year-old freshman-to-be at Texas finished 22nd at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, his first PGA Tour event.

• And China's Tianlang Guan, who at 14 years old made the cut at the 2013 Masters. Guan will be making his first appearance at the Western Amateur after finishing T-28 at the Callaway Junior World on July 18 at Torrey Pines GC near San Diego.

Niebrugge, of Mequon, Wisconsin, will defend the Western Amateur title he won last August at The Alotian Club in Little Rock, Ark. A junior at Oklahoma State, Niebrugge will have his work cut out for him when it comes to defending his title.

"The Western Golf Association is honored and excited to host the world's finest amateur golfers at one of America's most storied championship courses - The Beverly Country Club - in our home market of Chicago," said Vince Pellegrino, senior vice president of tournaments for the WGA.

"As always, we are confident this year's Western Amateur will be a highly competitive and entertaining championship, and likely will provide a glimpse into tomorrow's PGA Tour," Pellegrino said. "We invite everyone to come out to see many of the game's top college players and the future stars." Admission is free.

The University of Illinois has three other golfers in the field - All-Americans Brian Campbell and Charlie Danielson, and incoming freshman Dylan Meyer of Evansville, Ind. In addition, 2013 Illinois State Amateur champion Tee-K Kelly of Wheaton - and Ohio State - will be in the field.

Western Junior champion KK Limbhasut of Loma Linda, Calif., also is in the field on the strength of his June 20 victory at Flossmoor.

The international field already includes players from 17 countries, including a dozen from Australia, by far the largest foreign contingent. Players from Argentina, China, Colombia, England, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe also have committed.

"The quality and depth of the Western Amateur field always is strong and deep, and we are pleased to be able to maintain the same level of excellence again this year," Pellegrino said. "Beverly is a classic Donald Ross course, and we expect the best amateurs in the world to embrace the challenge it presents."

About The Beverly Country Club

This will be the first time since 1930 that Beverly - designed by the eminent Donald Ross - has hosted the Western Amateur. The winner of that event was Jack Westland. In the meantime, the course referred to affectionately by its members as "The Bev" has hosted three Western Opens - professional events that produced noteworthy champions Arnold Palmer (1963), Jack Nicklaus (1967) and Hugh Royer (1970).

Other notable Beverly champions include Chicago's leading amateur, Chick Evans, who won the 1910 Western Open there; celebrated amateur Francis Ouimet, who won his second U.S. Amateur at Beverly in 1931; and Luke Donald, the former World No. 1 and Chicago-area resident who won the 2000 Chicago Open at Beverly during his freshman year at Northwestern.

For the championship, the course will measure 7,016 yards from the championship tees and play to its normal par of 71.

Beverly is especially proud of its caddie program, which has sent 303 caddies to college on the WGA-administered Evans Scholars program. The club currently has 25 caddies in college, with seven more heading to the university next year.

"Caddies are an integral part of the history and tradition of golf, and the Evans Scholar program is part of the fabric of Beverly," said club president William Flagler. "The club is very proud to be associated with such a fine organization as the Evans Scholars Foundation."

About the Western Amateur

Founded in 1899, today the Western Amateur features one of the deepest and strongest fields in amateur golf. It is the world's third oldest amateur championship behind the British Amateur (1885) and the U.S. Amateur (1895), and typically attracts players from more than 30 states and more than a dozen countries.

A combination of stroke-play and match-play competition, the Western Amateur champion must play 72 holes of stroke play and finish in the top 16 to qualify for match play. He then must win four matches over two days, meaning that over a five-day period he would have played approximately 144 holes, depending on whether his matches went into extra holes or ended early.

Competition includes 18-hole stroke play rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by a cut to the players with the low 44 scores and ties. Those who make the cut play 36 holes of stroke play on Thursday, with the low 16 - known as the "Sweet 16" - advancing to match play on Friday. On Friday, two 18-hole matches narrow the field to four semifinalists, and on Saturday, the remaining four players compete in the morning semi-final matches. The two survivors face off in the final 18-hole championship match in the afternoon.

The above report is courtesy of the Western Golf Association. For more information, visit www.wgaesf.org.