Matt Younts and Will Bowman earn spots in U.S. Amateur Championship

ADVANCE, N.C. UNCG rising sophomore Matt Younts and alumn Will Bowman grabbed two of three qualifying spots at a sectional qualifier for the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship on Tuesday.

Bowman and Younts both tied for second with a 36-hole score of six-under 138 to earn spots in the championship field. The 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship will be played at Chambers Bay in University Place, WA from August 23-29, 2010.

Harold Varner of Gastonia, N.C. won the qualifier by one shot over Bowman and Younts. Younts, a Stokesdale, N.C. native, was the leader at the midway point with an opening round 66. He carded a 72 on Tuesday to earn a spot in the field.

Bowman, a native of Greensboro who completed his eligibility last season, carded identical rounds of 69 to earn his bid.

Several other current and former Spartans were in the qualifier. Ryan Heisey tied for fifth, narrowly missing an alternates slot, Kyle Sonday and Justin Clement tied for 12th.

This years championship will mark the first time the U.S. Amateur has been played at Chambers Bay, which will also host the 2015 U.S. Open. It will be the third municipally owned course to host a U.S. Open when the tournament visits in 2015.

Only eight months after Chambers Bay opened for public play in 2007, the USGA announced it was taking the 2010 U.S. Amateur and 2015 U.S. Open to the facility. The course, measuring at 7,742 yards received rave reviews, including being named the best new public course for 2008 by Golf Digest magazine.

Chambers Bay was built entirely on fescue grass and features exactly one tree on the entire layout. Created from a former gravel mine, the course features wide fairways, large dunes and the kind of wispy rough one might encounter on the famous links venues in Scotland and Ireland. The course is designed to play firm and fast, a philosophy the USGA adheres to in its championship setups.

The Amateur Championship is the oldest golf championship in this country - one day older than the U.S. Open. Except for an eight-year period, from 1965-72, when it was stroke play, the Amateur has been a match-play championship.

Over the years, as interest in the game grew and the number of quality players increased, it became necessary to establish a national handicapping system to determine who was eligible to compete in the Amateur. The USGA's first national handicap list, which was published for the 1912 Championship, was the forerunner of the present-day USGA Golf Handicap System.

Throughout its history, the U.S. Amateur has been the most coveted of all amateur titles. Many of the great names of professional golf, such as Gene Littler, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Mark O'Meara, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, grace the Havemeyer Cup.

It was, however, longtime amateur Robert T. Jones Jr., who first attracted media coverage and spectator attendance at the Amateur Championship. Jones captured the championship five times (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930). His 1930 victory was a stunning moment in golf history when, at Merion Cricket Club in Ardmore, Pa., Jones rounded out the Grand Slam, winning the four major American and British championships in one year.

Sixty-six years later, in 1996, Tiger Woods of Cypress, Calif., attracted similar interest and enthusiasm when he won a record third straight U.S. Amateur at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore.

Former WCU Men’s Golfer Ricky Stout Qualifies for US Amateur

Current Catamount Kyle Wilson just misses making field

Cullowhee, N.C. – Former Western Carolina men’s golfer Ricky Stout qualified for the 110th United States Amateur Championship after he carded consecutive rounds of 71 and 70 in sectional qualifying at the Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham back on July 21-22. The 2010 All-Southern Conference performer earned one of the six available spots offered in the 115-player field.

The U.S. Amateur will be played August 23-29 at the par-71, 7,742-yard Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. Eighteen holes of stroke play are scheduled for Aug. 23 and 24 after which the field will be cut to the low 64 scorers. Six rounds of match play will begin on Aug. 25 and the championship concludes with a scheduled 36-hole final on Aug. 29.

Also, current Catamount Kyle Wilson, who was also vying to make the U.S. Amateur field, shot 68 and 73 during stroke play on Monday and Tuesday at the Oak Valley Golf Club in Advance, N.C., to miss qualifying by four shots. The Mount Airy, N.C., native who will be a junior this fall was fourth in the standings after the opening round 68 on Monday.

Stout, a native of New Bern, N.C., becomes the second former Catamount men’s golfer to qualify for the U.S. Amateur event as former standout Matt Cook qualified during the summer of 2008. Stout, who will be making his first amateur appearance, finished tied for second in the qualifying tournament with a two-round score of 141.

"In his time at Western Carolina, Ricky encompassed what it meant to be a student-athlete. He was a Dean's list student and one of the best men’s golfers in school history. He did everything the right way with the upmost integrity,” said first-year head coach Carter Cheves who worked with Stout as an assistant at WCU last season. “It really is a great accomplishment and honor for him to make the U.S. Amateur.”

Cheves added, “Everyone involved with the Western Carolina golf program is extremely proud of Ricky. He is an incredible example of what hard work and dedication can earn you. The Catamount community will be following Ricky the whole way and I would not be surprised at all to see him holding the United States Amateur Trophy when it is all said and done.”

In his final season at Western Carolina, Stout led the Catamount squad with a career-low 72.67 stroke average – the fifth-best, single-season in school history. He paced the team in seven of the 11 seasonal events including scoring his first collegiate individual medalist honors at the 2009 Firestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Stout garnered SoCon Men’s Golfer of the Month plaudits in October following his victory becoming just the second Catamount to ever earn those honors.

Stout concluded his collegiate career ranked fifth in school history with a 74.87 career average through 106 career rounds – just one shy of the school-record 107 set by the aforementioned Cook. He posted five career top 10s and twice finished among the top five as an individual. He additionally joined Cook, Brett D. Miller and Tanner Briele as the only Catamount men’s golfers to post multiple top 10 finishes at the Southern Conference championship.

A four-year varsity letter winner, Stout was a member of the Catamounts’ 2008 men’s golf team that garnered an at-large bid to the NCAA East Regional.

Opened in 2007, Chambers Bay was built entirely on fescue grass and features exactly one tree on the entire layout. Created from a former gravel mine, the course features wide fairways, large dunes and the kind of wispy rough one might encounter on the famous links venues in Scotland and Ireland.

Chambers Bay will be the longest course in United States Golf Association (USGA) history. At 7,754 yards, it overtakes the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego, Calif., which measured 7,643 yards for the 2008 U.S. Open, and 2006 U.S. Amateur host Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., which measured 7,473 yards.

In addition to hosting this year’s event, the Chambers Bay course was also awarded the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship.