14 Amateurs Compete in U.S. Open

Same Group Will Be Part of 2017 U.S. Amateur Field at The Riviera Country Club and Bel-Air Country Club, Aug. 14-20

(LOS ANGELES) — Fourteen amateurs have earned a spot in the prestigious U.S. Open field this week at Erin Hills in Erin, WI, all with an eye on something that hasn’t been done in 84 years—an amateur winning the U.S. Open.

Each of the 14 has a dream of one day becoming the U.S. Open Champion, something that has only come to fruition for five amateurs in the history of the event, the last being John Goodman in 1933 at North Shore Country Club outside of Chicago.

Joining Goodman in accomplishing the rare amateur feat were:  Bobby Jones (1930 at Merion), Francis Ouimet (1913 at The Country Club), Chick Evans (1916 at Minikadha Club in Minnesota) and Jerome Travers (1915 at Baltusrol).  Travers won the U.S. Amateur four times.

The oldest golf championship in America is the U.S. Amateur, first held in 1895 at the Newport Country Club.  It was held one day before the U.S. Open.

This same group of 14 have earned a spot in the field for the U.S. Amateur to be held at The Riviera Country Club and Bel-Air Country Club, Aug. 14-20.

The 14 amateurs to keep your eye on this week are:  Mason Anderson (Arizona State), Cameron Champ (Texas A&M), Christopher Crawford (Drexel), Brad Dalke (Oklahoma), Scott Gregory (England), Stewart Hagestad (USC grad), Scott Harvey (West Florida & High Point), Walker Lee (Texas A&M), Maverick McNealy (Stanford), Joaquin Niemann (Chile), John Oda (UNLV), Scottie Scheffler (Texas), Alex Smalley (Duke) and Sahith Theegala (Pepperdine).

“It’s certainly going to be an interesting week to follow these great amateurs in the U.S. Open on FOX,” said Michael R. Yamaki, Corporate Office of The Riviera Country Club. “We are looking forward to hosting them in Southern California in August for the U.S. Amateur.”

Riviera, the site of the 1948 U.S. Open, will host its first U.S. Amateur Championship. Bel-Air, which will serve as the stroke-play co-host course, hosted the 1976 U.S. Amateur, won by Bill Sander.

U.S. Amateur tickets are available online at www.usga.org/usam. Tickets are $20 (single-day grounds) and $75 for a weekly pass. Children under 16 years of age are admitted free of charge.

All active duty and reserve military members, military retirees, non-retired veterans (with a valid I.D.) and their dependents will be admitted free of charge.