Did You Know: The U.S. Amateur

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By Mike D., Titleist Staff

  • 17 Likes
  • 11 Replies
  1. Team Titleist Staff

    A pin flag on the green at Pinehurst No. 2

    It’s U.S. Amateur week and this is basically the biggest major of the year for us regular Joe’s – well, more like the best of the best of us regular Joe’s. So, we thought it would be fun to check in with some fast facts as the cream of the amateur crop in the men’s game tee it up in Pinehurst this week.

    Did You Know…

    • That the U.S. Amateur is the longest standing USGA championship and it was first played in 1895 at Newport Golf Club in Newport, R.I. (scroll to the bottom for even more on the history of the event).

    • This year, and for the first time ever, the final match of the match-play round will be contested on two separate courses, Pinehurst No. 2 and Pinehurst No. 4. The first 18-holes will be played on No. 4 and then the 36-hole match will conclude on No. 2.

    • Titleist is the top choice of the field with 232 players (74% of the field) teeing up a Pro V1 or Pro V1x golf ball.

    • Titleist is also the top choice in Irons, Fairways, Hybrids, Utilities, Wedges and Putters.

    Side note: as you can imagine, we are beyond thankful that these players choose to play Titleist equipment from their ball throughout their bag. They’re not paid to play our gear. They can choose to play whatever they want and we’re grateful that they choose us.

    • 18 players have won the U.S. Amateur more than once. Bobby Jones leads the way with five U.S. Amateur titles.

    • 11 players have won both the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Open

    • 13 players have won both the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur

    And if you want to get the full history on the championship, here’s an overview from the USGA:

    The U.S. Amateur Championship is the oldest USGA championship and it was created in 1895 because of a controversy. In 1894, two clubs -- Newport (R.I.) Golf Club and New York's St. Andrew's Golf Club -- had conducted invitational tournaments to attract the nation's top amateur players.

    Both clubs proclaimed their winners as the national champion, while Charles Blair Macdonald, a prominent player and course architect, was the runner-up in both. 

    Before the final day of the St. Andrew's tournament, it was announced that an association composed of all the clubs in the United States would be formed in the ensuing months. This new national governing body would oversee a universally recognized championship and create a written set of rules.

    With that, representatives from Newport Golf Club, St. Andrew's Golf Club, The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., and Chicago Golf Club founded the USGA on Dec. 22, 1894, and the inaugural U.S. Amateur Championship was conducted the following year, along with the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Amateur.

    The Amateur and Open Championships were conducted at Newport Golf Club during the same week of October and Macdonald became the first U.S. Amateur champion.

    Click below to visit USGA.org and you can see a full list of past champions.

    www.usga.org/.../us-amateur-champions-21474864256.html

  2. Frank H

    Frank H
    Fayetteville, NC

    Military
    Heading out to watch on Friday!
  3. Military
    I was watching and mentioned to She how must be obeyed about how many Titleist hats were being worn
  4. Derek C

    Derek C
    Northern KY

    Watching coverage of it on FS1 right now.
  5. Chuck Z

    Chuck Z
    Mt Pleasant, SC

    Military
    Wonder who will be turning pro next year.......these guys are good.
  6. Brian D

    Brian D
    Norton, MA

    Great to see and in fact, I have had the pleasure of enjoying a fitting session down at Manchester Lane 2 years ago with Austin Squires was in town for the Northeast Invitational. The following year he ended up losing in a tough match to the eventual winner and most recent PGA tour card holder. This year, it took a play-off to get the 64th spot, and my boy Austin knocked out the TOP seed. Been keeping an eye on him and his progress. I guarantee you will this his name on the starting sheet of a PGA tour event soon enough.

    I mention Austin, because as Mike mentioned above. He is not a paid FJ or Titleist guy, he chooses both, because of the reliability and consistency that people who play Titleist, know they can count on.
  7. Lance P

    Lance P
    Hillsborough, NC

    Very high heat indexes this week in The Sandhills. Hopefully Mother Nature lets up over the week-end for everyone involved.
  8. Vincent C.

    Vincent C.
    Cincinnati, OH

    Let's go Austin Squires!! Awesome run he is making and great to see a Cincinnati kid in the mix.
  9. Eric H

    Eric H
    Ridgway, PA

    What an absolute perfect venue for the the US am!!
  10. Great Post - Thank You
  11. PRO V

    PRO V
    golf course

    Thanks for the article and info, Mike. Didn't know anything about it. Great news for TT!
  12. Dwayne N

    Dwayne N
    Island, KY

    What I do know is that the young man that finished second is from Owensboro Ky just 30 minutes from my house. Congrats Mr. Augenstien

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