by John Sutherland / Golf Australia
World Number 10 amateur Jake Higginbottom.
The U.S. Amateur Championship starts Monday at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver with nine Australians in action.
World amateur number ten Jake Higginbottom (NSW), Cameron Smith (QLD), Oliver Goss (WA) and Daniel Nisbet (QLD) all qualified automatically by virtue of their World Amateur Ranking. Matthew Stieger (NSW), Brett Drewitt (NSW), Rory Bourke (Vic), Todd Sinnott (Vic) & Ryan McCarthy (Tas) gained their starts via various qualifying tournaments during the lead up. With competition fierce during these events, the form of this group looks good. Sinnott recently won a sectional qualifier held at the Somerby Golf Club in Byron, Minnesota. Bourke earned his spot in this event as well.
"The US Amateur is the biggest individual amateur event on the schedule. To have 9 of our men in the field is a great achievement, and we hope to consolidate and get a number of them deep into the Match Play. The golf course set-up, media coverage and strength of field is as close as you can get to Professional golf and a great learning experience for them" said Matt Cutler, Golf Australia's High Performance Manager.
The championship winners list reads like a who's-who of golfing royalty, with Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods (3), Phil Mickelson & Mark O'Meara all having claimed the Havemeyer Trophy. Nick Flanagan, is the only Australian to win the event.
Golf Australia's Director of High Performance Brad James is confident with our National Squad's preparation. "The U.S Amateur Summer of Golf has been a successful one for many of our Australian players. If our players can take that momentum from the camp, as well as that previous success this summer, I believe we have a good chance of winning another USGA title." James said.
The format is eighteen holes of stroke play on Aug. 13 and 14, after which the field will be cut to the lowest 64 players. Six rounds of match play begin on Aug. 15 and the championship concludes with a scheduled 36-hole final match on Aug. 19.
View the Golf Australia National Squad player profiles