109th U.S. Amateur – Tulsa, OK
The 109th annual U.S. Amateur boasts a field of 312 young men from 44 states, ranging in age from a mere 14 year old from California, Beau Hossler Jr., to a man that is 43 years his senior, 57 year old George “Buddy” Marucci, from Villanova, Pennsylvania.
On his 22nd birthday, Cameron Tringale shot 1-under 69 on the Cedar Ridge Country Club course Monday. (Michael Cohen/USGA)
These men, both young and old, who come to Tulsa, Oklahoma to participate in this prestigious golf tournament hope to join a quite notable list of former champions. Some of the most familiar household names in golf, such as Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Scott Verplank grace this list, but are also joined by others – like last year’s champion Danny Lee, Nick Flanagan, John Harris and others – that you might not see on a weekly basis competing on the golf circuits. Nevertheless, the extreme competition that the winner must endure begins with two days of stroke play and is followed by five rounds of match play – and all this begins after an intense qualifying process for all but a handful of exempted golfers.
To those who make the field that is assembled at Southern Hills Country Club and Cedar Ridge Country Club, there is a sense of belonging, a belief in each of these men that they could be the champion if the breaks go their way, if the balls bounce the way they ask them to, the hazards become an afterthought and the puts fall into the cup.
After the first day of grueling competition, it is clear to some that these dreams of becoming the 2009 U.S. Amateur champion are dimming, but the competitive spirits of those who play continue to burn brightly. Why – even after a round of +23 – can someone be enthused to play? Because no matter what the score says, these men will play tomorrow, and if that’s all there is, they are prepared to go out and give it their all.
The leaderboard after the first day of competition is filled with almost all black numbers, with only a handful of five gentlemen getting the distinction of a red, under par round in the record books. Sitting atop them all, with a one stroke lead is Germantown, Tennessee native Tim Jackson at -2. He is the only one of the five that played his first round at Southern Hills, making it evident that Cedar Ridge is the less challenging of the two stroke play locations. Jackson is closely followed by Matthew Broome (Barrington, R.I.), John Peterson (Ft. Worth, TX), Will Strickler (Gainsville, FL) and Cameron Tringale (Laguna Niguel, CA) – all just one stroke behind going into the second day of competition.
Oklahoma connected golfers saw positive days, such as efforts of one over par for Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler, who will be turning pro after representing the United States in the Walker Cup. He was joined in the group tied for 12th by Nicolas Geyger, a recent graduate from the University of Tulsa who hails from Chile. Other solid performances were placed by Oklahoma State junior Kevin Tway at +2 and his teammates Morgan Hoffman and Trent Whitekiller, who both carded rounds of +4 which places them tied for 62nd in the field.
Others had a rough go of things, but that didn’t stop Colby Shrum (+14) from having a positive contingent of fellow University of Central Oklahoma clad supporters to joke with after the round was complete. Nor did it stop former golfer and coach at the University of Oklahoma, Phillip Bryan (+15) from greeting fans, friends and family in the gallery.
This game of golf is a tricky one, and everyone who’s attempted it –if even for recreation only – knows that there can be good days and bad, days when the ball seems to be magnetically pulled toward the trees or the sand traps and others when the magnet seems to be at the bottom of the cup, but that is just part of the allure to the competition between not only man vs. man, but man vs. nature, and maybe even more importantly, man vs. himself.
3 Comments on “109th U.S. Amateur – Tulsa, OK”
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Way to go, Jess
Hurry up and get home safe – and stop using your cell phone on the course!
Great article. Hope to see some of this tourney. on the golf channel today and tomorrow.
You are indeed correct on the television coverage for the match play rounds of the U.S. Amateur.
You will be able to catch live action on Wednesday, August 26th from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. est on the Golf Channel. Also, on Thursday and Friday, the Golf Channel will have live coverage from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. est.
The semi- and final- round will have taped coverage on NBC from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. est on both Saturday, August 29th and Sunday, August 30th.