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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Beginning May 2 at
Olympic Club in San
Francisco, the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball will
kick
off its inaugural
tournament, and teeing off on the
prestigious
club's two courses will be a
slew of unique and intriguing pairings.
From former USGA champions to top-
ranked
high-schoolers, the 256-player field should
be
fun to watch. In fact, the
final two days will be
televised on Fox Sports 1, the first of many
USGA events to be covered by the Fox
Sports
networks in 2015 and beyond.
Here is a look at some of the notable teams
headed to Northern California
this weekend:
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|
Todd
White
|
Nathan
Smith
|
Todd White, the reigning Azalea
Invitational champion, and four-time U.S.
Mid-
Amateur winner Nathan
Smith will
form the mid-amateur
super-pair. White himself has done well at
recent U.S. Mid-Amateurs,
reaching the semifinals in 2012 and 2014.
Smith's most recent USGA win
came in 2012, though Smith and White did
not
match up against one
another in the semifinals. White's win at this
year's Azalea was historic as
he was the first mid-amateur player to win
the
event since 2000.
|
|
Mike
McCoy
|
Gene
Elliott
|
Another high-touted mid-amateur team
will represent West Des
Moines, Iowa
as Mike McCoy and Gene Elliott will team up.
McCoy will be fresh off his
third Coleman
Invitational title, winning by seven shots for
his
third victory at Seminole in
the last five
years. Elliott's last big win came at the 2013
Crump Cup where he defeated
Matthew
Sughrue of Arlington, Virginia. Elliott is also a
former Coleman winner,
taking the crown
in 2007 and 2009. McCoy is a USGA winner,
claiming his elusive U.S.
Mid-Amateur
title in 2013. The Iowa duo will be paired with
Phil Mickelson's brother Tim
and his playing partner Jake Yount in the 36-
hole
qualifying stage.
|
|
Scott
Harvey
|
Todd
Mitchell
|
Rounding out the mid-amateur features
are the group of Scott
Harvey and Todd Mitchell. Harvey, who is
currently the raining champion of
four national events, including the U.S. Mid-
Amateur and South American
Amateur, will join Mitchell, the 2008 U.S.
Mid-
Amateur runner-up from
Bloomington, Illinois. Harvey and Mitchell
qualified in St. Louis at the
renowned Bellerive Country Club.
|
|
Sam
Burns
|
Austin
Connelly
|
The most fascinating group in the field
might be the team of Sam Burns and
Austin
Connelly —
the two top-ranked junior golfers in the
nation.
Both Burns and Connelly are high-school
seniors and
will join their respective SEC universities this
fall, with Burns headed for LSU and Connelly
for
Arkansas. Connelly fought through a playoff
in
January to win the Jones Cup, just a year
after
he was
on the losing end of a playoff at the same
tournament. Burns' best amateur finish in
2014
was
a
runner-up showing at the Sunnehanna, but
the
Shreveport, La. has countless junior
accomplishments
like the 2014 Junior PGA Championship, which
earned him an exemption into the 2015
Valero
Texas
Open on the PGA Tour.
|
|
Bryson
DeChambeau |
Austin
Smotherman |
Southern Methodist University
teammates Bryson DeChambeau and Austin
Smotherman, both from Northern California,
will
pair up at Olympic Club to represent
their
Mustang team. The collegiate juniors both
competed this month at the Terra Cotta
Invitational
in Florida where DeChambeau tied for third
and
Smotherman tied for 26th. Smotherman
has
USGA experience, reaching the quarterfinals
of
the 2013 U.S. Amateur Public Links and
qualifying for last year's U.S. Amateur.
DeChambeau also played at Atlantic Athletic
Club
in
2014 where he reached the round of 16.
DeChambeau's most notable victory came in
2013
at
the Trans-Miss Championship.
Those are just five of the 128 teams set to
descend upon The Olympic Club this
Saturday,
where 36 holes of stroke play qualifying will
give
way to the top 32 teams qualifying for
match play. May 6 will conclude the inaugural
event, with semifinal and championship
rounds taking place on Thursday on the Lake
Course.
For a full list of groups and pairings, please
click
here.
View results for U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
ABOUT THE U.S. Amateur Four-Ball
The U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, the newest USGA
championship, was played for the first time in
2015 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif.
The event, which has no age restriction, is open
to those with a Handicap Index of 5.4 or lower.
It is one of 14 national championships conducted
annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly
for amateurs.
View Complete Tournament Information