The Riviera Country Club
(USGA Photo)
FAR HILLS, N.J. (June 23, 2017) – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced that it has accepted 7,149 entries for the 117th U.S. Amateur Championship, scheduled for Aug. 14-20, 2017 at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif.
“Bringing the USGA’s oldest championship to Southern California for the first time since 1976 at two of the nation’s most prominent clubs in Riviera and Bel-Air is richly rewarding,” said Stuart Francis, USGA Championship Committee chairman. “The U.S. Amateur and its iconic Havemeyer Trophy, given to the champion, are held in the highest esteem by amateurs across the country and the world. Our entry numbers reflect that significance.”
Sixty-four players are fully exempt into the championship and the remaining places in the 312-player field will be filled through qualifying at 100 sites across the country and in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico between July 3-25. Forty-five states will host qualifying, with host state California leading the way with 13 sites.
Among the exempt players are: 2016 runner-up and University of Oklahoma senior Brad Dalke, of Oklahoma City, Okla.; University of Texas senior Scottie Scheffler of Dallas, Texas, who was the low amateur in last week’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills, tying for 27th place; University of Southern California players Sean Crocker, of Long Beach, Calif., who was a semifinalist in 2015, and Jonah Texeira, of Porter Ranch, Calif., who was a semifinalist in 2016; 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad, of Newport Beach, Calif., who was the low amateur in the 2017 Masters; and Sahith Theegala, a Pepperdine University senior from Chino Hills, Calif., who was a quarterfinalist in 2016.
In addition, 46 of the top 50 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (as of June 21) are in the field, including No.1 Joaquin Niemann, of Chile; No. 2 Maverick McNealy, of Portola Valley, Calif.; No. 3 Dylan Meyer of Evansville, Ind.; No.4 Braden Thornberry of Olive Branch, Miss.; and No. 5 Collin Morikawa, of La Cañada Flintridge, Calif.
The USGA accepted entries from golfers in all 50 states, including 1,099 from California, as well as 48 other countries. The highest number of entries accepted for the U.S. Amateur is 7,920 for the 1999 championship.
The first entrant was Brett Robinson from Tustin, Calif., and Nicholas Caruso, of Lawrence, Mass., submitted the last entry, 35 seconds before the 5 p.m. (EDT) deadline on June 21.
Riviera will be hosting its second USGA championship, having hosted the 1948 U.S. Open, won by Ben Hogan. Bel-Air will be hosting its third USGA championship after previously serving as the site of the 1976 U.S. Amateur, won by Bill Sander, and the 2004 U.S. Senior Amateur, won by Mark Bemowski.
The list of the 64 golfers who are fully exempt into the 2017 U.S. Amateur (as of June 21) with exemption categories:
Mason Andersen (5)
Dawson Armstrong (18)
Adria Arnaus (18)
John Axelsen (18)
Derek Bard (2,3,18)
Jacob Bergeron (18)
David Boote (4,18)
Sam Burns (18)
Nick Carlson (3,4)
Cameron Champ (5,18)
Christopher Crawford (5)
Sean Crocker (3,18)
Brad Dalke (2,3,4,5,12)
Harrison Endycott (18)
Luis Gagne (4)
Tomas Gana (17)
Jorge Garcia (13)
Doug Ghim (18)
Oliver Gillberg (18)
Noah Goodwin (18)
Scott Gregory (5,16,18)
Stuart Grehan (18)
Stewart Hagestad (5,8,18)
Gavin Hall (18)
Nick Hardy (18)
Scott Harvey (5,8,11,18)
Marcus Helligkilde (18)
Eugene Hong (18)
Matias Honkala (18)
Viktor Hovland (13,18)
Cheng Jin (18)
Walker Lee (5)
Min Woo Lee (9,18)
KK Limbhasut (18)
Robert Macintyre (18)
Patrick Martin (18)
Michael McCoy (11)
Maverick McNealy (5,11,12,18)
Dylan Meyer (4,18)
Collin Morikawa (18)
Joaquin Niemann (5,17,18)
John Oda (5,18)
Alfie Plant (13)
Kristoffer Reitan (18)
Dave Ryan (10)
Scottie Scheffler (5,12,18)
Sammy Schmitz (8)
David Shore (18)
Alex Smalley (5)
Nathan Smith (11)
Travis Smyth (18)
Jimmy Stanger (18)
Matthew Sughrue (10)
Connor Syme (18)
Jonah Texeira (3,4)
Sahith Theegala (4,5)
Braden Thornberry (14,18)
Alejandro Tosti (18)
Kristoffer Ventura (18)
Todd White (11)
Norman Xiong (18)
Chun An Yu (18)
William Zalatoris (18)
Andy Zhang (18)
Exemption categories:
1 – Winners of the U.S. Amateur, last 10 years (2007-2106)
2 – Runners-up of the U.S. Amateur, last three years (2014-2016)
3 – Semifinalists of the U.S. Amateur, last two years (2015-2016)
4 – Quarterfinalists of the 2016 U.S. Amateur
5 – Any amateur who qualified for the 2017 U.S. Open
6 – From the 2016 U.S. Open, those amateurs returning scores for 72 holes
7 – From the 2017 U.S. Senior Open, the amateur returning the lowest 72-hole score
8 – From the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, winners in 2015 and 2016 and the runner-up in 2016
9 – From the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, winners in 2016 and 2017 and the runner-up in 2017
10 – From the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, winners in 2015 and 2016 and the runner-up in 2016
11 – Playing members of the United States and Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup Teams, four-year exemption once appointed to the team
12 – Playing members of the two most current United States World Amateur Teams (2014, 2016)
13 – The low eight finishers and ties of the 2016 World Amateur Team Championship
14 – Winner of the 2017 individual NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship
15 – From the 2017 Open Championship, conducted by The R&A, those returning scores for 72 holes
16 – Winners of The Amateur Championship, conducted by The R&A, the last five years (2013-2107)
17 – Winners of the most current Asia-Pacific Amateur, Canadian Men’s Amateur, European Amateur, Latin America Amateur and Mexican Amateur championships
18 – From the current men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, the top 50 point leaders and anyone tying for 50th place as of June 21, 2017
19 – Special exemptions selected by the USGA