Crump Cup: A hole-in-one shoots Hayes Brown into the lead with a 68
Pine Valley is hosting the 99th Crump Cup. (Sean Melia)
Hayes Brown recorded an ace and two birdies in the opening round of the 99th Crump Cup to shoot a 68, an impressive showing as he recorded the only round under par.
The 14th hole relinquished the hole-in-one to the Atlanta native. Brown was a semi-finalist in the 2021 U.S. Mid-Amateur; he holed out for an eagle on the second playoff hole to grab the No. 64 seed before making an impressive run.
A trio of players carded even-par 70: Brad Tilley (Easton, Conn.), Drew Kittleson (Scottsdale, Ariz), and Garrett Rank (Canada).
It’s a star-studded top ten. As Evan Beck, Stewart Hagestad, and Andrew Bailey are lurking. Jimmy Ellis, the 2024 U.S. Amateur stroke-play medalist and 2022 Crump Cup runner-up, shot a 73.
Hagestad is ranked No. 3 in the AmateurGolf.com Mid-Amateur Rankings, and Beck is ranked No. 6.
After Friday’s round, the field will be cut into 16-player flights. After round 1, nine players shot 75 and sit in a tie for 14th place and a spot in the coveted Championship Flight. That should make for a dramatic day tomorrow, as a massive number of players still have a chance to earn a spot in the Championship Flight.
In the senior division, Dave Nelson (Littleton, Colorado) made four birdies and shot 71 to lead the Senior Division. Tommy Brennan (Covington, Louisiana ) is one back at 72. Brennan won the 2022 Crump Cup Senior Division.
Open Division:
Hayes Brown: 68
Bradford Tilley: 70
Drew Kittleson: 70
Garrett Rank: 70
Evan Beck: 71
Andrew Bailey: 72
Stewart Hagestad: 72
Jimmy Ellis: 73
Kris K. Mikkelsen: 73
5 players with 74
Senior Division:
David Nelson: 71
Tommey Brennan: 72
Rupert Kellock: 73
Dave Ryan: 74
Arnold Cutrell: 75
ABOUT THE
Crump Cup
The George A. Crump Memorial Tournament --
named
for the
hotelier and course architect most famous for
building
Pine Valley -- is arguably the premier mid-
amateur
event in the United States. The invitational field
is
made of of top players from around the United
States
and the UK. The format for the four days is two
rounds
of stroke play qualifying, followed by four
rounds
of
match play. Players are flighted according to
their
qualifying position, and a separate Senior flight
includes three of those flights. Jay Sigel has won
the
event the most times, with nine victories
between
1975 and 1993.
Normally, the public is invited to attend the Sunday
final matches but that tradition has been suspended.
View Complete Tournament Information