The 723-day wait is officially over. With COVID-19 cancelling 10 of the USGA’s 14 championships in 2020, including the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, a sense of normalcy has returned.
That means 128 sides (256 competitors) have gathered on the shores of Puget Sound to compete in the 6th iteration of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
But the players aren’t the ones who endured a lengthy delay. Chambers Bay, the site for this championship, was originally scheduled to host in 2019 but swapped dates to 2021 due to an extensive renovation of its greens.
The Pierce County-owned course, which hosted the 2015 U.S. Open and the 2010 U.S. Amateur, was shut down for six months beginning in October 2018 to re-sod the fine fescue putting surfaces with annual bluegrass, also referred to as Poa annua. Given the overwhelming success of the renovation, the wait was worth it.
Now the course is ready to test these accomplished amateurs and crown the winning side as its third USGA champions. Here are three things to know as 36 holes of stroke play get underway at Chambers Bay and stroke-play co-host The Home Course:
Reunion of Champions
Not only are Scott Harvey and Todd Mitchell back to defend the title they claimed in 2019 at Bandon Dunes, so are three of the previous four winners. Inaugural champions Nathan Smith and Todd White, who won at The Olympic Club in 2015, join Harvey/Mitchell as the only sides to compete in all six U.S. Amateur Four-Balls.
Also back are current collegians Frankie Capan (Florida Gulf Coast) and Shuai Ming (Ben) Wong (Southern Methodist), who won in 2017 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s Course No. 2, and 2016 winners and ex-Southern Methodist University teammates Benjamin Baxter and Andrew Buchanan, who won at Winged Foot. The duo did not defend in 2017 – or compete in 2018 or 2019 – because Buchanan turned professional. Buchanan regained his amateur status last May.
Capan, who transferred to FGCU from Alabama last summer, and Wong are able to compete because they didn’t qualify for postseason play.
Cole Hammer and Stuart Barber (2018) are the only past champions not in the field, as they are involved in postseason play for their respective colleges, Hammer helping Texas reach the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz., later this month, and Barber at LSU, which failed to advance at its regional site earlier this week.
Two Players a Side, Not 11
Given the recent qualifying success of recently retired football players, one might think the National Football League’s alumni association had a role in conducting the event. For the third consecutive year, an ex-NFL player is in the field.
Former defensive tackle Kyle Williams, a six-time Pro Bowler during his 13-year career with the Buffalo Bills, advanced to the Round of 16 in 2019 with partner Greg Berthelot.
Last year, Billy Joe Tolliver, a quarterback who played 12 seasons with five NFL teams and one Canadian Football League club qualified with Jerry Slagle, but never teed it up due to the cancellation.
This year, Nebraska native Danny Woodhead, who played 10 seasons in the NFL for the New England Patriots, New York Jets, San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free-agent running back, qualified with fellow Omaha Country Club member Michael Wilhelm.
Should the duo make a deep run, it would just add to the excitement for Omaha, which will host the U.S. Senior Open for a second time in July.
Oakmont-Bound
In February, the USGA announced that the winners of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball would receive an additional perk on top of their gold medals, custody of the championship trophy for one year and a 10-year exemption. Starting this year, the winning side also earns a spot into the next U.S. Amateur (this year’s championship will be played at Oakmont Country Club) as well as the following age-specific championships: U.S. Junior Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur.
Considering the challenge of qualifying for the USGA’s oldest and most prestigious amateur competition, that’s a wonderful incentive for 99.9 percent of the field (three-time USA Walker Cupper Stewart Hagestad is exempt).
“The added exemptions into USGA championships speak volumes about how we have come to regard the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball,” said Bill McCarthy, the director of the championship. “Not only do these exemptions properly recognize and reward our champions, they also reflect the overall strength of the 128 sides who make it to the championship each year through qualifying. These exemptions are well deserved.”
David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.
