CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. – Three LSU Tigers are in position to qualify for the match play competition at the 112th United States Amateur Championship after wrapping up Monday’s first round of stroke play among the top 64 individuals in the event being held at Cherry Hills Country Club.
The top 311 amateur golfers in the country are competing in Cherry Hills Village for the right to claim the Havemeyer Trophy as the winner of the 112th edition of the nation’s premier amateur championship.
Sixty-four competitors will advance to the single-elimination match play competition starting Wednesday following 36 holes of stroke play at each of the par-71 Cherry Hill Country Club and the par-70 Common Ground Golf Course. Players are playing one round at each course in two days of stroke play.
LSU’s All-SEC junior Andrew Presley kicked off his second U.S. Amateur with a 3-under 67 at Common Ground Golf Course to wrap up Monday’s action in a tie for ninth place on the individual leaderboard.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Presley was steady in opening his round with six-straight pars on the front nine before catapulting himself near the top of the leaderboard at the turn. After dipping into red figures for the first time with an eagle at the par-five seventh hole, Presley carded back-to-back birdies at the par-four eighth and ninth holes to make the turn at 4-under par for his round.
Presley remained at 4-under par while making eight-straight pars on the back nine before making his only bogey of the day on the par-five 18th hole to card a 3-under par 67 in the opening round.
Incoming freshman Zach Wright of Phoenix, Ariz., joined Presley at the Common Ground Golf Course to open this year’s U.S. Amateur Championship and posted a 1-over 71 in his first U.S. Amateur round to tie for 64th place and finish the day in qualifying position. Rising sophomore Stewart Jolly is just one shot off the qualifying pace after opening with his 2-over 72 at the Common Ground Golf Course.
Wright will leadoff the trio in playing Cherry Hills Country Club in Tuesday’s second round as he’ll tee it up on the front nine at 8:30 a.m. CT. Both Jolly and Presley will tee off on the back nine as Jolly kicks off his round at 1:35 p.m. and Presley follows by teeing off at 3:15 p.m.
Sophomore Curtis Thompson was among the top scorers in Monday’s round at Cherry Hills Country Club as he carded five birdies and four bogeys en route to a 1-under 70 in his U.S. Amateur opener.
Thompson made the turn at 2-under par with birdies at the par-four third and par-five fifth holes for his 33 on the opening nine holes. He then carded birdies at the par-five 11th, par-four 13th and par-five 17th holes, along with bogeys at the par-three 12th, par-three 15th, par-four 16th and par-four 18th holes on the back for a final score of 1-under par 70 to finish the day in a tie for 32nd on the leaderboard.
Fellow sophomore Myles Lewis recorded a 4-over par 75 in his first career U.S. Amateur round at Cherry Hills Country Club while ending the day in a tie for 147th place overall.
Lewis and Thompson will tee off in consecutive groups from the back nine for Tuesday’s second round at Common Ground Golf Course as Lewis begins at 2:35 p.m. CT followed by Thompson at 2:45 p.m. They will look to finish among the top 64 in stroke play to earn a spot in the match play competition.