Bryan Kim dominated a well-conditioned Worthington Manor course shooting twelve-under-par with rounds of 65-67, and went on to win medalist honors in the qualifier for the 122nd U.S. Amateur Championship by six strokes. The Urbana course was played at 7,040 yards to a par of 36-36-72.
Kim came out the gates hot in the first round. Kim birdied three of the first four holes to start the day on Tuesday. Kim went on to bogey the 200-yard par-3 6th, but gained that stroke back as he birdied the par-5 9th hole. Kim went to the back 3-under-par and continued his excellent performance with birdies on No. 10, 11, 13, 14, and 16. This brought Kim all the way to eight-under-par for the day. However, the long par-3 17th got the best of him. The 222-yard par-3 was a challenge as Kim walked to the 18th tee, having just made a double bogey to push him down to six-under-under for the day. However, Kim didn’t let it get into his head as he went on to birdie the par-5 18th and finish the day with a 33-32-65 (-7). Kim went on to shoot 67 on Wednesday to finish at twelve-under-par and earn medalist honors.
The four other available spots went to Benton Weinberg of Potomac, MD, who earned his spot after shooting rounds of 71-67 to finish six-under-par. Weinberg’s front nine performance on Wednesday of six-under-par, pushed him to gain a qualifying spot. Also helping Weinberg was his two eagles, one Tuesday and one Wednesday. Both came on the front nine, with the first being on the par-5 9th and the second coming on the par-5 5th. Also qualifying was Tyler Stahle of Andover, MA, who carded in rounds of 67-71 to claim his spot in the U.S. Amateur. Tyler’s performances were enough to keep him out of the playoff and award him tied for second.
The last two qualifying spots came down to a playoff. With eight players fighting for two qualifying spots and two alternate spots, a strong couple of holes would be needed to advance. On the first playoff hole, a birdie was required to advance. Moving from the 10th green to the 14th tee were Brett Patterson, Khavish Varadan, David Stanford, and Jimmy Zheng. Each player put their second shots close on the short par-4. However, Patterson had an incredible second shot after putting his drive in the left fairway bunker. Patterson hit the 115-yard shot to about 3 feet after hitting the ball 10 feet past the pin and spinning it back towards the hole. He would go on to make his birdie putt, which was good enough to advance as both Stanford and Zheng missed their birdie putts. Vardan had a 2-foot putt to advance and tapped it in to earn his spot. In August, these five qualifiers will play in the 122nd U.S. Amateur Championship at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey.
The five qualifiers. Top left Khavish Varadan, Top right Tyler Stahle, Bottom left Brett Patterson, Bottom right Benton Weinberg, Middle (Medalist) Bryan Kim.
After failing to gain a qualifying spot Zheng and Stanford went on to No. 15, a par-3, to decide who would be the first and second alternate. Zheng of New Zealand and Stanford of Vienna, VA, both hit their shots onto the green. Both players had about 15-foot looks at birdie, but both would miss. Stanford knocked in his par putt, but Zheng lipped his out. Stanford claimed the first alternate, and Zheng was awarded the second alternate.
The 122nd U.S. Amateur Championship will be held on August 15-22 at Ridgewood CC in Paramus, New Jersey.
