Junior Tyler Wingo

Irish Well Represented At U.S. Amateur Championship

Aug. 11, 2013

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame men’s golfers Andrew Lane and Tyler Wingo will each have the chance to showcase their skills on the national stage Monday during the first round of stroke play at the 113th United States Amateur Championship at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

The Irish pair are the first Notre Dame players to qualify for the premier amateur tournament since All-American Max Scodro was in the field in 2011. Scodro finished in a tie for 19th place in the stroke play portion of the 2011 championship (67-72-139).

“To have two players now competing in what is a national championship, a major championship, is exciting for the guys and our program,” Notre Dame head coach Jim Kubinski said last month. “Each became a regular in our lineup last season for the first time, which involved the inevitable learning curve. We had our ups and downs but our guys never let up or lost confidence. They just kept working.”

At stake for the tournament champion is an exemption into the 2014 U.S. Open and 2014 Open Championship, entry for the next 10 U.S. Amateurs (provided the player retains amateur status) and a potential invitation to the 2014 Masters Tournament.

Players will take the course in two waves of tee times during the two days of stroke play, with the morning groups set to begin their rounds at 7 a.m. (ET), and the afternoon pairings teeing off at 12:15 p.m. both Monday and Tuesday. Wingo will go off the 10th tee at Charles River Country Club at 8:20 a.m. to open his first round Monday, while Lane is set to compete in the 1:10 p.m. threesome that will start at No. 1 on the Championship Course at The Country Club.

The top 64 players after stroke play will compete in match play Wednesday through Saturday, with the 36-hole heads-up championship match set to begin Sunday at 8 a.m.

The Country Club is no stranger to major amateur and professional events, as the club has previously hosted the U.S. Amateur five times (1910, 1922, 1934, 1957 and 1982), the U.S. Women’s Amateur three times (1902, 1941 and 1995) and the U.S. Open three times (1913, 1963 and 1988). The Country Club was also the site of the 1999 Ryder Cup, which saw the U.S. team cap an unlikely comeback from a 10-6 deficit on the final day of play to win 14.5-13.5.

Lane was the first Notre Dame player to punch his ticket during a one-day qualifier in Hamilton, N.Y., firing a two-round score of three-under par 141 (72-69) July 30 at the Seven Oaks Golf Club. After playing the morning 18 in even-par on the 6,915-yard Seven Oaks layout, Lane shot out of the gate after starting on the back nine, birdieing the par-4 10th and par-4 13th holes to go two-under par for the qualifier.

He added birdies on the par-5 fifth and seventh holes, surrendering a lone shot at the 452-yard ninth hole to card a three-under 69, edging Tim Johnson and Charlie Saxon (72-70-142, -2) for the third and final qualifying spot into the U.S. Amateur field.

Wingo competed in a rare two-day qualifier at the Lakewood Country Club in Rockville, Md. July 30 and 31. He bounced back from a four-over par 76 on day one by making the turn in two-under (34) in his second round.

A 15-foot scramble for bogey at the 475-yard par-4 11th kept Wingo in the hunt, and he took full advantage. A six-iron approach to the 530-yard 14th hole landed six feet from the flag, and the ensuing eagle putt brought him to one-over for the event. Birdies at the par-4 15th, par-5 16th and par-3 17th holes gave Wingo a back nine score of 32 (-4), and landed him in a tie with Bennett Buch at 142. A playoff birdie heads-up against Buch clinched Wingo’s first career U.S. Amateur berth.

Live results for the tournament will be available through USGA.org.

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