“I think it’s only a third of what he’s actually done,” Dunlap joked. “But just to be in the same conversation as Tiger is a dream come true and something that I’ve worked my entire life for.”
Woods won the U.S. Junior Am from 1991-93 and the U.S. Amateur from 1994-96.
“It’s the hours and hours that nobody sees to try to get to this point and even have a chance to win this trophy, it’s unbelievable,” Dunlap said. “Can’t put it into words.”
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — The date was June 10, 2014. Jeff Curl was on the range practicing at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama, when some heavy rains blew through. Curl, then on the now-named Korn Ferry Tour, was hitting balls and getting practice in. Next to him was a 10-year-old Nick Dunlap.
It didn’t matter how heavy the rain was, Dunlap stuck next to Curl, mimicking the professional. Dunlap striped shots in the rain over and over again.
Curl stepped back, took a photo and posted it on social media. The caption said, “Practicing on this soggy day with future tour star Nick Dunlap. #KidIsLegit.”
Nearly a decade later, Curl’s prediction seems well on its way to being true.
Dunlap capped an incredible summer Sunday, winning the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club. He defeated Neal Shipley, 4 and 3, in the 36-hole final. The duo was tied after the 18-hole mark, but Dunlap was relentless during the second 18 holes and lights out with his putter.
“I truly believe by the time he’s 25, he’ll be the No. 1 player in the world,” Curl said on the 15th green after Dunlap clinched his match. “He’s got it.”
@greystonegcc Practicing on this soggy day with future tour star Nick Dunlap. #KidIsLegit http://t.co/kDzKYAETvv
With the victory, Dunlap is the second male amateur to win the U.S. Junior, which he captured two years ago, and the U.S. Amateur. The other is Tiger Woods.
Coming into the week, the 19-year-old rising sophomore at Alabama was one of the favorites. He had been the best male amateur in golf this summer, with his counterpart Shipley being the second best. Dunlap had captured the Northeast Amateur and the North & South Amateur.
However, his U.S. Amateur campaign got off to a rough start. He was 5 over after seven holes at stroke-play co-host Colorado Golf Club in a stretch that included playing the wrong ball on the third hole and four putting on the fifth.
But Curl, who was on the bag for his U.S. Junior win, as well, wrote something down in his yardage book. “This can be an AMAZING story if you let go and LET IT HAPPEN!!!”
“I was honestly just trying to give myself a chance with nine holes to play to try to make the cut,” Dunlap said.
Dunlap, who was ninth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, fought back and ended shooting up even-par the rest of the day. He finished T-38 after stroke play and got the 41st seed in match play.
His opening matchup? World No. 1 Gordon Sargent.
He dispatched his future Walker Cup teammate and then beat Denver native Connor Jones 4 and 2. He needed 19 holes in his quarterfinal to advance against incoming Auburn freshman Jackson Koivun, overcoming a cold putter. Then in the semifinals and championship match, that same putter took over.
“I’m stoked with how I played,” Dunlap said. “I executed exactly what I was trying to do.”
Nick Dunlap reacts to making his putt on hole 28 during the final match of the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills C.C. in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)
Dunlap was 1 up thru 17 holes in the morning wave before Shipley hit one tight on the 18th and made birdie. Shipley, a 22-year-old graduate student from Ohio State, became a fan favorite during the weeks thanks to his long hair and interactions with the crowd.
Dunlap received cheers, but when Shipley did something well, the crowd of nearly 4,000 roared.
“I just never thought that would happen ever,” Shipley said. “This is going to be a special place because of that.”
Dunlap said the turning point came on the par-4 ninth, the 27th hole, when he made a long birdie putt when Shipley was in tight. He said that stopped Shipley trying to gain back momentum and kept him at arm’s length.
Even late in the round as Dunlap led 4-up with six to play, Shipley threw a shot to 5 feet on the par-4 13th, bringing the electric crowd to its feet with thunderous applause. Dunlap was long and in the rough and took two shots to get out, conceding the hole.
Both players found the fairway with their tee shots on the par-4 14th, but Shipley pulled his approach to a front left pin and was nearly in the water. With an open green, Dunlap’s approach also went left but not as far. Shipley had to hack at it ball, and it skirted across the green.
With a chance to close the door, Dunlap left his first chip short but then used a Texas wedge to get a conceded bogey. Shipley had a chance to match but missed a 4-footer, the victim of a cold putter during the afternoon round.
Nick Dunlap and his caddie Jeff Curl embrace after winning the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills C.C. in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)
Then on 15, the closing par 3, Dunlap two putted for par and Shipley missed his birdie chance, ending the match.
“The nerves, I couldn’t feel my hands, I couldn’t feel my legs,” Dunlap said. “Couldn’t feel anything.”
Dunlap’s Alabama teammates flew in early Sunday morning and were there for a majority of the championship match. Coach Jay Seawell was there since Saturday and had a celebratory milkshake after the small ceremony on the 15th green.
“I’m just so proud of him,” said Seawell, who Saturday said Dunlap was as talented as any player he had coached. “All I told him was thank you, there’s a lot of people you’ve allowed to come alongside of you.”
Dunlap’s parents also arrived Saturday, so there were plenty of photos and hugs following his win.
Even with his poor start, Dunlap found a way to get into match play. Then he slowly and methodically took apart each opponent, creeping closer to the championship match.
After Sunday, Dunlap’s record in match play dating to July 2021 is 30-2. It was the first time in four appearances he made match play at the U.S. Amateur.
“I just learned that I could do it,” Dunlap said. “I always thought I could, but when you’re 5 over thru seven, your mind is spinning, you can’t see straight and all you see is red.
“I just learned that anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it.”
The best amateur in the world won the best amateur championship in the world. And he made history doing so.
The first name the champ looked for on the Havemeyer Trophy when he got it? Tiger Woods. A name Dunlap is paired with in the annals of the sport forever.
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — Anytime your name is mentioned with Tiger Woods in the world of golf, you must be doing something right.
Nick Dunlap has a chance to achieve something only Woods has done Sunday in the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club. Win both the U.S. Junior and U.S. Amateur.
Woods is the only male amateur to win the U.S. Junior and U.S. Amateur. He won three U.S. Juniors from 1991-93 and then three straight U.S. Amateurs from 1994-96.
“It’s pretty good,” Dunlap said of possibly matching Woods. “It would be pretty cool company. It’s something that’s been a goal of mine for a long, long time. It’s the same thing, 36 holes; it’s a marathon tomorrow. It’s a lot of golf.”
Tiger Woods kisses the U.S. Amateur trophy after winning an unprecedented third U.S. Amateur championship, Sunday, Aug. 25, 1996, at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore. Woods won the title on the 38th hole.
Although Dunlap, a rising sophomore at Alabama, would be the second to do it on the men’s side, eight women have pulled off the USGA double, most recently Rose Zhang. And she is the only one to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur (2020) before the U.S. Girls’ Junior (2021).
Dunlap’s run to the championship should be no surprise. He has been the best male amateur this summer. He won twice, at the Northeast Amateur and North & South Amateur. He is 29-2 in match play since July 2021.
His partnership with Jeff Curl, Dunlap’s 44-year-old caddie who is a former pro, is another reason for Dunlap’s dominance. Curl was on the bag for his U.S. Junior win, too.
Alabama coach Jay Seawell said he’s not surprised by Dunlap’s run of success. And he has seen his fair share of strong golfers come through the Crimson Tide program, including two-time major winner Justin Thomas and recent Tour winner Lee Hodges.
“He’s as good as anybody that has walked through the doors at Alabama since I’ve been there,” Seawell said. “He’s as talented as anyone we’ve ever had.”
Dunlap’s Alabama teammates will be at Cherry Hills on Sunday for the championship match. So will Seawell, who followed along with his star 19-year-old for the majority of his semifinal match.
Seawell credits Dunlap’s match-play prowess to his killer instinct. He said Dunlap has a perfect mindset for match play, always understanding what he needs to do and what a certain shot or putt can do to his chances to win.
“He has an assassin’s mentality,” Seawell said.
Nick Dunlap chats with NFL quarterback legend Peyton Manning after Dunlap won his match 3 and 2 during the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills C.C. in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)
Dunlap has also been in control of his emotions all week, never getting too high or too low. Even with a few thousand spectators strolling the grounds of Cherry Hills on Saturday, Dunlap was so locked in he didn’t notice Peyton Manning, a member at the course outside of Denver, standing feet from him during the final holes of his match.
Come Sunday, Dunlap has a chance at history. And he’s in for the long haul.
“There’s going to be ups and downs, there’s going to be changes in momentum, there’s going to be … I don’t know what’s going to be thrown at me, but I’m ready for it,” Dunlap said.
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — Nick Dunlap and Neal Shipley have been the two best amateur golfers this summer.
Dunlap finished second in the Elite Amateur Series standings with two wins at the Northeast Amateur and the North & South Amateur. Shipley finished fourth, with two runner-up finishes and a T-3 in the Elite Amateur Series. He also had another runner-up at the Dogwood Invitational.
That’s why it’s no surprise they’re the final two golfers standing in the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club.
The duo each locked up 2024 Masters and 2024 U.S. Open invites next summer, but the first thing on their minds heading to Sunday will be hoisting the Havemeyer Trophy in the Mile High City.
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — Parker Bell has come a long way in the last few months.
The rising sophomore at Florida was told he wasn’t qualifying for the Gators last event of the season. Coach J.C. Deacon wanted Parker to work on his game. He had qualified for only one event his freshman season, and the rest of it was a struggle.
“It was definitely very humbling,” Bell said. “But I kind of deserved it. Like I played bad — my spring was really, really disappointing.”
Bell went from being told he couldn’t qualify at the end of his freshman season to earning a spot in the 2023 U.S. Amateur semifinals, where he’ll face Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap at 2 p.m. ET Saturday. Plenty has changed in the past few months, but it all started with the conversation with Deacon.
“This summer I’ve played in some bigger events and put myself in positions where you’ve just got to step up there and hit it,” Bell said. “You can’t let the nerves get in the way.”
On Friday, Bell knocked off Ben James, the reigning Phil Mickelson Award winner at Virginia as the nation’s top freshman. James is ranked sixth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Dunlap is ninth.
Bell? He’s 534th.
“I knew I had the game coming into this. I always felt like I was maybe a little bit overlooked before.”@GatorsGolf’s Parker Bell is riding momentum and confidence into the semifinals. 💪 #USAmateur
He qualified for one tournament in the fall, and he thought it would be the turning point of his season. However, it was the opposite.
“I was not ready,” Bell said. “Hadn’t played in a lot of big tournaments until then, and my nerves just got the best of me, and I guess ever since then, the rest of the season, it just never really got any better.”
After being told he wasn’t qualifying for Florida’s final tournament in the spring, Bell went to see his swing coach, Jeff Smith, in Tennessee. They worked out the kinks of what was wrong. He watched as the Gators went to Grayhawk Golf Club in Arizona and won the national championship. That only added motivation.
Slowly but surely, Bell started to figure his game out. Although he hasn’t had a dominant summer, he wasn’t deterred.
Parker Bell watches his tee shot on hole three during the quarterfinals of the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills C.C. in Cherry Hills Village, Colo. on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)
“I knew I had the game coming into this,” Bell said. “I always felt like I was maybe a little bit overlooked before going into this tournament. I knew I had the game to make the match play. That was my goal going in was just get to the match play because I know that anything can happen.
“It’s always been something that’s held me back. It’s been either the putter or I make a double here or a double there. I’m glad this week it’s kind of all come together.”
Bell led 2 up with three to play Friday against James, and the latter fought back in a big way. James drained two long putts to win consecutive holes and tie the match heading to 18. Then, James had a 3-footer to win the match on 18 before it slid by.
“I really thought it was over,” Bell said. “He was steady all day putting. When he missed it, it felt like new life, and I’m sure he was pretty boggled by that.”
The duo marched to the first tee, where Bell striped a 5-wood and barely missed the green, but he got up and down for birdie, winning the hole for the second time Friday and punching his ticket to the semifinal.
He said the emotion when the birdie putt dropped was unlike anything he has ever felt.
“Just where I was 15 minutes before then, like head in my hands, thinking my tournament is over, to all of a sudden I have a chance to win tomorrow and play in the Masters,” Bell said. “Just a huge, huge emotion, and I kind of let it all out with the fist pump. But I had to.”
Regardless of Saturday’s result, it’s safe to say Bell won’t be worried about qualifiers anymore.
Here’s everything you need to know from the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur.
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — As the week has gone on at the 2023 U.S. Amateur, the course has gotten tougher, stakes have gotten higher and the players are coming closer to hoisting the Havemeyer Trophy.
The quarterfinals at the U.S. Amateur are complete, meaning we’re down to four players in the Mile High City. Tee times went off early Friday morning in anticipation of afternoon thunderstorms in the Denver area, but Cherry Hills was baked in sunshine all morning.
Among the semifinalists are one of the favorites coming in, a player who has come oh-so-close to winning this summer but hasn’t quite pulled it off and a pair looking for their signature win.
The remaining players are all American heading into the semifinals.
“But at the end of the day, it is what it is and I’ll be rooting for Team USA no matter what.”
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — Only three players have ever won a U.S. Amateur, NCAA individual championship and U.S. Open: Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau won the NCAA title at SMU in 2015. A couple months later, he went to Olympia Fields outside of Chicago and captured the U.S. Amateur in his fifth appearance. Then in 2020, he won his first major title at Winged Foot in New York.
However, in 2012, DeChambeau teed it up at Cherry Hills Country Club, site of this week’s U.S. Amateur, in his second appearance in the championship.
DeChambeau was back on property Thursday afternoon, taking in some of the action from Round of 16 matches. He signed autographs, took pictures and followed around a few groups. He even hit a couple of shots with a persimmon driver from the Arnold Palmer tee on the first hole, where Palmer famously drove the green in the final round en route to winning the 1960 U.S. Open.
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — After a grueling Thursday at Cherry Hills Country Club, the 2023 U.S. Amateur is down to eight vying for the Havemeyer Trophy.
Cherry Hills started to show its teeth, especially during the Round of 16 on Thursday afternoon. The wind picked up, the greens became more firm and started browning out, and players who stayed out of trouble took advantage.
However, one semifinal match was tied heading to a 19th hole on Friday morning, and it had an incredible ending Thursday night before play was suspended due to darkness.
Eight golfers are closer to winning the biggest championship in men’s amateur golf.
Friday’s quarterfinal tee times were moved up to the morning because of possible severe weather in the afternoon. The first tee time will be at 10:30 a.m. ET.
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — It was a bad morning to be a co-medalist in the 2023 U.S. Amateur.
Blades Brown, who at 16 became the youngest medalist in U.S. Amateur history, Jackson Buchanan and Sampson Zheng, the top three seeds at Cherry Hills Country Club, lost in their Round of 32 matches Thursday morning.
Brown, who shot 64 on Tuesday at Colorado Golf Club, the stroke-play co-host, led 1 up after seven holes but proceeded to lose three of the next four to Auburn’s Jackson Koivun. Then, Koivun won consecutive holes on Nos. 14 and 15 to end the match, 4 and 3.
Buchanan, a senior at Illinois, fell in a similar fashion, losing 4 and 3 to Cooper Jones, an incoming freshman at BYU. The match was tied walking to the ninth tee, but Jones proceeded to win four straight holes to take command.
Then, the final co-medalist from stroke play, Sampson Zheng of China, lost to Mexico’s Jose Islas, 2 and 1, meaning all three co-medalists and the top three seeds are out after the Round of 32.
Nick Dunlap, who knocked off World No. 1 Gordon Sargent in the Round of 64, topped local Connor Jones on Thursday morning, 4 and 3. He’ll face Bowen Mauss of Draper, Utah next.
After Thursday’s Round of 16, the quarterfinals will be set for Friday. The semifinals will be Saturday with the 36-hole final set for Sunday.
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Round of 16 matchups
No. 32 Jackson Koivun vs. No. 48 Matthew Sutherland, 4 p.m. ET
No. 57 Bowen Mauss vs. No. 41 Nick Dunlap, 4:10 p.m. ET
No. 4 Maxwell Ford vs. No. 52 Parker Bell, 4:20 p.m. ET
No. 28 David Ford vs. No. 12 Ben James, 4:30 p.m. ET
No. 31 Cooper Jones vs. No. 47 Neal Shipley, 4:40 p.m. ET
No. 7 Andi Xu vs. No. 42 Connor Gaunt, 4:50 p.m. ET
No. 30 Jose Islas vs. No. 51 Carson Bacha, 5 p.m. ET
No. 38 Rui Chang vs. No. 11 John Marshall Butler, 5:10 p.m. ET
Maxwell Ford and Andi Xu are the lone remaining single-digit seeds.
The Round of 16 field
There are 16 golfers left and just three are international players: China’s Andi Xu and Rui Chang and Mexico’s Jose Islas.
The match-play portion of the 2023 U.S. Amateur began Wednesday at Cherry Hills Country Club, and with that came the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking falling in the Round of 64. However, there were numerous other events to happen on a steamy day in the Mile High City.
The youngest medalist in U.S. Amateur history, and top seed for match play, faces battles. There were players making a push for the U.S. Walker Cup team. There were also upsets and plenty of high-profile players heading home early.
Match play got off to a great start Wednesday, and there’s still plenty of golf to go.
