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.
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.
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.
It’s time for the premier men’s amateur championship.
The 2023 U.S. Amateur started Monday at Cherry Hills Country Club and Colorado Golf Club, both in the Denver suburbs. The field of 312 players will complete 36 holes of stroke play, 18 at each course, before a cut is made to the top 64, who will advance to match play at Cherry Hills beginning Wednesday. This will be the 123rd U.S. Amateur.
Eighteen of the top 20 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking are in the field, including No. 1 Gordon Sargent.
Last year, Sam Bennett topped Ben Carr 1 up at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey.
Here’s a look at 10 players to watch at the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills.
The Walker Cup begins two months from Sunday and Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap has clearly made his case as to why he should be on the team.
With the biennial competition creeping closer, Dunlap again added a signature amateur win to his resume Sunday morning, capturing the 123rd North & South Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2, beating Stanford’s Karl Vilips 1 up in the match-play final. Because of thunderstorms in the Pinehurst, North Carolina, area on Saturday, the championship match’s final eight holes were completed Sunday morning, and Dunlap held on for his second victory in as many weeks.
— Pinehurst Resort (@PinehurstResort) July 2, 2023
Dunlap was a second-team All-American at Alabama as a freshman, finishing the year ranked 16th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. He qualified for the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club two weeks ago.
Now, he has won two of the first three Elite Amateur Series events of the summer. The North & South is the third of seven men’s events that are a part of the series. Up next is the 119th Trans-Mississippi Amateur from July 10-14 at Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas.
Nick Dunlap started the day three shots behind. He ended it holding the trophy.
Dunlap, an incoming sophomore at Alabama, shot 3-under 66 (par 69) in the final round to complete his comeback and win the 61st Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, Rhode Island. During Friday’s third round, Dunlap shot a 63 to get himself into the final pairing, and he took advantage, beating Tennessee sophomore Caleb Surratt by five shots on Saturday to win.
Dunlap and Surratt were tied heading into the 72nd hole, but Dunlap birdied while Surratt made bogey, a sour ending to a 2-over 71 in the final round. Dunlap, however, finished at 12-under 264 for a two-shot win.
Florida State’s Luke Clanton finished third at 8 under while Brian Stark and Davis Bryant tied for fourth at 7 under. Dylan Menante, the 2022 champion, finished T-9 at 2 under.
Dunlap had a strong freshman season for the Crimson Tide, finishing 16th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and earning second-team All-America honors. He won the Linger Longer Invitational, finished T-4 at the NCAA Norman Regional and placed T-11 at the NCAA Championship. Dunlap even qualified for the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course, where he missed the cut last week.
He has been playing his best golf as of late, and now he’s a Northeast Amateur champion, which should give him some strong momentum the rest of the summer and into his sophomore campaign.
The Northeast Amateur is the second of seven men’s events that are a part of the Elite Amateur Series. Up next is the 123rd North & South Amateur at Pinehurst in North Carolina from June 24-July 1.
The East West Matches bring together some of the best amateurs, mid-ams and senior amateurs in the United States.
In its infancy, the East West Matches is maybe the best amateur golf event you’ve never heard of.
The second playing of the event is set to tee off this weekend, Nov. 4-6.
The brainchild of two-time USGA champion and former Walker Cup participant Scott Harvey, the East West Matches combine some of the best amateurs, mid-ams and senior amateurs in the United States. The Ryder Cup-style event features two amateur players, six senior amateurs and 10 mid-amateur players per side.
The matches are back at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, where the inaugural Cup was won in dramatic fashion by the West in 2020. In fact, the man that clinched the winning half-point for the West, Patrick Christovich, is back to help the West defend their title.
Captained by 2005 U.S. Mid-Am champion, Kevin Marsh, the West has experience under pressure on its side. Returning Skip Berkmeyer, Derek Busby, Patrick Christovich, Brad Nurski and Robert Funk, the West is armed with a crew that went 9-9-1 and was a large part of the West’s monstrous 23-22 comeback win back in 2020.
In addition, the West has two amateur players ranked inside the top 110 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings — Pepperdine’s Derek Hitchner and Arizona State’s Luke Potter are ranked Nos. 105 and 38 in WAGR, respectively. The two should give a spark of energy to their mid-am and senior-am teammates.
The West celebrates its 23-22 comeback win over the East at the inaugural East West Matches (2020) at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas.
On the East side, there’s a sense of hunger and redemption. The East is also returning five players from their 2020 team. A murderer’s row of amateur golf talent that had a combined 2020 record of 15-4-1 but left Maridoe empty-handed.
Joe Deraney, Jeronimo Esteve, Scott Harvey, Doug Hanzel and Bob Royak look to take down the West this year and stake claim to what they came so close to having two years ago. The strength of the East team lies in both seniors and young gun amateurs.
Both Hanzel and Royak went 4-0-0 in the 2020 Matches. Now they bolster their lineup even more with the addition of Golfweek’s No. 1 ranked senior amateur Rusty Strawn. Tried and true, the colts in the East’s stable of talent are Alabama’s Nick Dunlap and Tennessee’s Caleb Surratt.
Dunlap was Golfweek’s No. 1 ranked recruit in the 2022 class and the 2021 AJGA Boys Golfer of the Year. Surratt is currently ranked No. 15 in WAGR and is the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur runner-up.
Who’s running the stable for the East, you ask? That would be two-time Walker Cup captain Nathaniel Crosby.
The East has brought out the big guns, but will they be able to redeem themselves after such a disappointing finish in 2020?
Time will tell and if we learned anything from the inaugural East West Matches, we know that anything can happen over the course of three days at Maridoe Golf Club.
Full Rosters
Mid-Amateurs
East: Andrew Bailey, Evan Beck, Chip Brooke, Mark Costanza, Joe Deraney, Jeronimo Esteve, Scott Harvey, Matt Mattare, Tug Maude, Chad Wilfong
West: Jason Anthony, Skip Berkmeyer, Denny Bull, Derek Busby, Patrick Christovich, Nick Guyer, Colby Harwell, John Hunter, Brad Nurski, John Swain
Senior Amateurs
East: Doug Hanzel, Steve Harwell, Billy Mitchell, Bob Royak, Rusty Strawn, Matt Sughrue
West: Tommy Brennan, Jon Brown, Robert Funk, John McClure, Mike McCoy, Mike Rowley
Amateurs
East: Nick Dunlap (Alabama) & Caleb Surratt (Tennessee)
West: Derek Hitchner (Pepperdine) & Luke Potter (Arizona State)
