Fact Sheet - 104th US Amateur Championship

BY iseekgolf.com | US Mens Amateur Tour | 2004 US Amateur Championship | General | 16 Aug 2004

Par And Yardage
Winged Foot Golf Club (West Course) will play at 7,266 yards and par 35-35—70. The Club’s East Course, which will be used for the first two days of stroke play, will play at 6,775 yards and par 35-35– 70.

Winged Foot Golf Club
The West and East Courses at Winged Foot Golf Club were designed by A. W. Tillinghast and opened in 1923. The West Course has undergone a series of restorations by famous golf course architects since it opened. Interestingly, Tillinghast competed in a couple of US Amateurs between 1905 and 1915.

USGA Championships At Winged Foot
Winged Foot has hosted nine USGA championships. It hosted the US Open in 1929, 1959, 1974 and 1984. The US Women’s Open was played at Winged Foot in 1957 and 1972. The Senior Open was played here in 1980. US Amateur was previously played at Winged Foot in 1940, and the Walker Cup Match was held here in 1949.

A Winged Foot Member And Champion
Dick Chapman was a host club member in his late 20s when he won the 1940 US Amateur title at Winged Foot Golf Club. Now current club champion Andrew Svoboda, 24, of Mamaroneck, N.Y. will get his chance to duplicate the feat. He qualified for the Amateur field as medalist at Woodbridge (Conn.) Country Club on Aug. 3.

2003 Champion Nick Flanagan
Nick Flanagan of Australian built a 4-up lead, but needed to win the first extra hole (37th) to earn his victory in the final match over Casey Wittenberg of Memphis, Tenn. He became the second Australian to win the Amateur and the first in the last 100 years. A quick study, Flanagan had begun playing golf seriously just six years earlier. A former junior soccer player in Eleebara (near Sydney) in New South Wales, Flanagan spent the rest of 2003 playing for his national amateur team at home. He also was invited to play in the Australian Open in November 2003.

Note: Nick Flanagan turned professional following the British Open in July and will not defend his US Amateur title. Casey Wittenberg turned professional after the US Open in June.

Top Returning Players
Quarterfinalists from 2003 are fully exempt from having to qualify for the 2004 championship. Those exempt and entered (3) are Patrick Carter of Lesage, W.Va., Lee Williams of Alexander City, Ala., and George Zahringer of New York, N.Y.

Past Champions
No past champion who is fully exempt for this year’s US Amateur championship has entered. Each of the winners over the past 10 years, who would have been exempt, has turned professional, forfeiting their eligibility for the Championship.

Total Entries
The USGA accepted 7,356 entries for the 2004 US Amateur. The most entries ever received for an Amateur championship was 7,920 in 1999 when the US Amateur was played at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links.

Who Can Enter
The US Amateur Championship is open to amateur golfers who have USGA Handicap Indexes not exceeding 2.4. The Handicap limit was lowered from 3.4 in 1999.

Sectional Qualifying
Sectional qualifying was conducted over 36 holes at 100 sites from July 21–August 3.

The Winner Receives
The champion receives an exemption into the 2005 US Open and a probable invitation to play in the 2005 Masters Tournament, if he remains an amateur. He also receives a 10–year exemption into the US Amateur field so long as he remains an amateur.

Format
Following two days of stroke play (Monday, Aug. 16, and Tuesday, Aug. 17), the field of 312 golfers will be reduced to the lowest 64 scorers, who will advance to match play. All matches are 18 holes except the final match. The 36-hole championship final match is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 22.

Schedule Of Play
The first and second rounds of stroke play are set for Monday and Tuesday (Aug. 16-17) on the East and West Courses at Winged Foot Golf Club. All match play rounds will be played on the West Course. A single round of match play is scheduled on Wednesday (Aug. 18), followed by the second and third rounds on Thursday (Aug. 19), and single rounds again from Friday-Sunday (Aug. 20-22).

Source – 104th US Amateur Championship