Last season, the Tech golf team won the ACC and made a deep run in the NCAA Championships. In a display of the players’ progress, three of Tech’s golfers played well enough this summer to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship. Senior Paul Haley, junior William Miller and incoming freshman
Richard Werenski qualified for the event.
The U.S. Amateur Golf Championship is the oldest golf tournamnet in the United States, one day older than the U.S. Open. It was originally included in golf’s major championships.
Haley qualified for the Championship after tying for first at his qualifier at the Golf Club of Dallas, Texas. Haley played in 11 events for the Jackets last year, finishing in the top 20 five times while posting a 73.7 stroke average.
Haley played well at the end of the season going T4 at the ACC Championship and T9 at the NCAA Championship.
Miller came to Tech with impressive junior credentials, having won three junior titles in 2006 and qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur twice.
However, Miller played in only two events for the Jackets last season, but he still managed to qualify for the event after winning outright at the Indiana Country Club in Indiana, Pa.
Werenski enrolled in January but did not compete for the Yellow Jackets during the spring schedule.
Werenski also qualified for the Championship, which bodes well for future Tech teams.
Haley had two solid rounds at the Chambers Bay Golf Course posting a 78 and a 79. However, his eight-over par 157 was not good enough to qualify him for the match play portion of the tournament.
Miller had a terrible opening round of the tournament, ending day one with an 87, but a 76 on the second day left Miller tied for 216th place.
Werenski had a great tournament. The 18-year-old golfer shot a 69 on day one and followed that up with a solid 78. Werenski’s performance was good enough to earn him a spot in the match play portion of the Championship.
Werenski’s performance in the stoke play portion of the tournamnet earned him the 46th seed in the match play portion.
In the first match, Werenski took on No. 16 Gunner Wiebe from Denver, Co. Werenski and Wiebe went shot-for-shot throughout the match but in the end, Werenski defeated Wiebe two and one.
Werenski played 14th seeded Morgan Hoffman of Wyckoff, NJ on Thursday, but the results of that match came after time of printing.
Should Werenski win on Thursday, he would move on to the quarterfinals on Friday. The tournamnet will crown a champion on Sunday, Aug. 29.
Two Tech alumni have won the U.S. Amateur, Matt Kuchar most recently in 1997 in Lemont, Ill., following his freshman year.
The legendary Bobby Jones also won the event five times. Jones used his win in the Amateur to record golf’s first and only “grand slam”.