4 Coloradans will share honor of hitting first tee shots of U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills and Colorado GC; 46 of top 50 in world amateur golf rankings are in the field, including No. 1 Gordon Sargent
By Gary Baines – 8/10/2023
The honor of hitting the first tee shot at USGA championships often goes to a golfer with strong ties to the area that’s hosting the tournament.
For instance, last month at the U.S. Girls’ Junior held at Eisenhower Golf Club at the Air Force Academy, Logan Hale of Erie — the lone Coloradan in the field — teed it up first.
When the U.S. Amateur starts on Monday, four Coloradans will share that “first tee shot” honor. The setup of the U.S. Am — where the 312 players start their rounds at two courses and a total of four tee boxes — makes it possible.
So opening the championship at 7 a.m. on Monday will be:
— Colin Prater of Colorado Springs on No. 1 at Cherry Hills Country Club.
— Connor Jones of Westminster on No. 1 at Colorado Golf Club in Parker.
— Pat Grady of Westminster on No. 10 at Cherry Hills.
— And Jack Castiglia of Lakewood on No. 10 at Colorado Golf Club.
Then on Tuesday, Coloradans teeing it up first — at 7 a.m. — will be:
— Gavin Hagstrom of Fort Collins on No. 1 at Colorado Golf Club.
— Blake Trimble of Denver on No. 10 at Colorado Golf Club.
— And Nick Nosewicz of Aurora on No 10 at Cherry Hills.
It should be noted that Jones (2022), Prater (2020) and Grady (2007 and ’08) are former CGA Players of the Year, and Nosewicz is a two-time winner of the CGA Match Play.
In all, a dozen players with strong Colorado ties are currently in the field for the U.S. Am, which will follow up the two stroke-play rounds with match play from Wednesday through Sunday, Aug. 20, when a champion will be crowned after the scheduled 36-hole final.
Here are all of the locals, and their Monday and Tuesday tee times:
— Davis Bryant of Aurora — 2:20 p.m. Monday (CGC #10), 8:50 a.m. Tuesday (CH #1).
— Jack Castiglia of Lakewood — 7 a.m. Monday (CGC #10), 12:30 p.m. Tuesday (CH #1).
— Pat Grady of Westminster — 7 a.m. Monday (CH #10), 12:30 p.m. Tuesday (CGC #1).
— Gavin Hagstrom of Fort Collins — 12:30 p.m. Monday (CH #10), 7 a.m. Tuesday (CGC #1).
— Future CU golfer Brandon Knight — 12:41 p.m. Monday (CGC #10), 7:11 a.m. Tuesday (CH #1).
— Connor Jones of Westminster, a CSU golfer — 7 a.m. Monday (CGC #1), 12:30 p.m. Tuesday (CH #10).
— CU golfer Dylan McDermott — 8:06 a.m. Monday (CH #10), 1:36 p.m. Tuesday (CGC #1).
— Nick Nosewicz of Aurora — 12:30 p.m. Monday (CGC #1), 7 a.m. Tuesday (CH #10).
— Cole Nygren of Longmont — 7:22 a.m. Monday (CH #10), 12:52 p.m. Tuesday (CGC #1).
— Future CU golfer Parker Paxton — 9:12 a.m. Monday (CGC #1), 2:42 p.m. Tuesday (CH #10).
— Colin Prater of Colorado Springs — 7 a.m. Monday (CH #1), 12:30 p.m. Tuesday (CGC #10).
— Blake Trimble of Denver — 12:30 p.m. Monday (CH #1), 7 a.m. Tuesday (CGC #10).
For all the tee times for Monday and Tuesday’s stroke-play rounds at the U.S. Amateur, CLICK HERE.
Gordon Sargent Leads Impressive 2023 Player Contingent: If there was any question as to the strength of field for the 2023 U.S. Amateur, the entrants as of Thursday should dispel that.
Forty-six of the top 50 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking are scheduled to tee it up, including No. 1 Gordon Sargent of Birmingham, Ala., the 2022 NCAA individual champion from Vanderbilt and the low amateur at this year’s U.S. Open.
However, the No. 2 player in the WAGR, Michael Thorbjornsen from Stanford, announced this week that he will miss the U.S. Am — and the Walker Cup — due to a stress fracture in his back. Thorbjornsen won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2018.
Also not coming to Cherry Hills is No. 3-ranked Christo Lamprecht of Georgia Tech, the 2023 British Amateur champion.
Here are the players ranked in the top 50 who are in the field for the U.S. Amateur:
1. Gordon Sargent of Birmingham, Ala. (2022 NCAA individual champ)
4. David Ford of Peachtree Corners, Ga.
5. Dylan Menante of Carlsbad, Calif.
6. Benjamin James of Milford, Conn.
7. Caleb Surratt of Indian Trail, N.C.
8. Austin Greaser of Vandalia, Ohio
9. Nick Dunlap of Huntsville, Ala. (won 2023 Northeast Amateur and North & South Amateur)
10. Nick Gabrelcik of Trinity, Fla. (won 2023 Southern Amateur)
11. John Gough of England
12. Cole Sherwood of Austin, Texas
13. Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach, Calif.
14. Luke Clanton of Hialeah, Fla.
15. Christian Maas of South Africa
16. Yuta Sugiura of Japan
17. Frederik Kjettrup of Denmark
18. Michael Brennan of Leesburg, Va.
19. Preston Summerhays of Scottsdale, Ariz.
20. Jose Luis Ballester of Spain
22. Wenyi Ding of China
23. Maxwell Moldovan of Uniontown, Ohio
24. William Moll of Houston
25. Barclay Brown of England
26. Andre Goodman of Norman, Okla.
27. Herman Sekne of Norway
28. Ratchanon Chantananuwat of Thailand
29. Albert Hansson of Sweden
30. Kazuma Kobori (won 2023 Western Amateur)
31. Jonas Baumgartner of Germany
32. Brian Stark of Kingsburg, Calif.
33. Ben Lorenz of Peoria, Ariz.
34. Calum Scott of Scotland
35. Gustav Frimodt of Denmark
36. Karl Vilips of Australia
37. Bryce Lewis of Hendersonville, Tenn.
38. Michael Mjaaseth of Norway
39. Harrison Crowe of Australia
40. Tobias Jonsson of Sweden
41. Matthew Riedel of Houston
42. Bartley Forrester of Gainesville, Ga.
43. Caden Fioroni of San Diego
44. Jackson Van Paris of Pinehurst, N.C. (won 2023 Sunnehanna Amateur)
45. Canon Claycomb of Bowling Green, Ky.
46. Cole Anderson of Camden, Maine
48. Jeffrey Guan of Australia
49. Sampson Zheng of China
50. John Butler of Louisville, Ky.
Two Coloradans who are playing in the U.S. Amateur are in the top 100 in the WAGR: Connor Jones of Westminster (No. 90) and Davis Bryant of Aurora (No. 91), former teammates at Colorado State.
Meanwhile, numerous USGA champions are scheduled to compete in the U.S. Am:
Wenyi Ding of China (2022 U.S. Junior Amateur)
Aaron Du of China (2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball)
Nick Dunlap of Huntsville, Ala. (2021 U.S. Junior Amateur)
Gene Elliott of West Des Moines, Iowa (2021 U.S. Senior Amateur)
Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach, Calif. (2016, 2021 U.S. Mid-Amateur)
Bryan Kim of Brookeville, Md. (2023 U.S. Junior Amateur),
Matthew McClean of Northern Ireland (2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur)
Rusty Strawn of McDonough, Ga. (2022 U.S. Senior Amateur)
Preston Summerhays of Scottsdale, Ariz. (2019 U.S. Junior Amateur)
Sampson Zheng of China (2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball)
More Information: To read a U.S. Amateur preview package that includes information on the strength of field of the last U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills, details about course setup for next week, the daily schedule, TV plans, the Junior Experience and tickets, CLICK HERE.
For additional information on the U.S. Amateur, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com