The 8th U.S. Amateur Four Ball Championship kicks off this week from Kiawah Island Club and will be played on the Cassique and River Courses.
The Kiawah Island Club’s Cassique Course opened in 2000 and was designed by Tom Watson, the 1982 U.S. Open champion and a five-time winner of The Open Championship, conducted by The R&A. The links-style course is named for the Kiawah Indian chief who settled in an area where the Kiawah River meets the Atlantic Ocean. The River Course, designed by Tom Fazio, was the club’s first course, opening in 1995. It overlooks the Kiawah River to the north and Bass Pond to the southeast. Six holes play to the river’s edge while the others play through marsh and maritime forest.
Cassique will be set up at 6,936 yards and will play to a par of 35-36–71. The River Course, which will serve as the stroke-play co-host course for the first two days, will be set up at 7,048 yards and will play to a par of 36-35–71.
ABOUT KIAWAH ISLAND CLUB’S CASSIQUE COURSE
In designing his debut North American course, golf legend Tom Watson worked in direct concert with Kiawah’s gorgeous natural terrain. His signature 7,050-yard test ranges through maritime forest and along marshes where the Kiawah River and the Atlantic Ocean meet. Lessons learned from a career highlighted by five British Open Championships informed the creation of the par-72 links-style course. Because the walkable layout, conjuring tracts popular on Celtic courses, offered little protection from ocean winds, Watson fashioned holes that could be navigated in a variety of ways, depending on weather conditions. Hence, a golfer’s personal creativity plays a key role in conquering Cassique.
ENTRIES
The championship is open to teams (or sides) of amateurs, with each player’s Handicap Index® not exceeding 5.4. The deadline for entries was Aug. 10, 2022. There are no age restrictions and partners are not required to be from the same club, state or country. The USGA accepted 2,551 entries (5,102 players) for the 2023 championship, the most entries since the championship began in 2015. The second-most entries accepted was 2,544 in 2021.
QUALIFYING
Qualifying, conducted over 18 holes, was held at 52 sites nationwide between Aug. 22 and Dec. 31, 2022. These qualifying sites were in 37 states, including six in California and three in Florida and Texas. Click here for a full list of qualifying results.
CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
A starting field of 128 sides (256 players) will play two rounds of stroke play, with the low 32 sides (64 players) advancing to match play. Six 18-hole rounds of match play will determine the champion.
SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Practice rounds will take place May 18 and 19, and the championship schedule is as follows:
May 20 (Saturday): First round, stroke play
May 21 (Sunday): Second round, stroke play
May 22 (Monday): Round of 32, match play
May 23 (Tuesday): Round of 16 and quarterfinal rounds, match play
May 24 (Wednesday): Semifinal and championship rounds, match play
WHAT THE WINNERS RECEIVE
A 10-year exemption from qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, provided the side remains intact and amateur
Exemption for each player into the 2023 U.S. Amateur
Exemptions into the 2023 U.S. Junior, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur (if age-eligible)
Gold medals and custody of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Trophy for one year
Their names inscribed on a plaque recognizing all 2023 USGA champions that will reside in the Hall of Champions at the USGA Golf Museum in Liberty Corner, N.J.
EXEMPT PLAYERS: A total of seventeen sides or 34 players are fully exempt into the 2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball based on performances in USGA championships and other elite amateur competitions. Four additional players (two sides) gained exemption into the championship by being in the top 400 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR) as of the close of entries on Aug. 10, 2022.
Chad Wilfong/Davis Womble (2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champions)
Drew Kittleson/Drew Stoltz (2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball runners-up)
Evan Beck/Dan Walters (2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball semifinalists)
Carter Loflin/Wells Williams (2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball semifinalists)
Torey Edwards/Bret Parker (2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball quarterfinalists)
Ty Gingerich/Cole Harris (2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball quarterfinalists)
Zach Kingslund/William Sides (2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball quarterfinalists)
Marc Dull/Chip Brooke (2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball quarterfinalists)
Tyler Anderson/Devin Johnson (2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball semifinalists)
Scott Harvey/Todd Mitchell (2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champions)
Benjamim Baxter/Andrew Buchanan (2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champions)
Nathan Smith/Todd White (2015 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champions)
Sampsonyunhe Zheng/Aaron Du (Both members of side among top 400 points leaders in World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Garrett Rank/Joseph Deraney (Both members of side among top 400 points leaders in World Amateur Golf Ranking)
Jonathan Lai/Joe Willis (Special Exemption/Illness)
Lee Knox/Bobby Wyatt (Special Exemption/Paternity)
Travis Milleman/Ted Gray (Special Exemption/Paternity)
2022 CHAMPIONSHIP
A pair of Wake Forest alums, Chad Wilfong and Davis Womble, became the first side to medal in stroke play and go on to win the championship with a dramatic, come-from-behind, 19-hole victory over Drew Kittleson and Drew Stoltz on the West Course of the Country Club of Birmingham. Down to their last putt on the 18th green and trailing by a hole, Wilfong delivered one of the biggest putts of his career, as he coolly converted to force extra holes after his 52-degree wedge from 115 yards stopped 8 feet from the flagstick. Neither Kittleson nor Stoltz were able to find the fairway on the 372-yard, par-4 19th – the first hole of the West Course – leading to two bogeys, unable to match pars posted by Wilfong and Womble, ending the championship as the sun was about to set. It was the second consecutive year that the championship match was decided in extra holes.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship was played for the first time in 2015, along with the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball. The championships were the first additions to the USGA competition roster since the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur was first conducted in 1987. The addition of the two Amateur Four-Ball championships to the USGA competition schedule was announced on Feb. 11, 2013. The U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship Trophy and its companion trophy for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship were the first new commemorative pieces commissioned by the USGA since 1953. The etching on its face reflects golfers in contemporary attire, while the design pays homage to the Association’s storied traditions. The trophy was designed by Colin Hellier, with engravings by David Williams, and manufactured by Nicholas Winton, Ltd., of Cheshire, England.
CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
2015: Nathan Smith & Todd White def. Sherrill Britt & Greg Earnhardt, 7 and 5; The Olympic Club (Lake Course), San Francisco, Calif.
2016: Benjamin Baxter & Andrew Buchanan def. Brandon Cigna & Ben Warnquist, 3 and 2; Winged Foot G.C. (East Course), Mamaroneck, N.Y.
2017: Frankie Capan & Shuai Ming Wong def. Clark Collier & Kyle Hudelson, 2 and 1; Pinehurst R. & C.C. (Course No. 2), Village of Pinehurst, N.C.
2018: Garrett Barber & Cole Hammer def. Chip Brooke & Mark Dull, 4 and 3; Jupiter Hills Club (Hills Course), Tequesta, Fla.
2019: Scott Harvey & Todd Mitchell def. Blake Taylor & Logan Shuping, 2 and 1; Bandon Dunes (Old Macdonald Course), Bandon, Ore.
2020: No championship (COVID-19)
2021: Kiko Francisco Coelho & Leopoldo Herrera III def. Brendan McDougall & Sam Meek, 1 up (19 holes); Chambers Bay, University Place, Wash.
2022: Chad Wilfong & Davis Womble def. Drew Kittleson & Drew Stoltz (19 holes); Birmingham Country Club, Birmingham, Ala.
USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT KIAWAH ISLAND CLUB
2009 U.S. Mid-Amateur: Nathan Smith def. Tim Spitz, 7&6
OTHER CHAMPIONSHIPS AT KIAWAH ISLAND CLUB
2000 South Carolina Amateur (Lucas Glover)
2001 UBS Cup (USA def. World Team, 12.5-11.5)
USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SOUTH CAROLINA
This will be the 20th USGA championship and first U.S. Amateur Four-Ball contested in South Carolina. Three USGA championships have been held at both Berkeley Hall Club (2005 Women’s State Team, 2005 Men’s State Team, 2021 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur) and Dunes G. & B.C. (1962 U.S. Women’s Open, 1977 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, 2017 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball).
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FOUR-BALL AND FOURSOMES?
While each involves four players, four-ball and foursomes are different formats.
In four-ball, matches are played in pairs (a player and a partner, called a side, against another player and partner), with each golfer playing his or her own ball on each hole. At the end of each hole, the player with the lowest score wins that hole for the side. In stroke play, the low score is the side’s score for that hole.
Foursomes matches are also played in pairs (one side against another side), but each pair plays with only one ball. In this format, each player takes turns hitting the ball from the teeing ground and during play of each hole, with “Player A” hitting the tee shot, “Player B” the second shot, “Player A” the third, and so on. While the side can choose the order, if “Player A” hits the tee shots on odd-numbered holes, “Player B” must hit them on even-numbered holes.
FUTURE SITES
May 25-29, 2024: Philadelphia Cricket Club (Wissahickon and Militia Hill Courses), Philadelphia, Pa.
May 16-20, 2026: Desert Mountain Club, Scottsdale, Ariz.
TBD, 2037: Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore.
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