Harrison Crowe and Jeffrey Guan will get their US Amateur Campaigns underway when the first round of the 36-hole strokeplay qualifying begins in Colorado tonight.
St. Michael’s representative Crowe will be the first Australian out with his round to begin at 9.11 pm AEST at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, while Guan will get underway just over an hour later (10.17 pm) from the 10th, also at Cherry Hills.
Crowe, 22, is competing in his second US Amateur. The reigning Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion, who reached a career-high 23rd on the World Amateur Golf Ranking, competed in this year’s Masters and British Open.
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Fresh off a victory in the Bonallack Trophy as part of the Asia-Pacific Team, Crowe will be looking for a significant improvement on his 2022 US Amateur campaign, where he failed to make the matchplay rounds.
Guan is making his debut in the storied championship. Already in the world’s top 50 on the WAGR, the 19-year-old has recorded two top-five finishes in the United States at the Southern Amateur and the Pacific Coast in the last month.
Two courses are in use this week for the 36-hole qualifying, Colorado Country Club and Cherry Hills Country Club. After the opening two rounds, the field will be reduced to the low 64 scores, with the matchplay conducted at Cherry Hills beginning Wednesday, concluding with a 36-hole final on Sunday, August. 20th.
With 312 players competing, the field is the strongest assembled recently, with players from 24 countries competing. Eighteen of the world’s top 20 male amateurs are in the field, with just the reigning amateur Champ, Christo Lamprecht of South Africa and Michael Thorbjornssen of the United States missing.
Two other Australians are in the field this week. Orlando, Florida-based Karl Vilips, ranked 36th on the WAGR, is making his fifth appearance in the storied championship. Another Florida-based Aussie, Kuangyu Chen, ranked 546th in the world, is making his second appearance in the US Amateur after missing the matchplay qualifying in 2021.
