The 41st U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, which begins on Saturday at Erin Hills and Blue Mound Golf & Country Club in northern Wisconsin, will draw 264 participants from 43 states and 15 nations.
The U.S. Mid-Amateur, which attracts players ranging in age from 25 to 59, has one of the most varied and diversified fields of any USGA Championship event.
Where else will a set of brothers from Michigan, Blake and Derek Barribeau, battle against amateur aristocracy like Stewart Hagestad, Nathan Smith, and Mike McCoy? Blake, who worked as a caddy at Winged Foot Golf Club and played collegiate soccer, won an 8-for-1 playoff to qualify for his first USGA Championship, while Derek, who works in sales for an automotive electronics supplier, attended Grand Valley State University.
Hagestad, Smith, and McCoy have won eight USGA titles between them, and the latter two will captain Team USA in the next two Walker Cup matches.
If Jeff Butler, Seiji Liu, and Joey Gullion get together for lunch, don’t anticipate any light conversation. Butler got a Ph.D. in chemistry (organic synthesis) from the University of California, Davis, and did post-doctoral research in the same field at the University of Texas. He is presently the president of a pharmaceutical fine chemicals and components manufacturer. Liu is the co-founder and chief operational officer of Forme (Science), a foundation for physical and cognitive health, while Gullion is the chief commercial officer for a business that develops and produces chemical intermediates.
Jeronimo Esteve, 41, of Puerto Rico, is vice president and general manager of an automobile firm and a driving teacher for high-performance racing vehicles when he is not playing golf. Esteve has competed in a 25-hour endurance race and has built cars capable of competing at that level. He’s competed in nine USGA tournaments, including six US Mid-Amateurs, and has reached match play three times.
Raymond Floyd Jr., 47, is the son of World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Raymond Floyd, who won the 1986 U.S. Open, three other major professional titles, and 22 PGA Tour events; Nate McCoy, the son of former U.S. Mid-Amateur and current British Senior Amateur champion Nate McCoy; and Dalton Melnyk, whose father, Steve, won the 1969 U.S. Amateur, played on two USA Walker Cup Teams, and was a
And don’t be shocked if James Leow, 25, a former Singapore Army sergeant and instructor, has a strong run at Erin Hills. Leow just finished his college career at Arizona State and won the renowned Pacific Coast Amateur in July.
Here’s a closer look at the 264-player field fighting for the Robert T. Jones Jr. Memorial Trophy, which begins Saturday in Wisconsin.
Within the Field
There are 264 golfers in the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur field, including:
Michael McCoy (59, born 11-21-62), Jeff Frazier (57, born 9-21-64), and Doug Clapp are the oldest competitors (55, born 5-28-67)
Connor Lyon (25, born 7-21-97), Daniel Connolly (25, born 6-30-97), Mitchell Ford (25, born 6-20-97), Hugh Foley (25, born 5-9-97), and Rhett Pooley are the youngest competitors (25, born 5-8-97)
Field Average Age: 35.46
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What Did You Know? In the second round of the 1998 U.S. Mid-Amateur at NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio, Mike McCoy beat Doug Clapp. “That was probably before some of the 25-year-olds in the field this year could walk,” Clapp said. “It definitely makes me feel elderly.”
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The following states are represented in the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur: California (26), Texas (22), and Florida (16) North Carolina (15), Illinois (12), Pennsylvania (12), New York (8), South Carolina (8), Massachusetts (7), Ohio (7), Michigan (6), New Jersey (6), Tennessee (6), Colorado (5), Connecticut (5), Georgia (5), Maryland (5), Minnesota (5), Oklahoma (5), Oregon (5), Alabama (4), Iowa (4), Louisiana (4), Missouri (4), Nebraska (4), Virginia (4), Wisconsin (4), Alaska (1), Arkansas (1), Idaho (1), Kan. (1).
International: The United States (239), Canada (8), Australia (2), Republic of Ireland (2), Mexico (2), Panama (2), Argentina (1), France (1), Guatemala (1), New Zealand (1), Puerto Rico (1), Singapore (1), South Africa (1), Sweden (1), and Venezuela are all represented in the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur (1).
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