Aug. 5, 2008
ATLANTA – Posting rounds of 71-70 on Monday and Tuesday at The Standard Club in Duluth, Ga., Georgia Tech senior Taylor Hall grabbed the final spot in that qualifying tournament and joins four other Yellow Jackets in the field for the 108th U.S. Amateur Golf Championship, which begins Aug. 18 in Pinehurst, N.C.
Hall, from LaGrange, Ga., finished at 3-under-par 141, four shots off the pace but good enough to capture one of six spots available in the 41-player field. He qualified along with Brent Witcher of Lawrenceville, Jack Hall of Sea Island, George Bryan IV of Chapin, S.C., James Bowen of Dawsonville and Wesley Bryan of Chapin, S.C.
The Tech senior joins current Tech players Chesson Hadley, a junior from Raleigh, N.C. (qualified at Goldsboro, N.C.), and Paul Haley, a sophomore from Dallas, Texas (qualified at Fort Worth. Texas), in the U.S. Amateur field, as well as 2006 graduate Mike Barbosa of St. Petersburg, Fla. (won qualifier at Boca Raton, Fla.), and incoming freshman Minghao Wang of Reunion, Fla. (qualified at York, Maine).
The U.S. Amateur Championship takes place at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in Village of Pinehurst, N.C., Aug. 18-24. A field of 312 players will compete in 36 holes of match play on Aug. 18-19, after which the low 64 finishers advance to the match play portion of the championship. Entries were open to amateur golfers who have a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 2.4. The U.S. Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association.
Two Tech alumni have won the U.S. Amateur, including the legendary Bobby Jones five times between 1924 and 1931, and Matt Kuchar in 1997.
