Eighty-five years after Frank Strafaci Sr. won the 1935 U.S. Amateur Public Links, his grandson, Tyler Strafaci, 22, of Davie, Fla., captured the U.S. Amateur Championship in dramatic fashion at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. The fifth-year Georgia Tech senior rallied from an early 5-down deficit to defeat Southern Methodist University rising junior Charles “Ollie” Osborne, 20, of Reno, Nev., 1 up, in the 36-hole championship match.
It was Strafaci’s fourth consecutive match to be decided on the final hole. This time, he laced a 4-iron from 245 yards to 25 feet to set up a two-putt birdie, the 25th of the match between the two finalists. When Osborne, who pushed his 5-iron second from 212 yards to the right of the green, failed to convert his birdie from 18 feet, the match was over.
An emotional Strafaci embraced his father/caddie, Frank Jr., his mother, Jill, and his older brother, Trent. He also was congratulated by 2021 USA Walker Cup captain Nathaniel Crosby, himself the 1981 U.S. Amateur champion, for earning a place on the team that will face Great Britain and Ireland May 8-9 at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., just a short drive from Strafaci’s home. There were tears of joy and several primal screams of excitement, knowing he had fulfilled a lifelong dream of winning America’s oldest amateur competition and play in a Walker Cup, something his decorated grandfather never achieved.