Bartley Forrester Wins U.S. Amateur Qualifier

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech rising senior Bartley Forrester qualified to play in his second U.S. Amateur championship Tuesday by winning co-medalist honors in the 36-hole qualifier at the Standard Club in Johns Creek, Ga. He will join fellow rising senior Ross Steelman at the 122^nd U.S. Amateur Aug. 15-21 in Paramus, N.J.

Forrester played 36 bogey-free holes at The Standard Club, posting scores of 67-69 for an 8-under-par total of 136, matching that of Steve Kibare of Canton, Ga. The All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer held the lead alone for most of the day Tuesday before Kibare, a rising junior at Dalton State College, made birdie at the final hole, a 562-yard par-5.

The Gainesville, Ga., native left nothing to chance this time around in qualifying for his second U.S. Amateur. Last summer, Forrester lost a playoff for the fifth and final qualifying spot at the Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course. But he got a spot in the 312-player field at Oakmont, Pa., as an alternate.

The performance Monday and Tuesday was the latest in a series of successes for Forrester, who made the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team and was honorable mention all-America in the spring for the Yellow Jackets. Forrester was Tech’s highest finisher (tie for 15^th) at the NCAA Championship, won The Calusa Cup and posted three other top-10 finishes during the year. He came in at No. 77 in the final Golfstat national rankings, second highest on the team, and helped the Jackets win five tournaments and finish the year ranked No. 10 nationally.

Forrester made the All-ACC team and was an honorable mention All-American in 2022.

 

Nicolas Cassidy and Deven Patel, both of Johns Creek, Ga., tied for third place in the qualifier at 7-under-par 137, and Miles Jones of Suwanee, Ga., finished fifth at 6-under-par 138 to capture the other three qualifying spots available.

Rising Tech senior Andy Mao (Johns Creek, Ga.) became the second alternate following a three-for-two playoff with Jackson Buchanan of Dacula, Ga., and Sean Niles of Cumming, Ga. The three golfers tied for sixth place at 4-under-par 140. Niles is the first alternate.

Four other Tech golfers attempted to qualify Monday and Tuesday at the Standard Club and came up short. Rising senior Connor Howe (Ogden, Utah) and freshman Hiroshi Tai (Windermere, Fla.) tied for 10^th place at 1-under-par 143. Former Tech football player R.B. Clyburn of Cartersville, Ga., tied for 26^th at 2-over-par 146, coming up short after qualifying in 2021, and rising Tech junior Aidan Kramer (Oviedo, Fla.) tied for 29^th place at 147 (+3).

All U.S. Amateur qualifiers are 36-hole competitions, conducted between June 27 and July 27 at 94 sites around the United States. The championship will be played Aug. 15-21 at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. Four Yellow Jackets have won the U.S. Amateur, Tyler Strafaci in 2020 and Andy Ogletree in 2019 most recently.

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