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THE FLATS – Completing a 2-over-par 72 Wednesday morning at Oakmont Country Club, Georgia Tech’s Ross Steelman tied for 13th place in the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the 121st U.S. Amateur Championship and advanced to the 64-player match play bracket.
Bo Andrews, a 2014 Tech graduate who currently serves as assistant golf coach at Tennessee, also advanced to match play after completing his round of 73 at Oakmont Wednesday morning, tying for 37th place.
It is the fifth straight year that at least one Georgia Tech player has advanced to match play at the U.S. Amateur. The last two champions – Tyler Strafaci in 2020 and Andy Ogletree in 2019, both played golf at Tech.
The morning wave of players on both Oakmont Country Club – which is hosting the championship for a record-tying sixth time – and stroke-play co-host the Longue Vue Club, in nearby Verona, Pa., were able to complete 36 holes of stroke play. However, the 156 afternoon starters in the field were forced to complete Round 2 on Wednesday, due to a 3-hour, 50-minute weather delay Tuesday afternoon and a subsequent suspension of the round when darkness fell. The Round of 64 in match play will begin after a playoff, if necessary, to decide the final spots in the bracket.
Steelman, a Columbia, Mo., native, who enrolled at Tech this summer after transferring from Missouri, opened the championship with a 4-under-par 66 Monday at the Longue Vue Club, where the stroke average for the field was six strokes below that at Oakmont. He finished 36 holes at 2-under-par 138. Andrews, a native of Raleigh, N.C., shot 68 at Longue View Monday and completed the two rounds at 1-over-par 141.
The cut fell at 3-over-par 143, leaving 12 players to conduct a playoff for the final spot in the match play bracket.
Former Tech star Bo Andrews also advanced to match play, tying for 37th place.
Returning junior Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.), who posted rounds of 74-74, and sophomore Adam Bratton (Newburgh, Ind.), with rounds of 80-71, failed to advance, as did recent graduate Noah Norton (Chico, Calif.), who shot 81-70, and former walk-on wide received R.B. Clyburn (Cartersville, Ga.), who carded rounds of 77-82.
Steelman, competing in his first U.S. Amateur, had the easiest path to the 312-player field, winning medalist honors with a pair of 66s at Rome, Ga., on July 19-20. Andrews finished second in Longmeadow, Mass., to earn his spot.
Following the round of 64 Wednesday, rounds of 32 and 16 will be played Thursday, with quarterfinal matches Friday, semifinal matches Saturday and the 36-hole championship match on Sunday. All matches through the final will take place at Oakmont.
The 121st U.S. Amateur will receive at least 15 hours of live coverage on NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock streaming service.
IN THE FIELD FOR GEORGIA TECH
Bo Andrews, Graduate, Raleigh, N.C. – Finished second at the Longmeadow, Mass., qualifier to earn his spot. He played in the 2013 Amateur in Brookline, Mass., following his junior year at Tech. After red-shirting in 2010-11, developed into a solid middle-of-the-lineup performer for Tech the last three years, making the travel squad for nearly every event. In 46 career events, posted 11 top-10 finishes, including two top-5s and a win (2013 Gary Koch Invitational). He made the All-ACC team once (2012), and earned GCAA All-Region honors three times. He rose as high as No. 106 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He was a five-time selection to the ACC Academic Honor Roll, three-time selection to the ACC All-Academic team, twice named a GCAA All-America Scholar, and recipient of an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship. (Tee times: 8:30 a.m. Monday, Longue Vue Hole #9/ 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oakmont Hole #1)
Ross Steelman, Junior, Columbia, Mo. – Qualified by winning medalist honors at Rome, Ga., with rounds of 66-66. His best finishes this summer were a tie for third at the Monroe Invitational and a tie for 11th at the Northeast Amateur. A second-team All-SEC selection as a sophomore in 2021 at Missouri who transferred to Georgia Tech following two years at his hometown university, where he won two collegiate events. He finished the 2020-21 collegiate season as the 28th-ranked player in the nation by Golfstat, and No. 33 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index. He stands No. 102 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. (Tee times: 8:30 a.m. Monday, Longue Vue Hole #9/ 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oakmont Hole #1)
R.B. Clyburn’s Cinderella story of qualifying for the U.S. Amateur came to an end Wednesday. (photo courtesy of USGA)
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