Photos by Chris Keane/USGA
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THE FLATS – Georgia Tech incoming transfer Ross Steelman has advanced to the Round of 16 Thursday at the 121st U.S. Amateur, dispatching J.M. Butler of Louisville, Ky., 2 and 1, in the Round of 32 following the completion of his 2-up victory over Australia’s Louis Dobbelaar in the Round of 64.
The Tech junior, seeded 17th in the match play bracket and ranked No. 98 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, will face University of Florida junior Ricky Castillo, seeded 33rd and ranked No. 5 in the world, in a Round of 16 match Friday at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club.
It is the third straight year a Georgia Tech golfer has reached the Round of 16, following Andy Ogletree and Tyler Strafaci, who won the U.S. Amateur in 2019 and 2020.
Steelman, who enrolled at Georgia Tech this summer following two seasons at Missouri, grabbed the lead over Butler, a sophomore at Auburn, with a par at the par-3 eighth hole and led the rest of the match. The junior from Columbia, Mo., increased his lead to three holes when Butler bogeyed the par-4 10th hole, and Steelman birdied the par-5 12th. Butler got one hole back at the par-4 14th with when Steelman bogeyed, but could get no closer. Steelman closed him out on the 17th after matching 4s with Butler on 15, 16 and 17.
In his first-round match, which began Wednesday and was completed Thursday morning, Steelman had a long battle with the 19-year-old Dobbelaar, who this summer has won the Dogwood Invitational in Atlanta, the North and South Amateur and the Australian Men’s Amateur Championship and ranks No. 30 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Dobbelaar struck first with a birdie at the par-4 third, but Steelman tied it back up with a birdie at the par-4 fifth. The match remained square until Steelman won the 9th and 10th holes with a birdie and a par, respectively, to move ahead 2-up. After Dobbelaar birdied the par-4 11th, Steelman restored his 2-up lead with a birdie at the par-3 13th. A birdie by Dobbelaar at 17 cut the lead to one hole, but Steelman won the 18th with a par for the 2-up victory.
Steelman defeated Auburn sophomore J.M. Butler Thursday after knocking off the world’s 30th-ranked amateur in Louis Dobbelaar.
Steelman qualified for the U.S. Amateur 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, he won two collegiate events in two seasons there. 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.
Castillo, from Yorba Linda, Calif., reached the round of 16 by defeating Donald Kay of San Diego, Calif., 5 and 4, in the Round of 64, and outlasting Sweden’s David Nyfjall in 21 holes in the Round of 32.
The Round of 32 is scheduled to resume on Friday morning. Peacock, Golf Channel and NBC will broadcast all three remaining days of match play, with the 36-hole final scheduled for Sunday, starting at 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. EDT.
Steelman (center) earned his place the U.S. Amateur by winning the qualifier at Rome, Ga.
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