No event allows amateurs and professionals to compete for an elite prize quite like the U.S. Open. Every year, a handful of the game’s best amateurs take their turn teeing it up alongside some of the best in the world, and this year at Shinnecock Hills will be no different.
This year’s crop of amateurs includes seasoned mid-ams, elite college players (even an NHL ref in Garret Rank), and all of them will be gunning to at least make the cut. Last year at Erin Hills, two amateurs made the cut — Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Champ — out of a total of 14.
This year there is many more. Below is the long list of 20 amateurs who have qualified to tee it up at Shinnecock:
Harry Ellis — Senior (Florida State), honorable mention All-American, won British Amateur
Noah Goodwin — U.S. Junior amateur champion, commited to play at SMU
Matt Parziale — U.S. Mid-amateur champion
Doug Ghim — U.S. Amateur runner-up, Ben Hogan Award winner, low amateur at 2018 Masters
Kristoffer Reitan — 27th ranked amateur in the world
Luis Gagne — Junior (LSU), 2017 honorable mention All-American
Tyler Strafaci — Sophomore (Georgia Tech), advanced from local qualifying, then through a 6-for-1 playoff at sectional qualifying
Garrett Rank — 31 years old, NHL referee
Stewart Hagestad — 2016 U.S. Mid-amateur champ, low amateur at 2017 Masters
Theo Humphrey — Senior (Vanderbilt), SEC Player of the Year
Ryan Lumsden — two-time first-team All-Big Ten (Northwestern)
Will Grimmer — Junior (Ohio State), qualified for 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst
Timothy Wiseman — Junior (Ball State), survived 3-for-2 playoff with Tour player Corey Connors
Braden Thornberry — Senior (Ole Miss), 11 career NCAA wins, 2017 NCAA champion
Jacob Bergeron — Freshman (LSU), 47th ranked amateur in the world
Philip Barbaree — Sophomore (LSU), 196th ranked amateur in the world
Chun An Yu — Sophomore (ASU), 33rd ranked amateur in the world
Shintaro Ban — Senior (UNLV), finalist for Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year award
Rhett Rasmussen — Freshman (BYU), 19 years old, 332nd ranked amateur in the world
Franklin Huang — Senior (Stanford), two-time honorable mention All-American
