Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2020 - 16

The 73rd USGA Junior Amateur to be played at Hazeltine and Chaska
Town Course may offer a glimpse of golf's next chapter.
PRESTON SUMMERHAYS
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.
MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN
WELLESLEY, MASS.
* BY DAVID SHEFTER *
* PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE U.S.G.A. *
W
hen Matthew Wolff arrived at Flint Hills
National Golf Club in suburban Wichita,
Kan., for the 2017 U.S.
Junior Amateur
Championship, few outside a niche group of
golf fans knew much about this Southern Californian with an
unorthodox swing. By the week's end, Wolff was competing for
the biggest prize in junior golf. Although he came up short to
defending runner-up Noah Goodwin in the 36-hole fi nal, the
18-year-old from Agoura Hills had planted a seed that would
later sprout to success.
By the summer of 2019, every golf fan knew of Wolff, a twoyear
standout at Oklahoma State who helped the Cowboys
win the 2018 NCAA title and landed an individual crown the
following season. He even won the PGA Tour's inaugural 3M
Open at the TPC Twin Cities, which was only his third start as
a professional.
Such is the nature of the U.S. Junior Amateur. It's a championship
where the anonymous can quickly become synonymous
with success.
Some of the players who have etched their names on the
trophy include three-time U.S. Open champion Tiger Woods,
2015 U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth, six-time PGA Tour
winner Hunter Mahan, PGA Tour rookie Scottie Scheffl er, 1973
U.S. Open champion Johnny Miller, major champion and former
World No. 1 David Duval, and PGA Tour winners Mason
Rudolph, Gary Koch and Brian Harman.
16
MINNESOTAGOLFER Spring 2020
Even players who fell in the championship match have enjoyed
stardom, a list that includes Justin Thomas, Charles Howell III,
Masters champion Trevor Immelman, Aaron Baddeley, Camilo
Villegas, 1987 U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson, two-time U.S.
Open champion Andy North, 1964 U.S. Open champion Ken
Venturi and fi ve-time USGA champion Jay Sigel, who claimed
consecutive U.S. Amateur titles (1982 and 1983) in his late 30s.
Bright Futures
The beauty of this championship is that it introduces us to the
next generation of exceptional golfers. Recent history suggests
that only a handful of this summer's (July 20-25) Hazeltine
National Golf Club and stroke-play co-host Chaska Town
Course competitors will enjoy success on a professional tour,
but the U.S. Junior Amateur provides a glimpse into the future.
Some of the 264 competitors are likely to return to Hazeltine
in 2024 for the U.S. Amateur, and perhaps one or two might be
back in 2028 when the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design hosts the
Ryder Cup matches.
This July, the fi eld will be expanded to host 264 competitors
for the fi rst time since the championship's 1948 inception. Each
player will play one stroke-play round at Hazeltine and another
at co-host Chaska Town Course. In 2006, the latter course saw
future PGA Tour winner Billy Horschel card a 60 during strokeplay
of the U.S. Amateur. That remains an 18-hole scoring
record for any USGA championship.
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