SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men's golfers Zihao Jin (Beijing, China), Puwit Anupansuebsai (Nakhon Phanom, Thailand) and Leo Oyo (Tokyo, Japan) will compete in the U.S. Amateur Championship, scheduled for Aug. 12-18 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. All three Aztec players punched their tickets to Pinehurst Resort and Country Club based on their sectional qualifying results in July.
A 2017 graduate of Rancho Bernardo High School, Jin won his sectional qualifier on July 8 at La Purisma Golf Club in Lompoc, California, where he carded a 36-hole total of 4-under-par 144. The Aztec junior was buoyed by an opening-round 67 that featured four birdies as well as an eagle on the par-5 No. 1.
Anupansuebsai, who garnered all-Mountain West accolades for the Scarlet and Black last spring, tied for second at his sectional qualifier on July 15 at The Country Club of Rancho Bernardo, where he carded a 9-under 131. After logging a 67 in round one, the SDSU junior drained seven birdies against one bogey for an afternoon total of 64, tying UCLA senior Hide Yoshihara for the runner-up spot, one stroke behind medalist and Carlsbad native Cullen Plousha (-10), who is entering his junior year at Colorado State.
Meanwhile, Oyo placed third in his sectional on July 10 at Mission Inn and Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida, where he fired a 1-under 143 to finish behind Jacksonville State junior Jesus Montenegro (-2) and Northwestern incoming freshman John Driscoll III (-6). The Aztec sophomore stumbled to an opening-round 74, but rebounded with a 69 in the afternoon, overcoming four bogeys with seven birdies, including three straight on holes 13-15 to help secure the last of three qualifying spots.
This year marks the 119th installment of the U.S. Amateur, making it the oldest golf championship in the nation, one day older than the U.S. Open. Other than an eight-year period from 1965-1972, when it was contested at stroke play, the Amateur has been a match-play championship.
This year's field includes 312 golfers competing in 36 holes of stroke play over the first two days on Pinehurst's Course No. 2 and Course No. 4. After the second round, the low 64 scorers advance to match play, which will be contested on Course No. 2 through the semifinal round.
For Monday's opening round, Jin is slated to tee off alongside Arkansas senior Tyson Reeder and UTSA junior Chad Sewell, starting at 9:30 a.m. ET / 6:30 a.m. PT on Course No. 4, while Anupansuebsai will be partnered on the same course with recent Oklahoma graduate Blaine Hale and Jonathan Feldick of Cedar Falls, Iowa, beginning at 1:22 p.m. ET / 10:22 a.m. PT. In the same afternoon slot over on Course No. 2, Oyo will be paired with Kansas State senior Jacob Eklund and recent Bellarmine University (Ky.) graduate James Inman.
The championship match, scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 18, will open with the morning round on Course No. 4, which was recently redesigned by Gil Hanse. The afternoon round will be played on Course No. 2, a classic Donald Ross design that was restored by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 2011. It will mark the first time the 36-hole U.S. Amateur final is conducted on two different courses.
In addition, the 2019 U.S. Amateur represents the second pioneering collaboration between the USGA and Pinehurst Resort in five years. In 2014, Pinehurst hosted the U.S. Open (won by Martin Kaymer) and U.S. Women's Open (won by Michelle Wie) in back-to-back weeks on Course No. 2 – the only time the same course hosted those two championships in consecutive weeks. The U.S. Amateur was last held at Pinehurst in 2008, when Danny Lee defeated Drew Kittleson, 5&4.
Two San Diego State golfers have been crowned U.S. Amateur champion: Gene Littler took home the title in 1953 after defeating Dale Morey, 1 up, at Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club, while Gunn Yang emerged victorious in 2014 over Corey Conners, 2&1, on the Highlands Course at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Georgia.
The Aztecs, who return seven letterwinners, open their 2019-20 schedule at the Husky Invitational, Sept. 16-17, at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Washington.