With the final of the US Women’s Amateur Championship, featuring one Australian, up for grabs on Sunday US time, final preparations are underway for four Australians to contend the US Men’s Amateur Championship at Bandon Dunes in Oregon beginning on Monday August 10th.
Jack Trent, Connor McKinney, Lachlan Barker and Lukas Michel have managed to earn their place in the field of 264 of which only 64 will graduate to the match play phase after 36 holes of qualifying at both Bandon Dunes and
The field has been reduced from the original 312 due to Covid 19 concerns during the traditional qualifying phases.
The Sunshine Coast’s, Trent, is playing the event for the second occasion having advanced to the Round of 32 in last year’s U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2.
Trent, who reached the Round of 16 in this year’s Australian Amateur, received All-West Region and All-Mountain West Conference recognition as a junior at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 2019-20. Trent, who earned all-conference honors for the third time, recorded four top-10 finishes. He also played in two U.S. Junior Amateurs (2014, 2015) and won two Nevada state high school titles.
McKinney (18) was born in Scotland but now resides in Perth and has previously won the qualifying for the Australian Amateur Championship and was 3rd in last year’s World Junior Championship. He plays the event for the first occasion.
South Australian Barker is currently attending Iowa State University in the US but has recorded success at Junior levels in Australia and has enjoyed success as a member of the Iowa State Collegiate team. Like McKinney he plays his first US Amateur Championship.
Victorian, Michel, became the first international player to win the U.S. Mid-Amateur last year when he defeated Joseph Deraney in the final at Colorado Golf Club. He went on to tie for 21st in the Australian Open and reached match play for the second consecutive year in the Australian Amateur. Michel, earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Melbourne.
He is in the field courtesy of his US Mid-Amateur victory.
The quartet will be chasing Australia’s third victory in the US Men’s Amateur Championship to follow Nick Flanagan’s win in 2003 and Curtis Luck’s victory in 2016.
