RESULTS
June 30, 2023—Ben Smith, a rising senior on the Mount St. Mary's men's golf team, has qualified for the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship which will be held at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado on August 14-20. Smith earned his spot by winning the qualifier at Edgewood Country Club in Sissonville, West Virginia. It is the second consecutive year that Smith has qualified for the U.S. Amateur.
"It is an honor to get to play in the biggest amateur event in the world," said Smith. "It was a learning experience to be there last year at Ridegewood, N.J., and I didn't play as well as I would have liked. It's cool to get another opportunity and to play in Colorado will be special."
Smith shot a 63 in the second round, including shooting five under over the final nine holes, to finish in first place at eight under par (71-63=134) at the tournament. He finished one stroke ahead of Harry Reynolds, who was seven under par at the event. Smith's round of 63 was the lowest he has recorded in his career.
"I knew I had to go low in round two to have a chance at qualifying," said Smith. "The leader after round one was five under and I ended up at even. Knowing that and being able to do it was super rewarding. I was able to make a lot of birdies and not a ton of mistakes that I was not able to recover well from. I hit the ball really well and backed it up with good putting. Everything felt like it was clicking on all cylinders in the second round. I had a grueling wait for other players to finish to see if I stayed in the top spot."
The U.S. Amateur starting field of 312 players will play 18 holes of stroke play on Aug. 14 and 15, one round on each of the two courses, after which the field will be cut to the low 64 scores. Six rounds of match play begin on Aug. 16 and the championship concludes with a 36-hole championship match on Aug. 21. The winner and runner-up are exempt into the following year's U.S. Open Championship.
Cherry Hills Country Club will be hosting its third U.S. Amateur and 10th USGA championship. Designed by William Flynn, Cherry Hills has hosted three U.S. Opens. In 1960, Arnold Palmer produced one of the most indelible performances in Open history, erasing a seven-stroke deficit with a final-round 65, while two-time champions Ralph Guldahl (1938) and Andy North (1978) also won there. Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Colorado Golf Club will serve as the stroke-play co-host course.
Last year, Sam Bennett, the No. 3 amateur in the world from Texas A&M, recorded five wins against players at No. 27 or better in the world rankings, including three top-10 players, to hoist the Havemeyer Trophy after defeating Ben Carr, 1 up at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.
