16 Year Old Shoots 64 to Claim Co-Medalist Honors in U.S. Amateur

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CHERRY HILLS. VILLAGE, Colo. -- Youth will be served. Experience be damned. 

That seemed to be the theme on Tuesday, during the second round of stroke-play qualifying for the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship. Blades Brown, a 16-year-old from Nashville, Tenn., playing in this tournament for the first time, made only two pars at Colorado Golf Club. He had four bogeys, as well, but he made eight birdies and two eagles as he matched the course record of 8-under-par 64. That gave him a 36-hole total of 136, which earned him co-medalist honors -- and the No. 1 seed for the match-play portion of the tournament, which will begin Wednesay morning.

Brown, whose mother, Rhonda "Blades" Brown, was a star for the Vanderbilt University basketball team in the 1990s, and was the No. 1 pick in the 1998 WNBA expanstion draft, will be a sophomore in high school this fall. He tied a pair of college players -- Jackson Buchanan, 21, a soon-to-be junior at Illinois, and Sampson Zheng, 22, who will be a senior at Cal. Buchanan shot a 67 at Colorado GC on Tuesday, and finished with a flourish -- three consecutive birdies. 

Zheng, who won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball title this spring with Cal teammate Aaron Du, shot 70 on Monday at Colorado GC, and followed it with a 1-under 70 at Cherry Hills Country Club.

Brown is now the youngest player to earn medalist honors in the 128-year history of the U.S. Amateur. The legendary Bobby Jones held that distinction for a little more than a century, ever since he was a co-medalist, at age 18, in the 1920 U.S. Am at Engineers Country Club n Roslyn Harbor, N.Y. Jones and Fred Wright tied for first in qualifying that year with 36-hole aggregates of 154. 

Cherry Hills, which will be where all the matches take place, is playing host to its 10th USGA championship. By far the most famous of those 10 championships was the 1960 U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer, who was 30 years old at the time -- and had won the Masters two months earlier by birdying the last two holes -- trailed by seven strokes going into the final round. But he drove the green at the first hole, which was then 346 yards (it's now 406), and birdied six of the first seven holes on his way to a 6-under 65. He won by two strokes (280 to 282) over a 20-year-old amateur named Jack Nicklaus. Ben Hogan, who was 57, was in contention until he spun a wedge shot off the green and back into a water hazard at the par-5 17th hole, his 35th of the day. (They used to play the final two rounds of the U.S. Open on Saturday.) The coming together of great players from three generations -- Hogan, Palmer and Nicklaus -- and Palmer's record-setting comeback in the final round are why the '60 Open is considered one of the greatest tournaments in golf history.

Four players -- Canadian Piercen Hunt, Maxwell Ford of Peachtree, Ga., Caleb Surratt of Indian Trail, N.C. and Andy Xu of China -- tied for fourth place at 137. Hunt, who will be a senior at Illinois, had the best score of the day at Cherry Hills, a 65.

Brown wasn't the only 16 year old making news on Tuesday. Two other 16 year olds who played in the same group, two groups ahead of Brown -- Bowen Mauss and Preston Stout -- both shot 65s at Colorado GC. And they both needed low scores just to get into match play. 

Stout, who is from Dallas, played in his first USGA event last summer, at the U.S. Junior Am, and made it to the quarterfinals. He shot 76 on Monday at Cherry Hills. On Tuesday, he was 1 under for the round after nine holes -- but still 4 over for the qualifying. He proceeded to birdie the first three holes on the back nine and added three more birdies on the last four holes, for a back nine 30 and a 36-hole total of 141. He tied for 26th.  

Mauss has been shooting low scores in tournaments all summer, including a 9-under 135 in the Utah state 6A high school championships, where his Corner Canyon team finished second and he finished third individually. But he opened the Am qualifying with a 78 on Monday at Cherry Hills -- and wasn't even in the top 200 (he was tied for 231st place) going into Tuesday's round. Three birdies on the first three holes at Colorado GC changed that, and he had another run of three consecutive birdies on the back nine (Nos. 14, 15 and 16). That got him to 8 under for the day, but he bogeyed the 215-yard, par-3 17th.

The resulting 65 put him at even-par 143 for 36 holes, good for a 15-way tie for 50th place through 64th. So he made it on the number, and that massive tie for 50th-through-64th at 143 meant that there would be no playoff for the last spots in match play for the first time since 2011. Mauss is the No. 57 seed and will play the No. 8 seed, Nicholas Gross (71-67--138,) in a Round of 64 match Wednesday morning. As the No. 1 seed, Brown will play No. 64 Benton Weinberg (71-72).

None of the players from Minnesota advanced. Brett Reid, the former state Class A high school champion from Spicer, came the closest. He shot 72 at Colorado GC Tuesday for a 147.  


U.S. Amateur Championship

At Cherry Hills Country Club (par 71, 7,368 yards)

Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 

& Colorado Golf Club (par 72, 7,642 yards)

Parker, Colo. 

Stroke play

Final results (the top 64 finishers advance to match play on Wednesday)

T1. Blades Brown, Nashville, Tenn.               72 CH-64 CGC -- 136

T1. Sampson Zheng, China                            66 CGC-70 CH -- 136

T1. Jackson Buchanan, Dacula, Ga.              69 CH-67 CGC -- 136

T4. Piercen Hunt, Canada                              66 CGC -71 CH -- 137

T4. Maxwell Ford, Peachtree Corners, Ga.    71 CH-66 CGC -- 137

T4. Caleb Surratt, Indian Trail, NC                  70 CGC-67 CH -- 137

T4. Andi Xu, China                                           69 CGC-68 CH -- 137

T8. Connor Jones, Denver                               68 CGC-70 CH -- 137

T8. Nicholas Gross, Downington, Pa.              71 CH-67 CGC -- 137

Missed cut -- 143 (15 players tied for 50th; so there was no playoff required)

Brett Reid, Spicer                                            75 CH-72 CGC -- 147

Cecil Belisle, Red Wing                                   77 CH-73 CGC -- 150

Sam Foust, Edina                                             81 CGC-73 CH -- 154

Nate Adams, Maple Grove                               79 CGC-76 CH -- 155

Carson Herron, Wayzata                                  79 CGC-78 CH -- 157