Minnesotans Belisle and Reid Share Medalist Honors, Headed to U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills

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  MORTON, Minn. – Surviving some tense moments to close out their respective final rounds Wednesday at Dacotah Ridge Golf Club, Minnesotans Cecil Belisle and Brett Reid each carded a 5-under 139 to earn a share of medalist honors and an invitation to the 2023 U.S. Amateur.

Belisle made double-bogey to close out his second-round with a 2-under 70, while Reid made bogey on his final hole to post a 1-under 71 to claim the two qualifying spots to the national championship set to be played Aug. 14-20 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo.

“The couple weeks leading up to today have been stressful—I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” Belisle said Wednesday. “I love the U.S. Amateur—to get in three years in a row is pretty good.

“I’m looking forward to another opportunity to play well at the highest level that, we as amateurs, can play at.”

Belisle’s appearance at Cherry Hills in August will be his third straight appearance at the championship, shooting 81-67 in 2021 at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania to miss the cut by five strokes.

He shot 73-83 at last year’s championship at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey, again missing the cut for match play.

“I think I’m more of a rounded player now than I was before,” Belisle said looking forward to this season’s national event, “my distances and my distance control is better. My patience has grown a lot, too.

“I beat some really good D-I players this year [at Kansas], so I think it’s just a confidence thing. Believing in myself and going out and taking ownership of my game.”

After his opening-round 69 early Wednesday, Belisle began his second round on the 10th tee and quickly got to work by carding back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th to reach 5-under for the tournament, but a bogey at the 17th sent him to his back nine at 4-under.

Belisle bounced back by sinking his birdie chance from 15 feet at the first and followed it with a two-putt birdie at the sixth, then sank a 10-footer at the seventh to reach 7-under.

Missing the ninth fairway to the right, Belisle found the penalty area with his second, leading to double-bogey to put him into a tie for the lead with Reid at 139.

Following two Class AA individual titles while at Red Wing High School, Belisle won a pair of individual NJCAA National Championship titles in 2021 and 2022 while at South Mountain Community College before transferring to the University of Kansas for his junior season.

During his first season with the Jayhawks, Belisle played in all 11 events, notching a fourth-place finish at the Gopher Invitational at Windsong Farm last fall.

Along with a pair of MGA Junior Team championship wins, Belisle also claimed the 2019 Resorters Tournament at Alexandria Golf Club.

In 2020 at Hastings Golf Club, Belisle defeated Ryan Conn to win the first of his two MGA Players’ Championships.

Belisle outlasted Derek Hitchner and Ben Greve in a three-way playoff to win the 2021 Minnesota State Open at Chaska Town Course.

Reid qualified for his first USGA championship when he paired with University of Oregon golfer Gregory Solhaug to win the Boise, Idaho qualifier for the 2020 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

However, the two never got the chance to play because the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’ve been trying to qualify for a long time, so to finally get one is nice,” Reid said, “it means a lot. I’m looking forward to the experience and playing against some of the top players.”

Reid, a native of Spicer, Minn., carded a 4-under 68 during Wednesday’s morning round before starting his first 11 holes in even par during the afternoon session, then rolled in a birdie at the par-4 12th put him at 5-under for the tournament.

He reached 6-under thanks to his second birdie of his back nine at the 17th, but would take a bogey at the par-5 18th to earn a share of top honors with Belisle at 139.

“This morning it was pretty difficult because it was windy out there,” said Reid. “I was just trying to keep it in play and make some putts.

“The pins were tucked, so I was fine with having a bunch of 20-footer and made a couple of them.”

Reid finished inside the top-3 at the Class A championship in three consecutive seasons while at Community Christian School, including a win as a sophomore.

He then claimed Mr. Minnesota Golf honors to close out his high school career.

During his freshman season at Liberty University, Reid played seven of his 11 rounds at even par or better, with a season scoring average of 73.36.

He notched his first collegiate win playing as an individual at the Wildcat Fall Invitational during his sophomore campaign, shooting 10-under 200 to earn medalist honors by seven strokes. Reid’s 54-hole tally is the lowest individual total in program history.

Former University of Minnesota golfer Josh Persons carded a 4-under 140 Wednesday to finish at first alternate, while Iowa’s Maxwell Toja finished as second alternate.

The U.S. Amateur returns to Cherry Hills for the first time since 2014 when Steven Fox claimed the title over Michael Weaver following a one-hole playoff.

The course has also served as a championship venue for three U.S. Opens (1938, 1960, 1978), a U.S. Women’s Open (2005), a pair of PGA Championships (1941 and 1985), five other USGA championships and the BMW Championship in 2014.