HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (July 31, 2022) – Ty Gingerich and Clay Stirsman, both of Carmel, Indiana, shot 6-under 66s at Sunset Valley Golf Club on Sunday to qualify for the 120th Western Amateur Championship, set to be held Aug. 1-6 at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois.
Seventy-two players were vying for the final seven spots in the Western Amateur field at the 18-hole qualifier. This is the second year in a row that Gingerich has advanced through the Sunday qualifier to make the Western Amateur. He made nine birdies and shot 4-under 32 on the front nine at Sunset Valley. Stirsman made only one bogey and eagled the 520-yard, par-5 second hole to secure his place.
Caden Mcmackin, of Irvine, California, and Neal Shipley, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, qualified at 5-under par. Tyler Isenhart, of Geneva, Illinois, Grant Haefner, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and Dawson Ovard, of Frisco, Texas, grabbed the last three spots at 4 under.
First played at Glen View Club in 1899, the Western Amateur is the world’s third oldest amateur championship, behind the British Amateur (1855) and the U.S. Amateur (1895). It regularly attracts the top players from across the country and around the world, with past champions like Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
A combination of stroke play and match play competition make the Western Amateur one of the most demanding events in golf. The international field of 156 players will compete in 72 holes of stroke play over three days to determine the Sweet 16 for match play.
Attendance and parking at the Western Amateur are free.