TAMPA, Fla. – The 39th Mid-Amateur Championship is set to begin on Friday at Mayacoo Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach. The top mid-amateurs from around the state will battle it out to be crowned the Mid-Amateur champion.
Here are five things to know before the championship begins.
103 Qualifiers in the Field
Over 300 mid-amateurs attempted to qualify for this year’s championship at six sites around the state, with 103 players advancing to the championship, joining 29 exempt players.
Paul Toliuszis, the 2001 Mid-Amateur champion, qualified for the 2020 championship at PGA National with a 4-over 76. Christopher Kupniewski will be the youngest player in the field at 25 years old, qualifying for the championship 2-over 74 at Pelican Marsh Golf Club.
Mayacoo Lakes Plays Host
Mayacoo Lakes Country Club will play host to its fourth FSGA Championship and its first Mid-Amateur Championship. The Jack Nicklaus and Desmond Muirhead course opened in 1972.
The West Palm Beach club hosted the 2018 Senior Amateur Championship, as well as the 2014 Mid-Senior Four-Ball South Championship and the 2012 Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
Past Champions Back for More
Seven past champions will be in the field at this year's championship. Two-time Mid-Amateur champions, Steve Carter and TJ Shuart will both look to add a third title to their resume.
Shuart is the defending champion, who also capture a victory in 2015, while Carter, a past FSGA President, won Mid-Amateur titles in 2004 and 2009. Both players will look to become the first player in FSGA history to capture three Mid-Amateur titles.
Other past champions include: Joe Alfieri (1999), Robert Bechtol (2017), Chip Brooke (2016), Marc Dull (2018) and Paul Toliuszis (2001).
In addition to the seven Mid-Amateur champions, there is five of the last seven Mid-Amateur Stroke Play champions in the field at Mayacoo Lakes: Devon Hopkins (2019), Scott Turner (2018), Dull (2017), Michael Connors (2016) and Alfieri (2013).
The 2020 Forty & Over champion, Daniel Debra, will be in this year’s field. Also in the field is Marc France, who won the Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship in August, with partner Carl Santos-Ocampo. France will look to capture his first individual FSGA championship.
Players of the Year in the Mix
2019 FSGA Players of the Year, Devon Hopkins and Pete Williams will look to add their name to the Mid-Amateur trophy. Hopkins, the Amateur and Mid-Amateur Player of the Year, captured his first FSGA championship at the 2019 Mid-Amateur Stroke Play Championship. Williams, the three-time Senior Player of the Year, is coming into the championship off a third-place finish at the Senior Four-Ball Championship with partner, Don Whittemore.
Format Change
Due to COVID-19, this year's championship will feature a format change, due to the rescheduling of the event, with players competing in 54 holes of stroke play for the Mid-Amateur title, instead of the usual match-play championship.
