Processing your payment, please wait.

Five Things to Know: Amateur Championship

December 14, 2020


TAMPA, Fla. –  The top amateurs in the state of Florida will head to Lecanto this week for the 103rd Amateur Championship. Black Diamond Ranch will play host, as 168 players will compete in 72 holes of stroke play, with a cut to low 70 and ties after 36 holes.

Here are five things to know before the championship begins.

Another Year of History

The Florida Amateur Championship is one of the oldest and most prestigious amateur golf championships in the country, with a rich history dating back to 1913 when A.C. Ulmer won the first of four title.

Other past champions include: Bob Murphy, Doug Sanders, Gary Koch, Jerry Pate, Buddy Alexander and Blayne Barber. Florida State Golf Association Hall of Fame inductees, Carl Dann Jr. and Don Bisplinghoff are also past champions, with Dann winning five championships and Bisplinghoff securing four wins.

By The Numbers

The average age of this year’s Amateur field is 27 years old. Lev Grinberg will be the youngest competitor in the field at 13 years old, while Richard Kerper will be the most experienced player in the field at 62 years old.

A total of 1,024 entries were received for this year’s Amateur Championship, the most since 2009. One hundred and twenty-four players qualified for the championship at 14 qualifying site around the state. Those players will join the 44 exempt competitors this week at Black Diamond.

College Standouts

The Amateur Championship consistently draws some of the best college players from the state of Florida, with the last five champions being college players.

The University of North Florida will be well-represented at this year’s championship, with eight members from their 2020-21 squad competing: Cody Carroll, Nicholas Gabrelcik, Robbie Higgins, Davis Lee, Michael Mattiace, Brandon Mancheno, Cooper Smith and Grant Sutliff. Last year's runner-up and UNF's assistant coach, Jordan Batchelor, will also be competing. 

University of Alabama sophomore, Canon Claycomb will be the highest-ranked player in the field (WAGR-132nd).

Past Champions Eye Another Title

Brad Quiri, Matthew Galloway and Daniel Owen are the three past Amateur Champions in this year’s field. Quiri won the 2004 championship at The Club at TwinEagles, while Galloway grabbed his title in 2007 at Innisbrook Resort. Owen added his name to the Amateur trophy in 1998 at Bay Hill Club & Lodge.

Joining these past champions will be six FSGA Players of the Year: Fred Biondi, Marc Dull, Gabrelcik, Devon Hopkins, Brandon Mancheno and Pete Williams.

Amateur Championship Returns to Black Diamond

For the first time in 24 years, the Amateur Championship will head back to Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto. The Citrus County course opened in 1987 and is a Tom Fazio design famous for five holes on the back nine that are carved out of an old mining site.

Former University of Florida head coach, Buddy Alexander hoisted the Amateur trophy in 1991, while Steve Bradley, the current University of South Florida head men’s golf coach, was victorious just five years later in 1996. This year, Black Diamond will again crown a champion, the 103rd Amateur champion. Read more here.

Kerper will be the lone player in the field to have played an amateur at Black Diamond, having competed in the 1991 Amateur.