TAMPA, Fla. – The top amateurs in the state of Florida will head to Jupiter this week for the 105th Amateur Championship. One-hundred and sixty-eight players competing in 72 holes of stroke play at The Bear's Club and Lost Tree Club will look to add their name to the list of an elite group of champions.
By The Numbers
The average age of this year’s Amateur field is 27 years old. Tristan Wielend is the youngest player in the field at 14 years old and Matvey Golovanov follows close behind at 15 years old. The most experienced player is Mike Finster at 57 years old. A record number of entries were recorded this year's championship. A total 1,167 players who entered were brought down to 168 after exemptions and the 14 different qualifiers around the state.
Course Rating/ Slope Rating for the championship week is 73.7/137 for Lost Tree Club and between 74.2/146 - 76.2/151 for The Bear's Club. This means a scratch male golfer with a 0.0 Handicap Index would be expected to shoot 74 on a good day at Lost Tree and 74-76 at The Bear's Club.
College Standouts
A total of 46 collegiate golfers will compete in this year’s Amateur Championship. Florida State University will be well represented by four of their team members; Michael Mays, Gray Albright, Joshua Stewart and Patrick McCann.
Six of the last seven amateur champions have been collegiate players.
The World’s Best Competing
This year’s field consists of 12 players inside the top 1000 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Topping this list are Alex Vogelsong and Brendan Valdes of Auburn University, Scotty Kennon of Wake Forest, and last year’s runner up, Runchanapong Youprayong. These players look to continue their standout amateur play by adding an Amateur Championship title to their resume.
Past Champions Back For More
Six past champions are back to compete at The Bear’s Club this year. Highlighting the list of past champions is the incoming freshman at Stanford University, Dean Greyserman. Greyserman won the title back in 2020 at Black Diamond Ranch, carding a final-round 62 and sruviving a playoff to capture the title.
Other past champions playing this year include Matthew Galloway, Jeff Dennis, Brad Quiri, Justin Biggs and Daniel Owen.
The Bear’s Club Plays Host
The Bear’s Club will be hosting their third Amateur Championship this year. This golf club is no stranger to big name players, with players such as Jack Nicklaus, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and Matt Fitzpatrick calling the club their home.
The cohost of this year’s Championship is The Lost Tree Club. Ever since moving to Palm Beach County in 1966, Jack Nicklaus has called Lost Tree his home. In 1999, Nicklaus decided to build a course of his own, The Bear’s Club. Not much later in 2002, he re-designed Lost Tree to add to his growing legacy he has in Jupiter.
