Union’s Andy Ogletree is headed back the the U.S. Amateur for the third straight year.
Ogletree recently qualified for the U.S. Amateur at the Brickyard Country Club in Macon, Ga., with a two-day score of 140, just one spot off the lead.
“The field was a lot stronger that I thought it was going to be,” Ogletree said. “I like playing in the late qualifier, and I like the ones that have more than one spot. I thought I played solid and got it done.”
This year’s U.S. Amateur will be at historic Pebble Beach, located on the west coast of California, just south of San Jose. The tournaments starts on Aug. 13. Ogletree said he play would the tournament and then fly back for the start of school at Georgia Tech on Aug. 20.
“It’s going to be really cool,” Ogletree said. “Spyglass Hills is the other course, and it’s supposed to be really cool. Any time it’s an event at Pebble Beach, it’s pretty cool to play in. Any time it’s a USGA event, it just has a different feel about it.”
Last year, Ogletree was 15th after stroke play and qualified for the 64-person match play field but lost in the first round.
“I didn’t play bad last year, I just got beat,” Ogletree said. “It’s just one of those things. You never know how match play is going to go. You can get hot with your putter and cruise through.”
Ogletree said his goal remains the same for the U.S. Amateur.
“This is my third year to play in the U.S. Am,” Ogletree said. “Last year, I got into match play. I want to win, that’s always the goal. It’s a long week and you have to play well for the whole week. You can’t get ahead of yourself. I think I’m playing really well right now and hitting it good.”
Ogletree said he is preparing for the U.S. Amateur by playing in the Western Amateur in Chicago this week.
“It’s actually a stronger field than the U.S. Amateur,” Ogletree said. “It’s by invitation only and it’s the top 250 amateurs. It’s a lot of same guys I play in college. The only difference is it’s four round of stroke play and then they cut the field to 16 for match play.”
