“Banning”

Love the seniors US open course . Wish they held the US open here

Yeah? You want to try playing out of that rough?

You should swing by Sand Valley Resort on the way home. Awesome courses and basically no rough

US Girls Junior is in Colorado this week so I'm signed up as a local caddie and working with Ni ka Ito from Japan. She's 18 and in 2022 played the US Women's Open, US Women's Am and US Girls Junior - MC USWO but made the round of 32 in both the Am and Junior. And she played the Augusta Women's Am this past spring (MC). She's the first person I've ever actually talked to that has played Augusta... it didn't phase her (HA!)

She's great, hits it awesome and I hope we've got a long week ahead of us. Rounds 1 and 2 are tomorrow and Tuesday and then match play starting Wednesday. Practice round 1 yesterday was awesome; we're working well together but she's quite self sufficient I'll just help with tee to green yardages and lines and then she does her thing on the green. We'll got a quick 9 this afternoon and then we're early/late on the tee times.

So many hybrids and woods - hope I don't lose a headcover this week!

fun stuff! keep us posted please (as if you wouldn't).

my boss's daughter is playing in this so I will definitely be following along. That schedule seems pretty grueling for a bunch of teenagers...the winner will definitely have earned it.

Very cool, looping is difficult. Especially in a USGA event. Good luck!

The USGA amateur events all follow the same template and it's not easy physically. I'd much rather do it as a teenager than an adult in say the Mid Am.

Because of the format and competition, I've always considered the U.S. Am perhaps the most difficult event to win in the world.

Hope you have a great time! I had no idea that tournament was in CO this year.

Poor job by our state golf association advertising it, I'd say.

First ever USGA championship on a military facility and it's pretty wild going through security; the weekend was more lax but Monday I had to roll down all my windows and open the trunk.


75 yesterday a little sloppy especially to finish but T42 heading into today. Hope she can shoot even or better and roll into match play.

We played with a girl who shot bogie free 4 under and is tied for the lead; she's quite impressive and will be a freshman at Oregon this year. She made some many par saves from 3 to 6 feet and was rock solid on them. Then two early birdies and finished with two birdies on holes we bogied so those were painful.

Second girl will be at Kansas this fall - she's slow. They all are kind of; 5 hour round. Late this afternoon so we should know how scores are looking this morning to have a sense of what we have to do.

+1 today and through to match play. Yay!

Afternoon tee time today and scores were higher before we teed off but the pins didn’t look too rough so I figured if we kept it better than +3 again we’d be through. +7 got through.

She birdied the second hole after finding a divot in the layup zone. We like that. Birdied 3 of the 4 par 5s, one more birdie and 5 bogies.

No doubles or any real stress over the two days of stroke play. 33rd seed so playing the 32 seed and we’re second match out tomorrow.

Ah, a win and you're against the 1 seed the next round assuming she wins. Fun stuff.

Congrats. Keep it up and haul in some good yen.

Thanks. As someone who rarely breaks 80 it’s awesome being inside the ropes of a USGA event.

Lost 2&1 yesterday but it was a great match. Only one bogie from each player; Nika made 2 birdies and Kwon made 3 and an eagle (not conceded; rolled in a 10 footer after being the first girl in any of the rounds I saw hit a par-5 in 2.

The match was square through 15 and Kwon spun her wedge off the green on the par 5 16th. Nika hit a beautiful 3 quarter wedge to take the spin off and it settled 9 feet long right of the flag for birdie. Kwon chips in with one of those that if it didn't hit the center of the stick may have been off the green or at least 15' past... Nika burns the edge on her birdie putt and we got fully Mongolian reversed... Bogie on 17 and that was the end of the week.

Very cool and fun experience. I hope to work with Nika again sometime (eyeing that Women Am at Bandon in 2025...).

Nika, yours truly and her dad:

Very nice...I'm sure it was a fun experience

Funny how invested you get in someone that you didn't know 2 weeks ago. Have had that same experience

Awesome!
It's a shame about the loss of the match tho. Thanks for the TR!

same here, and that's what makes it fun.
thanks for sharing it with us KJ.

Will never understand why there isn't more actual golf content on the golf channel. Instead talking heads all day why isn't the US Junior on? Would love for my kids to be able to watch these Juniors play.

Even the US Am coverage is weak. I'd rather watch the Am than virtually any PGA event outside the majors. When Fox partnered with the USGA they had US Mid Am coverage and even had US 4 ball coverage. Are people really that much more interested in a Thursday round of the 3M than amateur national championships?

i stand behind pretty much every word of this post

They could at least air some LIV replays.

U.S. Women's Am is at Bel Air CC, Golf Channel has three hours of the first round of match play tonight. Looks like a beautiful course.

Enjoyed watching the Walker Cup at St Andrews - the course was great to watch with a lot of sunshine and no grand stands.

Wasn't super compelling down the stretch but I can watch match play anytime; you'll always get a few decent matches and some fun shots etc.

Future US host sites are Cypress Point, Bandon, Oakmont and Chicago Golf - pretty nice venues

Walker Cup was a good watch.

Golf Channel is showing the Folds of Honor Collegiate today, tomorrow and Wednesday - 18 team college event. It's always interesting to see a course you know well on TV.

i once left this somewhere else
madam, it seems like i've been watching amateur Stewart Hagestad for over a decade now
remember when he parlayed a win in the '16 US Mid-Am into a Masters made cut and then the Silver Cup?

he's played in four US Opens as an amateur but always said nope to turning pro

the epitome of an amateur

this past weekend was his fourth time on the Walker Cup winning side

match play today he was paired with wee Connor Graham
a wisp of a man and the youngest ever to qualify at 16 years and several days -1

my hunch is uncle Hagestad coached Graham about how a round of golf can be played within the bounds of a trophy environment