Charleston, S.C. - Sophomore John Duke Hudson (Sonora, Texas) carded a 69 to finish the first round of the United States Amateur Championship tied for first.  Hudson, who is tied with eight others with just under half the field left to finish the round, is three-under par at the tournament, which runs until the 29th at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

"I played solid and kept the ball in front of me," said Hudson.   "I'm happy with my start. I wanted to get a good round under my belt and look forward to playing tomorrow."

Hudson, who started the first round from hole 10, birdied holes 11, 15 and 16 to round out the back nine two-under par after bogeying 13.  After hitting a bogey on hole four in the front nine, Hudson rebounded by birdying the final two holes of the day to end his first 18 holes of the U.S. Amateur three-under.

"I am really proud of John Duke today," said Head Coach Mark McEntire, who is with Hudson in Chambers Bay, Wash.  "He played great and did a great job out there.  We wanted to get off to a good start today and we did.  We will have some fun tomorrow."

Hudson will play the 7,742-yard Chambers Bay Course in the second round and will tee off at 10:45 a.m. EST.

"Chambers Bay Course is a tough course," said Hudson.  "We played nine holes during the practice round Sunday and put together a game-plan for the second round.  My goal is to still stay in the top 64 and advance to match-play.  If I have a solid second round, I can do that."

After the second round the field will be cut to the low 64 scorers.  Six rounds of match play will begin the 25th and will conclude with a scheduled 36-hole final match on the 29th.

The U.S. Amateur is the largest amateur golf tournament in the country and features some of the top players in the world.

Fan can follow all the action by accessing the United States Golf Associate website at www.USGA.com.

For complete results, click here: http://www.usga.org/ChampEventScore.aspx?id=17179869326&year=2010&type=stroke

Younts and Bowman begin play at U.S. Amateur Championship, card rounds of 78

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. UNCG sophomore Matt Younts and former Spartan Will Bowman both shot rounds of 78 on the first day of play at the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship on Monday.

A total of 312 players began the day on Monday with 64 of them hoping to make the cut at the end of the day Tuesday to make it to the match-play phase. Younts played the home course, going out in 39 and coming in with a 39 on the backside as well. He finished the day with 10 pars, one birdie and seven bogeys.

Bowman played Chambers Bay, the 2015 U.S. Open course and the longest course in the history of any USGA Championship. He also played both sides of the course in 39. He had seven pars, a pair of birdies and nine bogeys on the day.

With two different pars, Younts is at six-over and Bowman is at seven-over as the second round begins on Tuesday. Bowman will wait til 1:30 p.m. PT to tee off at No. 10 on the Home Course, while Younts will start at 7:55 a.m. local time on Chambers Bays No. 10 tee.