CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Jackson Bishop, a rising junior on the Western Carolina men’s golf team, earned a spot in the field for the 116th United States Amateur Championship that will be held at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., August 15-21. Bishop qualified by finishing tied for second in his regional qualifying tournament held July 19-20 at the par-70, 6,946-yard Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell, Ga.
A product of Gainesville, Ga., Bishop carded consecutive rounds of even-par 70 for a 36-hole score of 140 to finish amidst a three-way tie for the runner-up spot in a field that featured 132 golfers. Georgia Tech signee Luke Schniederjans – the younger brother of two-time ACC Player of the Year and first-team All-America selection Ollie Schniederjans – claimed individual medalist honors with rounds of 65 and 69 (134).
Bishop finished tied with incoming Duke freshman Chandler Eaton and University of Minnesota commit S.M. Lee, each at even-par, 140.
“I’m very excited qualifying for the United States Amateur Championship,” said Bishop. “It’s always been a dream of mine to compete in that event. I plan on taking it day-by-day once I get there. Obviously, the first goal is to make match play. But to get there, I just need to focus on one hole at a time, and one round at a time. Once I’m in match play, anything can happen.”
Bishop joins a short list of Catamount men’s golfers to earn a berth in the prestigious United States Amateur and becomes just the fifth WCU men’s golfer all-time. He joins all-time leading scorer J.T. Poston, who accomplished the feat most recently in 2013. Other former Catamounts include Ricky Stout in 2010, Matt Cook in the summer of 2008, and Clay Kilgore, who qualified back in 2002.
After opening the first round 2-over par through his first nine holes, Bishop scored birdies on three of his final five holes to return to even-par after round one. On the second day, three front-nine birdies against one bogey turned him down the home stretch at 2-under. He countered a trio of back-nine bogeys with a fourth birdie, shooting even-par over the final four holes to again shoot 70.
All told, Bishop was even-par or better on 19 of the 36 holes, including nine total birdies and 19 pars.
“I’m so proud of Jackson and this huge accomplishment of qualifying for the U.S. Am – although I can’t say it comes as a surprise. Jackson reeks of talent, and it’s been fun watching his game – and more importantly, his confidence in himself – grow over the past year,” said WCU head coach Tim Eckberg. “He deserves to be there and is going to be a great representative of WCU and our golf program. There is no question that this experience will springboard him into the coming year, and the rest of his golfing career.”
The 2016 U.S. Amateur Championship will be played Aug. 15-21 at the Oakland Hills Country Club between both the North and South Courses – the latter nicknamed “The Monster.” It is just the fourth U.S. Amateur to be held in the state of Michigan and the first since 2002, also held at Oakland Hills, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016.
The schedule includes practice rounds on Aug. 13-14 with two rounds of stroke play on Monday, Aug. 15, and Tuesday, Aug. 16, with the low 64 out of the 312-golfer field advancing into match play, Aug. 17-20. The best 64 players will go head-to-head in single elimination match play until only two remain. The championship match between the two finalists is slated for 36 holes on Sunday, Aug. 21.
The Oakland Hills Country Club was founded in 1916 and originally designed by famed golf course architect Donald Ross. Its South Course has played host to 16 of the most prestigious golf championships, including nine majors – six U.S. Opens and three PGA Championships.