Northwestern University Athletics
Seven Wildcats Among Star-Studded Field at 108th Western Amateur
8/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Aug. 2, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Seven current or former Wildcats are among the 156-player field at the 108th Western Amateur to be played Aug. 3-7 at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe, Ill.
Current rising seniors David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) and Josh Dupont (Poway, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) along with rising junior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) join 2010 NU graduate Jonathan Bowers and 1997 Wildcat graduate Scott Rowe in the field at one of amateur golf's biggest stages.
In addition to the originally announced group of five Wildcats, rising senior Ravi Patel (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) and rising junior Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) gained late entry into the field.
The tournament will be played at historic Skokie Country Club, which hosted the 1922 U.S. Open and is one of Northwestern's home courses in the Chicagoland area. The Wildcats hosted their own Windon Memorial Classic at the 7,091-yard, par-71 tract in 2006 and 2009.
Described as "The Masters of amateur golf" by Tiger Woods in 1994, the Western Amateur consistently is ranked among the top three amateur tournaments in the world in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking. The 2010 field includes nine of the top 10 players in Golfweek magazine's amateur rankings and 10 of the top 15 among the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings. Overall, the field includes 30 of the top 80 in the world, according to Golfweek.
The low amateurs from both the 2010 U.S. Open and British Open are in the field. Two other Western Amateur Contestants are 2009 U.S. Public Links champion Brad Benjamin and 2009 U.S. Amateur champion Byeong-Hun ("Ben") An, both of whom played in this year's Masters. Other 2010 Major Championship participants playing this week in Skokie are Ben Blakeman, who qualified for the U.S. Open, and Northwestern's Chun, who finished one stroke shy of the cut at the British Open.
Overall, 20 countries are represented in the field: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, the United States and Venezuela.
"Once again the elite roster of contestants at the Western Amateur makes the championship one of the most prestigious in amateur golf," said Vince Pellegrino, vice president of tournaments for the Western Golf Association. "We look forward to seeing these great players compete on one of the nation's finest and most challenging courses."
The championship is open to the public. Tickets, available at the gate, are $10, with children 16 and under admitted free. For more information, link to thewesternamateur.com.
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