Golfer Qualifies for U.S. Amateur
August 11, 2009
BURLESON, Texas - Brad Leeper, who will be a senior on the Southwestern Oklahoma State University golf team, qualified for the 108th United States Amateur Championship last month. Leeper shot rounds of 74 and 71 to finish with a one-over-par 145 and in second place at a sectional qualifying tournament at Southern Oaks Country Club in Burleson, Texas.
Leeper, a native of Arlington, Texas, is one of 312 golfers from across the United States who earned a berth for the event scheduled for Tulsa's Southern Hills Golf from Aug. 24-28. Leeper's score was bettered by one other golfer, TCU junior Scott Roudebush who shot a 143, one-under par. He is one of only two Lone Star Conference golfers to have qualified for the event. Central Oklahoma's Colby Shrum was the other conference golfer earning a spot through qualification at an Oklahoma City tournament.
"What Brad has done and will do is big, not only for himself but for SWOSU and the golf program," said head coach Mark Lumpkin.
Throughout its history, the U.S. Amateur has been the most coveted of all amateur titles. Many of the great names of professional golf, such as Gene Littler, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods have each won the Havemeyer Cup..
It was, however, longtime amateur Robert T. Jones Jr., who first attracted media coverage and spectator attendance at the Amateur Championship. Jones captured the championship five times (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930). His 1930 victory was a stunning moment in golf history when, at Merion Cricket Club in Ardmore, Pa., Jones rounded out the Grand Slam, winning the four major American and British championships in one year.
Sixty-six years later, in 1996, Tiger Woods attracted similar interest and enthusiasm when he won a record third straight U.S. Amateur at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore.
In 1994, Woods, at 18, had first entered the record book as the youngest ever to win the Amateur Championship. In 1996, he smashed yet another record when he won, having registered 18 consecutive match-play victories.