Men’s Golf: All three Hoos advance to match play at U.S. Amateur

Posted on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, 12:52 am

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

(© Kevin Carden – stock.adobe.com)

The trio of Virginia golfers competing at this week’s U.S. Amateur Championship advanced to the match play portion of the tournament that gets underway Wednesday. All three UVA competitors finished the two rounds of stroke play in the top 64 places from a field that included a total of 312 players.

Leading the UVA delegation was sophomore Ben James (Milford, Conn.) who tied for 10th in stroke play. After shooting 5-under 67 on Monday while playing the Colorado Golf Club course, James shot 1-over 72 on Tuesday at Cherry Hills Country Club for a 36-hole total of 4-under 139.

Last year James was ninth in stroke play and reached the Round of 32 in match play. He also played in the 2020 U.S. Amateur but failed to advance out of match play.

Junior Rui Chang (People’s Republic of China) tied for 38th at 1-under 142. He posted a second-round score of 1-over 73 on the Colorado Golf Club course.

Freshman Josh Duangmanee (Fairfax, Va.) rebounded from an opening round score of 3-over 75 to grab a spot in the match play field with a 38th-place finish at 1-under 142. He shot 4-under 67 at Cherry Hills Country Club which tied as the second-best round on that course for the day.

Cherry Hills Country Club will be the site for the event’s match play. Television coverage of the tournament begins Wednesday on Peacock and Golf Channel from 5-8 p.m. ET.

Complete tournament coverage is available at the USGA website.