Troy’s Jared Bettcher Qualifies for U.S. Amateur
TROY, Alabama – Troy rising junior Jared Bettcher fired a 2-under-par 140 to win the USGA Qualifier at the Deerfield Golf Club in Clanton, Miss., on Monday. Bettcher‘s victory runs Troy‘s streak of a student-athlete competing at the U.S. Amateur Championship to four straight years. Bettcher, a two-time first team All-Sun Belt selection, shot matching 1-under 70s in his two rounds to defeat Louisiana‘s top mid-amateur Patrick Christovich by one stroke. Bettcher opened his final round three under through five holes, but a triple-bogey on his sixth hole brought him back to even par. He sandwiched two birdies around a bogey at the turn before pars on his final seven holes of the round to claim the title. Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., will host the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship. Olympia Fields will join only eight other American clubs – including Winged Foot, Oakland Hills and Cherry Hills – that have hosted the U.S. Open Championship (1928, 2003) the U.S. Senior Open Championship (1997), the PGA Championship (1925, 1961) and the U.S. Amateur Championship (2015). The winner of the U.S. Amateur will receive an invitation to play in all of the majors with the exception of the PGA Championship. The runner-up of the U.S. Amateur Championship will receive an invitation to play in the Masters and U.S. Open. The victory at Deerfield continued an impressive summer for Bettcher as he finished second at the Southeastern Amateur, ninth at the Greystone Invitational and turned in a top 20 finish at the Alabama State Amateur. Bettcher will look to keep a hot hand, as he will attempt to qualify for the PGA‘s Barbasol Championship at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National in Opelika. Tolver Dozier, who competed in the 2015 NCAA Championship, played in the 2014 and 2012 U.S. Amateur Championships, while Jake Tucker played in the 2013 U.S. Amateur Championship. Courtesy: Troy University Athletics
