By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Just months after playing his final round as a member of the Tennessee Tech men's golf team, former Golden Eagle Lee Maxwell is representing his alma mater in historic fashion after qualifying for the 2013 U.S. Amateur Championship Tuesday afternoon.
Maxwell, who helped lead the Golden Eagles squad to a third place finish in the 2013 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, enjoyed much success on the golf course as a senior. The Cookeville native put together a 76.5 scoring average, highlighted by a first-round 69 at the inaugural Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate.
He becomes the first former Tech golfer to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship since Braxton Hunter in 2005.
This year marks the 113th U.S. Amateur Championship. The U.S. Amateur Championship is the oldest golf championship in this country, one day older than the U.S. Open. Except for an eight-year period, 1965-1972, when it was contested at stroke play, the Amateur has been a match-play championship.
Throughout its history, the U.S. Amateur has been the most coveted of all amateur titles. Many of the great names of modern professional golf, such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Mark O'Meara, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, grace the Havemeyer Trophy.
The Country Club has hosted five U.S. Amateurs and three U.S. Opens. In 1982, Jay Sigel won the first of two consecutive Amateur championships. This is the 100th anniversary of amateur Francis Ouimet's historic U.S. Open win over Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. The champions in all three Opens at The Country Club won in playoffs, including Julius Boros in 1963 and Curtis Strange in 1988.
"I'm very excited and proud to hear that Lee qualfied for the U.S. Amateur Championship," said head men's golf coach Polk Brown. "It's arguably the biggest amateur event in the world and will be taking at a very historic place at The Country Club. It will mark as an outstanding test of golf and I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes for him. I'm very proud to see how he's been doing lately and I wish him all the best up there."
The championship will be held at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. beginning Aug. 12 and wrapping up Aug. 18.