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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It’s a long shot, to be sure, but Lee Whitehead has hit some pretty long shots during his career as a member of the Tennessee Tech golf team over the past three years.
Now the Knoxville native has the opportunity to pencil his name on a list that includes such golf legends as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Whitehead has qualified to play in the U.S. Amateur Championship next month, a tournament that began in 1895 and has been won by many of the greatest to have played the game.
Whitehead will join a field of 300 golfers from around the country at Olympia Fields Golf Club in the village of Olympia Fields, Illinois, on the southern edge of the Chicago suburb. The tournament runs August 17-23, with two days of stroke play, whittling the field down to the final 64 players. They will then go through five days of match play to determine the champion.
“I am super excited for Lee to be able to play in arguably the largest amateur tournament in the world,” said Tech golf coach Polk Brown. “He’s a fine young man and I wish him all the best next month in Chicago. It’s a great step for him, a great opportunity. And, it’s great for the Tech golf program.”
The final five days at Olympia Fields will be televised nationally by Fox Sports. The most recent USGA event held at the course was the 2003 U.S. Open, won by Jim Furyk.
Whitehead is the second Tech golfer in the past four years to earn a spot in the U.S. Amateur after Lee Maxwell managed the feat in 2011 in Brookline, Mass. Before that, Braxton Hunter represented Tech at the tournament in 2005, giving the Golden Eagle program three qualifiers in the past 10 years.
Gunn Yang, 20, won 2014 U.S. Amateur Championship last August at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Not yet a household name among golf fans, Yang’s name is listed among golf’s finest who have captured the title. Among them are Mickelson, Woods, Justin Leonard and Matthew Kuchar in the 90s. Before that, winners included Palmer and Nicklaus, Mark O’Meara, Craig Stadler, Lanny Wadkins, Gene Littler and Bobby Jones.
And Francis Oimet, the subject of the movie “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”
Now Whitehead will take his best shot – literally – at joining the list.
An all-OVC selection and winner of the team’s Randy Darcy Most Valuable Player Award in 2015, Whitehead – know as ‘the wily veteran’ -- qualified Wednesday at Willow Creek Golf Club in Knoxville, enduring rain and storm delays that led 49 golfers to withdraw after the first day. Whitehead shot back-to-back rounds of 68 in the tough conditions, becoming one of just two from the original field of 80 to qualify from the Knoxville event.
He will be joined in Chicago by Chase Koepka, the other Knoxville qualifier, the brother of PGA tour player Brooks Koepka.
The Knoxville event was one of 60 qualifying tournaments at sites around the country, beginning back on June 30.
Whitehead led the way for Tech in 2014-15, averaging 72.63, which was the lowest season average by a Golden Eagle golfer since Scott Stallings' average of 70.9 following his senior campaign. He placed in the Top 15 in every tournament during the 2015 spring season for the Golden Eagles, collecting three all-tournament honors. At the Arkansas State Red Wolves Intercollegiate, he tied for first place before falling in a playoff in his quest for medalist. He ranked seventh in the OVC in stroke average.
Whitehead came to Tech in 2012 after playing his freshman season at King College. He is on schedule to receive his bachelor’s degree from Tech in December in journalism.
Before his college career, Whitehead attended Christian Academy of Knoxville where he earned four letters in golf. He was the team’s Most Valuable Player in 2009 and placed second in the 2010 TSSAA Class A-AA Division 1 State Tournament on his way to being named All-State. He helped his squad claim back to back regional and state championships in 2009 and 2010 along with the district title in 2010.
