U.S. Amateur Public Links: Time to tee it up for 156 amateurs

BREMERTON — The most prestigious sporting event in the history of Kitsap County gets under way today when the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship begins at the Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Complex.

What will start with 156 golfers will be whittled to two by Saturday for the 36-hole championship match. The format calls for two days of stroke play to cut the field to 64, then six rounds of match play.

The tournament on the Bremerton municipal course is for national-class golfers who don't belong to private clubs or have unlimited private-course access. Part of the tournament's appeal to golfers is that the winner gets a berth in the 2007 Masters. Much of the appeal to fans is that there will be no admission charge.

The winner is likely to be a collegiate golfer with a name recognized only by dedicated fans of amateur golf.

The defending champion is Clay Ogden, who will be a senior in the fall at Brigham Young University. Last year, he won the most publicized match in the tournament's history but it was in the quarterfinals, not the final.

Ogden, who survived a playoff to get into match play, beat Michelle Wie 5 and 4 (a five-hole lead with four holes to play) in the quarterfinals in a match that drew worldwide attention.

"She's probably the best thing that happened to me in my golf career," Ogden said last month.

Organizers had hoped Wie would come back for this year's tournament but she turned pro.

Ogden, listed at 133 pounds in the BYU media guide, started his sophomore season unable to make the fall traveling team but 10 months later won a United States Golf Association championship.

In the final at Shaker Run Golf Course in Lebanon, Ohio, Ogden beat Martin Ureta of Chile 1-up after being 4 down after the first nine holes.

This is the fifth time the tournament has been held in Washington. The previous times: Indian Canyon in Spokane, 1941 and 1984; West Seattle, 1953; Jefferson Park, 1967.

Washington golfers have won the event four times. In 1959, Franklin High School grad Bill Wright became the first black in U.S. history to win a USGA national championship. Kennewick native Michael Combs, who later played at Washington, won the 1990 tournament at Eastmoreland in Portland. Puyallup's Ryan Moore won in 2002 and 2004.

How does a national tournament wind up in Bremerton?

It started in 1997 when the Washington State Amateur was played on the Olympic Course.

Scott Alexander, director of golf at Gold Mountain, asked John Bodenhamer, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, if he thought a national event could be brought to the Olympic Course. The course had opened to rave reviews in 1996. Bodenhamer said Gold Mountain could probably have its choice of several tournaments.

Alexander was encouraged, studied the possibilities, and determined that the U.S. Public Links was the "perfect fit" for his facility. It was awarded to Gold Mountain in 2002.

U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship tee times

At Bremerton, Wash.

(To be held July 10-15 at the 7,061 yard, par 72, Gold Mountain Golf Club.)

Monday, hole 1; Tuesday, hole 10

7:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m. — Jeff Berkshire, Phoenix; Terrence Miskell, New Braunfels, Texas; Nathan Wine, Ft Wayne, Ind.

7:10 a.m. — 12:10 p.m. — Brodie Flanders, Canada; Steve White, Jackson, Wyo.; J C Horne, Daytona Beach, Fla.

7:20 a.m. — 12:20 p.m. — Chad Cooper, Lafayette, Ind.; Devin Schreiner, Durango, Colo.; Robert Reed, Claremont, N.H.

7:30 a.m. — 12:30 p.m. — Adam Frey, Cypress, Calif.; Travis Meyer, River Falls, Wis.; Sean Maekawa, Paauilo, Hawaii

7:40 a.m. — 12:40 p.m. — Jeffrey Franks, Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Lucas Lee, Brazil; Luke List, Ringgold, Ga.

7:50 a.m. — 12:50 p.m. — James Hockman, Norfolk, Va.; Matthew Berzovich, Longwood, Fla.; Jack Newman, Des Moines, Iowa

8:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m. — Anthony Kim, Norman, Okla.; Lindsay Renolds, Canada; Keegan Fennessy, Minot, Maine

8:10 a.m. — 1:10 p.m. — Mark Sommerfeld, Canada; Casey Watabu, Kapaa, Hawaii; Brad Dearsman, Clyde, Ohio

8:20 a.m. — 1:20 p.m. — Michael King, Livonia, Mich.; Matt Briggs, San Antonio; Cory Segall, La Jolla, Calif.

8:30 a.m. — 1:30 p.m. — Billy Horschel, Grant, Fla.; Tarik Can, Augusta, Ga.; Michael Bielawski, West Allis, Wis.

8:40 a.m. — 1:40 p.m. — Charles Soule, Longmont, Colo.; Nathan Stamey, Canton, N.C.; Sihwan Kim, Buena Park, Calif.

8:50 a.m. — 1:50 p.m. — James Vargas, Miami; Kane Hanson, Detroit Lakes, Minn.; Jesse Massie, Louisville, Ky.

9:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m. — Keegan Bradley, Jackson, Wyo.; John Finnin, Crete, Ill.; Bryan Haase, Interlochen, Mich.

Monday, hole 10; Tuesday, hole 1

7:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m. — Ben Smock, San Antonio; D J Lewin, Hollywood, Fla.; Robert Riesen, Pinehurst, N.C.

7:10 a.m. — 12:10 p.m. — Matt Brantingham, Richmond, Va.; Kevin Horan, Marina Del Rey, Calif.; Dayton Rose, Oklahoma City.

7:20 a.m. — 12:20 p.m. — Jonathan Pauli, St Johns, Mich.; Chip Knuckey, Springfield, Ohio; Derek Berg, Duvall.

7:30 a.m. — 12:30 p.m. — Brad Hastings, Easton, Md.; Jerre Maynor Jr, Nashville; Adam Rainaud, S Hadley, Mass.

7:40 a.m. — 12:40 p.m. — Andy Mack, Itasca, Ill.; Raymond Wooten, Clemson, S.C.; Chan Kim, Honolulu.

7:50 a.m. — 12:50 p.m. — Robb Bierbaum, Albuquerque; Eric Daniel, Dorchester, Mass.; Zachary Sebert, Columbus, Ohio

8:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m. — Anthony Martire, Absecon, N.J.; Daniel Im, Fullerton, Calif.; Garrett Medeiros, Rumford, R.I.

8:10 a.m. — 1:10 p.m. — Brian Davidson, Baldwin, Ga.; Kurt Valley, Bay City, Mich.; Mark Wentz, Milwaukee, Wis.

8:20 a.m. — 1:20 p.m. — Phillip Bryan, Mustang, Okla.; Matt Miller, Bloomington, Ill.; Paul Atchison, Augusta, Ga.

8:30 a.m. — 1:30 p.m. — Ron Mangold, Pocahontas, Ark.; Micah Burke, Los Angeles; Tadd Fujikawa, Honolulu.

8:40 a.m. — 1:40 p.m. — Brandon Kaiser, Anchorage; Jonathan Lenz, San Antonio; Andrew Yun, Tacoma.

8:50 a.m. — 1:50 p.m. — Martin Ureta, Chile; Brandon Pike, Huntington, Ind.; Billy Thompson, Great Falls, Mont.

9:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m. — David Johnson, Melbourne, Fla.; Kevin Larsen, Santa Barbara, Calif.; Daniel Arvanitis, Manchester, N.H.

Monday, hole 1; Tuesday, hole 10

12:00 p.m. — 7:00 a.m. — Nicklaus Newcomb, Benton, Ky.; Federico Cabrera, Argentina; Andy Choi, Orlando.

12:10 p.m. — 7:10 a.m. — Matt Savage, Louisville, Ky.; Herbie Aikens, Pembroke, Mass.; Clay Ogden, West Point, Utah

12:20 p.m. — 7:20 a.m. — Rick Burwig, Portland; Daniel Manselle, O'Fallon, Mo.; Tze Huang Choo, Singapore

12:30 p.m. — 7:30 a.m. — Michael Koreski, Parkersburg, W.Va.; Zeke Reyna, Weslaco, Texas; Justin Metzger, Knoxville.

12:40 p.m. — 7:40 a.m. — Derek Busby, Ruston, La.; Conor O'Brien, Weatogue, Conn.; Dennis Kwon, Rockville, Md.

12:50 p.m. — 7:50 a.m. — Raymond Sheedy, Keymar, Md.; Zack Byrd, Calabash, N.C.; Lee Sakugawa, Wailuku, Hawaii

1:00 p.m. — 8:00 a.m. — William Mitchell, Roswell, Ga.; Sumeet Arora, Woodridge, Ill.; Rory Hie, Lakewood, Calif.

1:10 p.m. — 8:10 a.m. — Nick Kwaterski, Baileys Harbor, Wis.; Jay Poletiek, Portland; Nicholas Van Vuuren, South Africa

1:20 p.m. — 8:20 a.m. — Ricky Montanez, Helendale, Calif.; Michael Barbosa, St Petersburg, Fla.; Tyler Neal, Tucson.

1:30 p.m. — 8:30 a.m. — Brian Carroll, Crystal Lake, Ill.; John Streibich, Cincinnati; Andrew Sledge, Houma, La.

1:40 p.m. — 8:40 a.m. — Adam Wynia, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Nicholas Park, Ithaca, N.Y.; Kyle Ritchie, Corning, Iowa

1:50 p.m. — 8:50 a.m. — Scotty Jones, East Palestine, Ohio; Derek Tolan, Highlands Ranch, Colo.; Hernan Borja, Kingwood, Texas

2:00 p.m. — 9:00 a.m. — Kevin Foley, Somerville, N.J.; Nicholas Sheedy, Burlington, Iowa; Cole Moreland, Austin, Texas

Monday, hole 10; Tuesday, hole 1

12:00 p.m. — 7:00 a.m. — David Dankmyer, Gibsonia, Pa.; Tye Alexander, Los Angeles; Brad Marek, Arlington Heights, Ill.

12:10 p.m. — 7:10 a.m. — Roy Holdeman, El Paso; Jesse Schutte, Florence, Ore.; Jay Lindell, Lakewood, N.Y.

12:20 p.m. — 7:20 a.m. — Mitch Cohlmia, Tulsa, Okla.; Raul Cortes, Mexico; Tyler Trout, Leawood, Kan.

12:30 p.m. — 7:30 a.m. — Joseph Prince, Chula Vista, Calif.; Jeff Daniels, Harrisburg, Pa.; Scott Turner, Palm City, Fla.

12:40 p.m. — 7:40 a.m. — Scott Hess, Santa Rosa, Calif.; Nick Geyer, Malibu, Calif.; David Palm, Jacksonville, Fla.

12:50 p.m. — 7:50 a.m. — Greg Buckway, West Jordan, Utah; Kevin Wentworth, Arnold, Calif.; Bobby Fox, Chester, Conn.

1:00 p.m. — 8:00 a.m. — Derrick Whiting, Alexandria, Minn.; Tim Feenstra, Lynden; Josh Wilks, Tucson.

1:10 p.m. — 8:10 a.m. — Matt Harmon, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Brian Bergstol, Mount Bethel, Pa.; Mark Harrell, Hazlehurst, Ga.

1:20 p.m. — 8:20 a.m. — Derek Fathauer, Jensen Beach, Fla.; John Cassidy, Yelm; Rodney Hamblin Jr, Saint Paul, Minn.

1:30 p.m. — 8:30 a.m. — Kevin Shimomura, Lahaina, Hawaii; Garrett Jones, Rewey, Wis.; Henry Liaw, Rowland Hts, Calif.

1:40 p.m. — 8:40 a.m. — Seth Hirschhorn, Willingboro, N.J.; Jacob Scott, Strongsville, Ohio; Rocky Manning, Greensboro, N.C.

1:50 p.m. — 8:50 a.m. — Vance Welch, Cross Creek, Md.; Nick Travers, Boise; Brent Paladino, Kensington, Conn.

2:00 p.m. — 9:00 a.m. — Peter Krsnich, Wichita, Kan.; Ryan Keeney, Redmond; Ben Fox, Studio City, Calif.