More than 80 talented young golfers will journey from all over the world to the Berkeley Hall Golf Club in Bluffton, SC, July 9 – 15 for a chance to be named the 2012 Players Amateur Champion and earn an exemption into the 2013 RBC Heritage presented by Boeing.
The Players Amateur is one of the most well respected tournaments in amateur golf. Many past participants have been successful at making the transition to the pro circuit. Ben Curtis, Rickie Fowler, Lucas Glover, Bill Haas and Camilo Villegas are just a few that all are now well known on the PGA TOUR.
Heading up the list of impressive commitments is Bobby Wyatt, a 19-year-old from Mobile, Alabama. He became famous in the golfing world in 2010 when he shot a 57 at the Alabama Boys State Championship. The University of Alabama rising Junior is currently ranked #3 in the SPWAR rankings and just recently won the Sunnehanna Amateur. He has also carded two more top tens in the Dogwood and Northeast. He was named a second-team All American by Golfweek and a third-team choice by PING. His teammate Cory Whitsett is also in the field. The 20-year old is currently ranked #9 by SPWAR and was a second-team choice in both Golfweek and PING.
South Carolina native Matthew NeSmith is no stranger to winning events hosted by the Heritage Classic Foundation. He is the 2011 Junior Heritage Champion. The 18 year old from North Augusta will play for the University of South Carolina in the fall. He has had a very successful start to his summer winning 4 championships and carding 3 more top tens.
The popular Aussies are back in the field. The crew from the land down under is led by Daniel Nesbit and Matthew Stieger. Nesbit is ranked #29 by SPWAR and Stieger is currently in the #13 spot with top ten finishes at the Scottish Open Amateur and the South Australia Amateur Classic.
Two local golfers are also in the field. University of South Carolina-Beaufort student Luke McClellan qualified to play as well as former IJGA student and Bluffton resident Mike Balzer and current IJGA student Matt Cheng.