Aug. 15, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- A program record four members of the Penn State men's golf team began play Monday in the 116th U.S. Amateur. The championship is being held on the North and South Courses at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield, Michigan.
Scheduled to tee off today were a pair of Penn State rising sophomores - Ryan Dornes (Lancaster, Pa.) and J.D. Hughes (Carlisle, Pa.), a transfer who will be eligible to play for Coach Greg Nye in 2016-17.
Also playing in the prestigious event are a pair of 2016 Nittany Lion seniors - Geoff Vartelas (Cromwell, Conn.) and Chris Houston (Gilford, N.H.).
Dornes was the first Nittany Lion to begin play on Monday morning on the North Course. Vertelas teed off later on the South Course. Houston tees off at 2:05 p.m. on the South Course and Hughes is in the last grouping of the day on the South Course and is scheduled to tee off at 3:05 p.m.
The U.S. Amateur will include 36 holes of stroke play qualifying Monday and Tuesday, followed by match play for the top 64 golfers from Wednesday through Sunday. A total of 312 golfers are participating in the championship in suburban Detroit.
The live leaderboard for the U.S. Amateur is at:
http://www.usga.org/championships/2016/u-s--amateur/scoring.html
It has been a superlative summer for Penn State men's golf, with several individual titles and championship appearances:
- Last month, Houston captured the match play New Hampshire Championship at the Laconia Country Club
- Former Nittany Lion Robert Rohanna won his second Pennsylvania Open Championship at Nevillewood Country Club on August 10. Last year, Rohanna was a participant on the Golf Channel's reality show, "The Big Break"
- On August 7, rising sophomore Evan Santa (Edgewater, Md.) won the Washington Metropolitan Amateur, winning five matches at the Lakewood Country Club
- Cole Miller (New Tripoli, Pa.), a rising junior, won the Pennsylvania State Amateur title in June at Moselem Springs Golf Club, edging former teammate and May graduate J.D. Dornes for the crown
- Christian Elliott (Port Perry, Ontario, Canada), a rising senior, won the Toronto Star Amateur on July 22, shooting a final round 71.
- Big Ten Freshman of the Year Charles Huntzinger won the prestigious Dogwood Invitational in July at the Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta.
- Former Nittany Lions Kevin Foley and T.J. Howe qualified for the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh.
The Penn State men's golf program has posted the highest team GPA of any Nittany Lion program in each of the last two years, while also making the NCAA Regional Championships in each of the last two seasons.
Penn State finished the 2015-16 season ranked No. 33 by GolfWeek, with the Nittany Lions posting a record of 105-29-1, (78.1). Golfstat ranked Penn State No. 36 among the nation's approximately 300 Division I programs.
For more on Penn State men's golf, follow at @PennStateMGolf.