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.
The Nittany Lions' contingent was led in the first round by spring graduate Geoff Vartelas (Cromwell, Conn.), who fired a two-under 68 on the South Course. He is tied for 14th place in the 312-player field.
Sophomore Ryan Dornes (Lancaster, Pa.) shot a one-over 71 on the North Course and sophomore J.D. Hughes (Carlisle, Pa.) shot a two-over 72 on the South Course. Hughes is a transfer who will be eligible to play for Coach Greg Nye in 2016-17. Penn State spring graduate Chris Houston (Gilford, N.H.) shot a five-over 75 on the South Course during the first round.
The U.S. Amateur includes 36 holes of stroke play qualifying Monday and Tuesday, followed by match play for the top 64 golfers from Wednesday through Sunday 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
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.