New U.S. Amateur Exemption Highlights State, AGA Champions

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Greg Berthelot has stared down hundreds – if not thousands – of 6-foot putts during his competitive golf career that spans nearly three decades. But the 72 inches he faced on the 72nd hole of the Louisiana Golf Association’s Amateur, on a sweltering early June Sunday afternoon at the Country Club of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, had an entirely different feel.

A previous two-time champion of the state’s premier amateur competition, Berthelot knew the stakes were even higher this time around. Making matters worse? He carried what appeared to be an insurmountable lead into the final hole of the four-day event, only to see a series of mistakes put a third title in jeopardy. Adding pressure to this moment was the fact that, for the first time, the LGA Am champ would get an exemption into the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in Chaska, Minn., a competition Berthelot had yet to experience.

“That didn’t enter my mind,” said Berthelot of the perk. “It was more, are you really going to do this? I got over this 6-footer and told myself you’ve made thousands of these … just make it so you don’t have to go to a playoff. It’s so hot in Louisiana in the summer. I don’t want to be out here [in the heat] anymore.”

Berthelot’s putt was center cut as he edged collegian Jarrod Johnson by one stroke to punch his ticket to Minnesota. This will be the second USGA championship for the reinstated amateur, as he advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Bandon Dunes alongside retired NFL defensive tackle and fellow Louisiana native Kyle Williams.

Berthelot, 35, of Baton Rouge, joined 51 other unique winners of state/Allied Golf Association amateur competitions to garner this new U.S. Amateur exemption category that the USGA created. Austin Barbin, of Elkton, Md., actually qualified twice, winning both the Maryland Amateur and Golf Association of Philadelphia Amateur.

The U.S. Junior, U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Amateur were the first four championships targeted for this new exemption category, which elevates state-level competitions and  hopefully, elevates the strength of fields across the country.

In some cases, these AGA events have provided a second chance at playing in a USGA championship proper. Kathryn Ha, of Roanoke, Va., made the U.S. Girls’ Junior field after failing to advance at an 18-hole qualifier. She earned her way to the championship at El Caballero Country Club, in Tarzana, Calif., with a “mulligan” by winning the Virginia State Golf Association Junior Girls’ Championship. Ha took advantage of the second chance by reaching the Round of 16 before bowing out in a 20-hole thriller to Madison Messimer.

Another Virginian enjoyed a similar path. Lauren Greenlief, the 2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, just missed advancing to the U.S. Women’s Amateur from her qualifying site, settling for second-alternate status. Then a few weeks later, the 33-year-old from Ashton captured the VSGA Women’s Amateur to punch her ticket to Southern Hills Country Club, in Tulsa, Okla.

“I knew I had one more shot to get in,” said Greenlief, a U.S. Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist in 2018, “so I kind of called it. I was like, ‘I’m going to win the Virginia Am and get in.’ And then I did it, so that was pretty cool.

“I heard about [the new exemptions] at some point last year. I’m on the board of directors for the VSGA, so I feel like I heard pretty early on when [the USGA] started discussing it with the AGAs, so I was excited about it.”

Berthelot was also made aware of the exemptions when he was recently asked to join the LGA Board. In fact, he didn’t even file a U.S. Amateur entry, knowing that it requires a day away from work just for the opportunity to play an 18-hole crapshoot against guys 10-20 years younger.

“I figured I would kill two birds with one stone by playing in the state amateur,” said Berthelot, a risk-management coordinator for an electrical and instrumentation contractor. “I don’t want to take off a day of work for a qualifier…I feel more confident over a four-day tournament versus a one-day, 18-hole event.”

For many, this new exemption is something that’s been long overdue. When Berthelot captured both the LGA Amateur and Mid-Amateur titles in 2022, friends were shocked that it didn’t come with any USGA exemptions. And the USGA certainly saw a way of infusing these champions into the fields without jeopardizing its democratic qualifying process.

With the added exemptions, this year’s field of 312 consisted of a nearly 50-50 split of exempt players (143) and qualifiers (169).

“As we looked to ensure the long-term sustainability of USGA qualifying, identifying additional opportunities for players to earn their way into a USGA championship was a critical element,” said Brent Paladino, the USGA’s senior director of championship administration. “Our team did a significant amount of research on the history of state and AGA amateur championships, looking at the quality of those championships and the strengths of those fields. Ultimately, winning a state or AGA amateur is a tremendous accomplishment and one that is deserving of celebration.

“Our hope is that these exemptions will elevate the importance of playing in state and AGA championships.”

Added John Suozzo, the USGA’s manager of championship administration who was involved in the process: “This new exemption category allows us to properly recognize the great achievements of these champions with an invitation to their national championship.”

These are the most significant exemption changes since 2011 when the USGA formally recognized the World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® and gave competitors, based on their positions, spots in the field. In 2012, that move paid off when Minjee Lee, of Australia, won the U.S. Girls’ Junior at Lake Merced G.C., thanks to a WAGR exemption. Lee said she would not have made the long trek had she needed to go through the qualifying process.

At 45, Brad Nurski, of St. Joseph, Mo., knows his chances of playing in the U.S. Amateur are beginning to fade. One of Missouri’s finest amateur champions over the past decade, the powerful left-hander joined a select group of players, including World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson, as a four-time champion of the Missouri Amateur with an impressive 11-and-9 victory over Oral Roberts University fifth-year senior Preston Richardson in the 36-hole final.

It didn’t hurt that this year’s event was contested at Nurski’s home course, St. Joseph Country Club, but the champion never took the situation for granted. He said the thought of playing at Hazeltine didn’t enter his thoughts until he was handed the trophy. This will be Nurski’s third trip to the U.S. Amateur, all via exemptions. In 2015 at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club as the 2014 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up, Nurski reached the Round of 32. He failed to qualify in 2020 at Bandon Dunes in the all-exempt Amateur due to COVID-19 eliminating the qualifying process.

He did credit Missouri Golf Association Executive Director Scott Hovis for playing his part in promoting the championship to help strengthen the field.

Many of the country’s elite amateurs turn eschew competing in their state/regional events to chase World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® points in national and international amateur competitions, or professional events. Nurski and others hope this new path to gain entrance into the USGA’s premier amateurs will enhance the strength of these fields.

Josh Persons, 40, of Fargo, N.D., can relate to Nurski; a decorated mid-amateur trying to earn his place in a field filled of juniors and 20-something college stars. The North Dakota Stroke Play Championship, an event he won in 2020, offered him a viable path to play at Hazeltine and enjoy a college homecoming. He played for the University of Minnesota, a short three-hour drive from his residence.

The 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur semifinalist and former tour pro – Persons had brief status on what is now called the Korn Ferry Tour and competed on PGA Tour Canada – posted three consecutive 3-under-par 69s at Riverwood Golf Course in Bismarck to win the title by a couple of strokes.

This will be his first U.S. Amateur since the 2019 championship at Pinehurst and ninth overall USGA championship, which includes the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, his last event as a pro. He got into the insurance business six months later and regained his amateur status in 2018.

Persons said he saw a big difference in the quality of the field this year because of the new exemption. He also added that the exemption provides smaller states like North Dakota representation in the national championship. In fact, Delaware is the only state not represented in this year’s field (Bobby Leopold, a Rhode Island resident who won his state’s amateur, is representing his birth country of England).

“We used to have a U.S. Amateur qualifier in Fargo, but since COVID it’s gone,” said Persons. “It’s nice to essentially get one back in North Dakota. It’s a positive for the state golf association too. Interest was way up. People were coming from all over the state. It brings attention back to state events.”

In total, 15 mid-amateurs gained entry into the U.S. Amateur via the new AGA/state amateur exemption. Twenty mid-amateurs advanced through qualifying, which this year had a two-stage process.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur saw two prominent mid-amateurs qualify via the exemption: past U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champions Greenlief and Ina Kim-Schaad.

“It gives you another shot to get in because a lot of us can’t play in the North & South and some of the Elite Amateur Series events because they are all so jam-packed in the summer, so it gives us another shot to get in,” said Greenlief, who missed the match-play cut at Southern Hills. “I think it’s good for the AGAs also. It supports the state [amateurs] and gets some of the top players back there too.”

And it wasn’t just mid-amateurs enjoying success in these AGA competitions. Jaden Soong, a 14-year-old from Burbank, Calif., became the youngest champion in Southern California Golf Association Amateur history in early July. Shane Sundberg, a 19-year-old rising sophomore at Southwest Oregon Junior College, will make the long trek from Sterling, Alaska, to play in his first USGA championship after claiming the Alaska Amateur.

“This is a fantastic thing for all of the states,” said Persons. “It gives well deserving players a chance to play in [a USGA championship].”

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.