3 Things to Know: 125th U.S. Amateur

The best male amateur golfers in the world are once again descending upon The Olympic Club, which becomes one of 10 total venues to have hosted at least 12 USGA championships.. The property boasts two 18-hole layouts – the Lake and the Ocean – the latter of which is serving as the stroke-play co-host venue.. Both tracks were designed by Willie Watson and opened in 1924, yet each has undergone renovations and redesigns. 

This week, 312 competitors will be vying for one of 64 coveted spots in match play, all of which will take place on the Lake Course, site of five previous U.S. Opens.

With its roots dating to 1860, The Olympic Club is the oldest athletic club in the United States  and features a membership that has won everything from Olympic medals to major golf championships. In fact, in 1964, the club had three USGA champions: Johnny Miller (U.S. Junior Amateur), Ken Venturi (U.S. Open) and William Higgins (U.S. Senior Amateur). 

This will be the San Francisco club’s fourth U.S. Amateur, following 1958 (Charles Coe), 1981 (Nathaniel Crosby) and 2007 (Colt Knost). Besides the five U.S. Opens, The Olympic Club has also hosted a U.S. Women’s Open (2021), U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (2015) and U.S. Junior Amateur (2004).

As USGA history continues to unfold over the next seven days, here are 3 Things to Know:

Competition Within the Competition

As if competing against the best amateurs in the world wasn’t enough, there’s even more at stake for those chasing the final five spots on the 2025 USA Walker Cup Team, which will take place down the road at Cypress Point Club, in Pebble Beach, Calif. The Olympic Club will stage the final opportunity for America’s top amateurs to earn an automatic selection to the 10-man roster. The U.S. Amateur champion and the recipient of the McCormack Medal will automatically join the team, provided they are American. 

Koivun is one of five players already named to the team, along with Ben James, Michael La Sasso, Ethan Fang and Preston Stout. The first three were selected based on being the three highest-ranked Americans in the WAGR as of June 18. Fang, the first American champion of The Amateur Championship in 18 years, and fellow Oklahoma State Cowboy Preston Stout were announced on July 25. All five players are in the field this week. 

The remaining five roster spots will be announced following the conclusion of the U.S. Amateur. 

Like the Walker Cup, an automatic spot is also on the line for the USA World Amateur Team, as both the U.S. Amateur champion and the recipient of the McCormack Medal will earn automatic selections. The 2025 World Amateur Team Championship will be contested in October at Tanah Merah Country Club (Tampines Course) in Singapore. 

The Underdog

At The Olympic Club, course complexity, tucked hole locations and championship pressure often lead to dramatic final-day leader board swings, and usually, an unlikley champion prevails. Throughout the course’s history, players have faltered under the pressure of holding the 54-hole lead, while others have done the impossible, overcoming significant deficits during the final round. 

During the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open – the last USGA championship staged at The Olympic Club – Yuka Saso’s final round began with back-to-back double bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3, dropping her five strokes behind leader Lexi Thompson as she approached the inward nine. But as Thompson began to unravel, Saso and Nasa Hataoka surged and both wound up tied after 72 holes. Thompson bogeyed 17 and 18 to fall out of contention, while Saso outlasted Hataoka on the third hole of the playoff, adding another come-from-behind victory to The Olympic Club’s storied championship history. 

During the 1955 U.S. Open at the Lake Course, it was the consensus that Ben Hogan would be crowned champion after posting a 72-hole total of 287. NBC even declared Hogan's record-setting fifth victory as they were signing off and ending TV coverage for the day. But Jack Fleck, an unheralded pro from Iowa, was not listening. Fleck, who had never won a professional event at that point, heated up on the back nine, registering birdies on 15 and 18, and eventually outlasting Hogan in the next day’s 18-hole playoff. 

When the U.S. Open returned in 1966, Billy Casper was seven strokes behind favorite Arnold Palmer going into the final nine holes, before Olympic Club targeted its newest victim. Palmer went on to bogey five of those final nine, while Casper birdied 15 and 16 on his way to forcing yet another playoff at the club, winning his second of three major championships. 

In the 1987 U.S. Open, Scott Simpson overcame a late one-stroke deficit, finding magic on the final nine by recording three straight birdies from No. 14 en route to securing his lone major and edging 1982 champion Tom Watson. 

In 1998, Lee Janzen opened his final round with consecutive bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3, finding himself seven strokes off the lead. Just like Casper 32 years earlier, Janzen had a final-round surge, recording four birdies over his last 15 holes to cement his victory over Payne Stewart and his second U.S. Open title. 

At The Olympic Club no lead is safe. 

Future Ryder Cup

Throughout its history, the U.S. Amateur has provided the golf world with an early glimpse at the game’s next great talents. Legends like Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have all hoisted the Havemeyer Trophy before dominating the professional game. Although triumph on the amateur circuit does not always guarantee future stardom, it can be an early indicator of greatness to come. 

The Olympic Club is one of a handful of courses that showcases these players both as amateurs making a name for themselves and as established professionals on the biggest stage. The Lake Course last hosted the U.S. Amateur in 2007, just five years before welcoming back many of the same competitors for the 2012 U.S. Open. During the first round of match play at the U.S. Amateur, Webb Simpson faced off against Michael Thompson, eventually falling short, 5 and 3. Five years later, the two were involved in the championship storyline again on the final day of the U.S. Open, this time with Simpson coming out on top. He shot a final-round 68 to hold off a late push from Thompson, winning by one stroke to claim his first major championship. 

The 2007 U.S. Amateur  featured several other names who would tee it up in the 2012 U.S. Open, including champion Colt Knost, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Danny Lee and Kyle Stanley. Each carved their own path from amateur contender to major championship competitor, showing that strong play at the Lake Course can be a sign of readiness for golf’s most challenging stages. 

After the 2025 U.S. Amateur, The Olympic Club will again play a role in golf’s biggest moments, hosting the 2033 Ryder Cup. Just as the 2007 U.S. Amateur produced major champions, this year’s field may contain the next generation of Ryder Cup regulars looking to represent their country. A strong performance this week could be a foreshadowing of success to come when players return to one of golf’s most celebrated team competitions.