USGA’s Two Prestigious Amateur Events a Family Affair for Bryants

Perhaps it is a good thing that the USGA’s two biggest amateur championships are being contested west of the Mississippi. At least for the Bryant family. This week, Emma Bryant is competing in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, and on Sunday, older brother, Davis, earned a “mulligan” into the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club, not far from his family’s residence in Aurora, Colo.. Twelve days after Emma, a rising junior at the University of Denver, qualified for the Women’s Am, Davis, a 2023 Colorado State graduate, failed to advance from his 36-hole event in Laramie, Wyo. But on Sunday, Davis moved into the top five in the Elite Amateur Golf Series, a group of seven prestigious amateur events that awards points. The top five after the Western Amateur receive exemptions into the U.S. Amateur, and Davis was the only one not already in the 312-player field. Davis competed in six of the seven events – he did not play the Sunnehanna Amateur in early June – with consistent results. Now, he’ll close his amateur career at a venue that’s hosted three U.S. Opens, a U.S. Women’s Open, a U.S. Senior Open and two U.S. Amateurs. Emma, meanwhile, will look to shake off an opening-round 74 and make match play. Her father, Matt, a quarterfinalist in the 1995 U.S. Amateur Public Links, is on her bag. But no matter what happens, the Bryant family has a lot to celebrate.