PRESENTING
MEN’S MID-AMATEUR
FIRST TEAM
Evan Beck
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Runner-Up: U.S. Mid-Am
Runner-Up: Coleman Invitational
Medalist: Crump Cup
Beck held his own against the college kids this year, posting solid finishes in the Jones Cup (33rd), Sunnehanna (22nd), Northeast (49th) and Trans-Miss (19th) before tying for 32nd in stroke play at the Western Amateur. The 33-year-old who was a two-time all-ACC honoree at Wake Forest lost to Stewart Hagestad in the U.S. Mid-Amateur final and was medalist at the Crump Cup.
Stephen Behr
Atlanta, Georgia
Runner-Up: Crump Cup
Quarterfinalist: U.S. Mid-Am
Runner-Up: Huddleston Cup
Though Behr got shut out from winning in 2023, including a runner-up as the defending champion at the Crump Cup, he posted some notable top-five finishes in big events: Huddleston Cup (runner-up), Georgia Mid-Amateur (runner-up), Georgia Match Play (third) and U.S. Mid-Am (quarterfinals). He added top-20s against stout mid-am competition at the Coleman and the Lupton.
Mark Costanza
Morristown, New Jersey
Runner-Up: Met Open (Pro)
Top 5: Coleman Invitational
Runner-Up: The Farrell
Costanza earned spots on the first page of many leaderboards. In addition to his top-five results in three of the Met Golf Association’s best amateur and pro events, he added a bunch of top-10s: Coleman Invitational (third), the Travis Invitational (third), Terra Cotta (10th) and the New Jersey State Open (10th) among them. Costanza also took eventual winner Stewart Hagestad to the 17th green in the round of 32 at the U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Joe Deraney
Belden, Mississippi
Winner: Canadian Mid-Am
Winner: Greenwood Invitational
Runner-Up: John T. Lupton Invitational
Though Deraney failed to defend his title in the Mississippi Mid-Am, placing third, he excelled on other fronts. He won the Canadian Mid-Am and his home state’s Greenwood Invitational, reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Mid-Amateur and added a 10th-place result at the Crump Cup.
Hugh Foley
Ireland
Top 5: Lytham Trophy
Top 5: European Amateur
Top 15: Irish Amateur
Foley failed to repeat the magical summer of his debut mid-amateur season, when he claimed two of the Emerald Isle’s top amateur titles and made the U.S. Mid-Amateur final, but he played solidly against the world’s top amateurs on three continents. Call it a sophomore mid-am slump for the 26-year-old from Royal Dublin Golf Club.
Stewart Hagestad
Newport Beach, California
Winner: U.S. Mid-Am
Winner: Crump Cup
U.S. Walker Cup Team: 2-1 Record
Hagestad capped another memorable year with an extraordinary September, competing on his fourth consecutive victorious U.S. Walker Cup team before he won his second U.S. Mid-Amateur and added the prestigious Crump Cup title at Pine Valley. He also finished fifth in the Coleman Invitational and made the quarterfinals in the Western Amateur.
Sam Jones
New Zealand
Winner: Muriwai Open (Pro)
Top 5: Australian Amateur
After tying for third in the stroke-play qualifying of the U.S. Mid-Amateur, the left-hander lost to eventual runner-up Evan Beck in the quarterfinals. Jones, a former University of West Georgia player, spent the summer competing in the seven Elite Amateur Golf Series events and posted a number of respectable finishes against the top collegians: 48th at North and South, 45th at Pacific Coast and 51st at Western Amateur among them. He opened the year Down Under, finishing fourth in the Australian Men’s Amateur before solid results at the New Zealand Open (22nd) and New Zealand PGA (43rd) ahead of his eight-stroke victory in the Charles Tour event at Muriwai.
MATTHEW McCLEAN
Northern Ireland
Semifinalist: Western Amateur
Top 10: World Amateur Team Championship
Semifinalist: Crump Cup
After winning the 2022 U.S. Mid-Am, McClean charged through the open doors that came with a USGA title. He posted early-season top-10s in consecutive weeks at the South African Stroke Play and the South African Amateur, then came stateside to finish 10th at the Azalea Invitational in a warmup for the Masters, in which he missed the cut. Top-10s at the English Men’s Open Amateur (aka the Brabazon Trophy) and the East of Ireland Men’s Amateur highlighted a busy summer before his run to the semifinals at the Western Amateur. McClean, 30, also compiled a 1-1-2 record in the Walker Cup as Great Britain and Ireland’s sole mid-amateur.
Caolan Rafferty
Top 5: St. Andrews Links Trophy
Round of 32: The Amateur
Runner-Up: East of Ireland Amateur
His Ireland team advanced to the semifinals of the European Amateur Team Championship. Rafferty compiled a 2-2-1 match-play record as Ireland finished runner-up in the R&A Home Internationals. He is No. 54 in the WAGR.
Gregor Tait
Scotland
Runner-Up: Australian Master of the Amateurs
Top 10: Australian Amateur
Runner-Up: Scottish Amateur
Tait started his season with strong results in two of Australia’s top amateur events before four consecutive top-20 results in South Africa. After a mid-season soft patch, he placed second in his homeland’s amateur championship.
Second Team
Jonathan Bale
Wales
Runner-Up: Terra Cotta Invitational
Top 5: Gasparilla Invitational
Top 10: Coleman Invitational
Hayes Brown
Charlotte, North Carolina
Winner: John T. Lupton Memorial
Top 10: Crump Cup
Top 10: Azalea Invitational
Marc Dull
Lakeland, Florida
Winner: Florida Amateur
Winner: Florida Mid-Am Stroke Play
Jeronimo Esteve
Windermere, Florida
Winner: Coleman Invitational
Top 10: Latin America Amateur
Andres Schonbaum
Argentina
Winner: El Federal
Round of 32: U.S. Mid-Am
Top 25: Latin America Amateur
PHOTO CREDITS
Evan Beck, Stephen Behr, Mark Costanza, Joe Deraney, Hugh Foley, Sam Jones, Gregor Tait
KATHRYN RILEY, USGA
CHRIS KEANE, USGA
Matthew McClean
JAMES GILBERT, USGA
JOHN MUMMERT, USGA