In December, the reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion received a letter he knew would be coming for months. It was a dark green envelope with a golden Masters logo and inside was a letter addressed in cursive to Mr. Evan Beck.
“When I got the invitation I still got emotional opening it,” Beck said. “It’s just something that as a golfer you dream about doing at some point in your life and I thought at that point that dream was gone.”
This week, the 34-year-old investment analyst will play in his first Masters. Beck, a former professional golfer, is not only one of the best mid-amateurs in the world, he’s one of the best amateurs, as his World Amateur Golf Ranking of 18th attests. The Virginian has been to Augusta National in the past as a spectator, but says the fact he’s about to play in a tournament he has called the pinnacle of amateur golf still doesn’t feel real.
“I’m sure it will feel real once I get out there on the first tee and try to make contact,” Beck said. “But it has all felt like a dream.”
Beck started playing golf at a young age – there are pictures of him holding a club at 3 years old. His father, Gary, who played golf and basketball in college, taught him the game. Gary also took him to Augusta for the first time to watch the 2000 Masters. Beck remembers being in awe of the golf course.
“I remember vividly squatting down and touching the grass with my hand because it’s so perfect and it doesn’t look real,” Beck said. “I probably did that three or four times throughout the day because everything is so immaculate.”
As a junior golfer, Beck won the Junior Players Championship and AJGA Golf Pride Championship. He was also the runner-up in the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur. While he played other sports growing up, Beck decided to focus on golf in college.
“I’ve always loved it and it’s always been my favorite sport,” Beck said.
At Wake Forest between 2009-2013, Beck was two-time All-ACC. After college, he turned pro.
“I think going pro was always in the back of my mind,” Beck said. “As a kid playing sports you always want to play professionally at something and golf was what I had the best chance of doing.”
Beck played mainly on mini-tours with a few starts on the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour). He says he discovered that life wasn’t for him.
“In the mini-tours golf is a grind and a tough life that is a lot of time by yourself in the car and cheap hotel rooms,” Beck said. “I admire the guys who grind it out and stick with it, but that wasn’t for me.”
Beck regained his amateur status in 2020. Despite some initial rustiness, he spent hours practicing when he wasn’t at work. Soon, his confidence grew and he started to win tournaments like the Virginia Mid-Amateur and Eastern Amateur.
In 2017, Beck utilized his finance major at Wake Forest and became an investment analyst. For about three years, he put his golf clubs in the closet to focus on his career. But in 2020, Beck decided to dust off the clubs.
“I picked it up again probably during COVID since that’s all anybody could do,” Beck said. “I missed the competitive aspect of it.”
In 2024, Beck won two prestigious mid-am titles, the Coleman Invitational at Seminole and the George C. Thomas Invitational at Los Angeles Country Club, before capturing the U.S. Mid-Amateur at Virginia’s Kinloch Golf Club, where we was also the stroke-play co-medalist with Segundo Oliva Pinto. After finishing runner-up the previous year to Stewart Hagestad, Beck says the victory meant so much to him.
“Much like the Masters invite that came with it, it doesn't feel real,” Beck said. “Being so close to home I couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
Beck says mid-amateur golf has been a breath of fresh air. He’s having much more fun than he did as a professional golfer.
“[My career] has evolved into more than I thought it could be,” Beck said. “I just got back into it because I wanted to play and I’m really lucky to be able to play this cool schedule of five to six events a year that are all at spectacular venues. It’s been really fun.”
Beck has another goal this year: to make the United States team for the Walker Cup in September at Cypress Point. He played for the United States at the 2024 Concession Cup, but says making a Walker Cup team would be special.
With his dream of playing in the Masters about to be realized, Beck has another goal this year: to make the United States team for the Walker Cup in September at Cypress Point. He played for the United States at the 2024 Concession Cup, but says making a Walker Cup team would be special. In December, Beck was the oldest of 16 invitees for a Walker Cup practice session.
“It would be an honor and a privilege of a lifetime to be on that team,” Beck said.
Nathan Smith, the U.S. captain for the 2025 Walker Cup, says he’s gotten to know Beck over the last five years and is really impressed with his game.
“I’m watching him,” Smith said. “Trust me, he’s on the radar. He has been playing great.”
Smith is a four-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion who played in the Masters in 2004, 2010, 2011 and 2013. He says for an amateur golfer, playing at Augusta National is right up there with making a Walker Cup team.
“It’s the greatest thing ever,” Smith said. “It’s like you get to play in the Super Bowl, like how is this even possible? It’s an honor and a privilege to play in the Masters.”
Beck says he hopes to perform well this week but he wants to enjoy it too. He will have family and friends in the crowd watching as he lives his dream.
“I want to soak in the experience because it’s something I’ve dreamed of doing my entire golf life,” Beck said. “To be able to share it with them will be very, very special.”
E-MAIL EVERETT
Top: Evan Beck plays a shot during the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
MIKE EHRMANN, COURTESY USGA