The road to the men’s Elite Amateur Cup teed off last week at Sunnehanna Country Club in Pennsylvania for the 84th Sunnehanna Amateur Championship. After a dominant front nine on Saturday, high schooler Tyler Watts emerged victorious in the first of seven events in the Elite Amateur Golf Series. At 17, Watts is the youngest Sunnehanna Amateur champion ever.
“This is my first year here, and it’s an honor to be able to walk away with the trophy,” Watts told The Back of the Range. “I just know after this week that there’s a lot of history behind this tournament, and it’s a true honor to win.”
Watts, of Huntsville, Alabama, shot 66-67-64-64 and finished four strokes ahead of Cole Rueck. His 19-under-par total set a new tournament record. The 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur finalist beat 101 of the best amateurs in golf. By winning, Watts receives an exemption into the U.S. Amateur and joins a roster of champions that includes Ben Crenshaw, Jay Sigel and Rickie Fowler.
Watts started the final day at 13-under and with a one-shot lead over the field. Five players were within three shots of him. After a par on each of his first three holes, Watts birdied Nos. 4-8 to distance himself from the field.
The men’s Elite Amateur Golf Series returns this week for the Northeast Amateur at Rhode Island’s Wannamoisett Country Club. Both men and women will play the following week at Pinehurst in the North & South men’s and women’s amateurs.
RESULTS
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA | In the Southwestern Women’s Amateur at Desert Mountain Club’s Outlaw Course, Pimchompoo “Pinky” Chaisilprungruang of Thailand triumphed over 72 of the best amateurs in women’s golf. She shot 73-68-69-69 (-9) to finish two strokes ahead of Kaili Xiao.
“(Winning) means everything to me because I wanted to make my team proud,” said Chaisilprungruang, a rising sophomore at UNC Charlotte.
The Southwestern Women’s Amateur was the second of five events in the Women’s Elite Amateur Golf Series. Vanderbilt’s Lynn Lim won the first event, the Sea Island Women’s Amateur, two weeks ago.
Chaisilprungruang started the final round in the lead at 6-under, two strokes better than her playing partners Xiao and Amy DeKock. She admitted she was nervous heading into Saturday’s final round.
“I felt stressed,” Chaisilprungruang said. “I felt pressured. But I told myself to be excited because you are what you tell yourself to be. I just thought I would smile and play my best.”
While her lead shrank to one stroke during the final round, Chaisilprungruang never lost it. On 15, a bogey by Xiao restored the eventual champion’s lead to two and it remained that way for the closing holes.
During the third round on Friday, University of Georgia transfer Maria Eidhagen Harrouch had both a day she’d like to forget and a hole she’ll remember forever. She started the day at 10-under and was in command of the tournament. However, a 9 on the par-5 second hole set her on a path to an eventual 79.
On the bright side, she carded her first hole-in-one on No. 12 with a 9-iron from 170 yards.
“I didn’t see it go in and no one reacted so I was like it’s probably pretty close,” Harrouch said. “Then I came up to the green and didn’t see my ball. And then I just ran to the hole and found it.”
Also at the Outlaw, University of Kansas transfer Hartej Grewal won the Southwestern Men’s Amateur (not a part of the men’s Elite Amateur Golf Series). It’s his first win since the AJGA Junior at Copper Valley in April 2024.
“Winning means a lot,” Grewal said. “I came into this tournament hoping to win and that’s what I did. Winning always feels good so I’m really happy now in this moment.”
Grewal shot 71-68-67-66 (-16) to finish two shots ahead of Matthew Javier. He started the final round one shot ahead of the field and played solid golf on Saturday with only one bogey. In the end, Grewal’s eagle on the par-5 16th hole proved the difference.
“I had 248 [yards] in,” Grewal said. “My 3-wood goes around 265 so I had to hit a really controlled shot into that pin. Shorten my club, shorten my stance, set up for a nice little fade. And I did exactly that and hit it to one foot for eagle.”
Everett Munez