Trio of golfers qualify for U.S. Amateur Championship

Martinsville’s Jack Adkins was one of three golfers who qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship following a 36-hole qualifier July 23 at Kingsmill Resort’s River Course in Williamsburg.

The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship is scheduled for Aug. 13-19 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo.

A 20-year-old junior at Elon (N.C.) University, Adkins shot a spectacular 9-under-par 62 in the morning session. Despite shooting 75 after lunch, he reached the national championship in a four-for-three playoff with a 5-under-par 137 total, according to a release from the USGA.

Also qualifying were mid-amateur Matthew Crenshaw, 30, of Burlington, N.C., (70-67), who birdied the first extra hole, the par-4 first. Joseph Rice IV of Dunkirk, Md., (71-66), a University of Maryland graduate, also qualified.

Adkins recorded eight birdies and an eagle to offset a bogey in the morning round. After shooting 3-under 33 on the front nine, he started the inward half with two birdies and an eagle, capping the round by holing out his 58-degree wedge third shot from 80 yards for an eagle at the par-5 12th hole. He added birdies on the 16th and 18th holes to shoot a personal-best round 62 in competition, and came within a stroke of matching the course record of 61.

Adkins slumped to a 40 on the second nine in the afternoon, but bounced back at the third extra hole, two-putting from 20 feet for par.

It will be his first trip to the U.S. Amateur, the oldest golf championship in the country. Adkins, who graduated from Carlisle High School in Martinsville and said he has never been out of the Eastern time zone, will travel west to Cherry Hills, which will be hosting its ninth USGA championship next month.

The U.S. Amateur Championship, open to amateur golfers who hold a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 2.4., is one of 13 championships conducted by the USGA, with 10 strictly for amateurs.

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