University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn's Nelson Wins U.S. Amateur Qualifying Tournament
6/30/2022 5:18:00 PM | Men's Golf
Will Compete For U.S. Amateur Championship Aug. 15-21
UConn Athletic Communications / June 30, 2022
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PUTNAM, Conn. – UConn's Jared Nelson has added to his string of impressive summer golf performances.
Nelson (Rutland, Vt.), fresh off a victory at the Hornblower Memorial Golf Tournament four weeks ago, fired two outstanding rounds on Wednesday for a 9-under 133 at Connecticut National Golf Club to win the U.S. Amateur qualifying tournament.
Nelson's 66-67=133 topped a field of 84 golfers who were vying for two open spots at the U.S. Amateur Championship, to be held on Aug. 15-21 at The Ridgewood Country Club and Arcola Country Club in Paramus, N.J. The other qualifying spot Wednesday went to Bobby Leopold (Coventry, R.I.), who shot a 5-under, 69-69=137, finishing four strokes behind Nelson.
Nelson, who graduated from UConn last month and who will play with the Huskies as a graduate student in 2022-23, had 11 birdies and just two bogeys through the two qualifying rounds. He had a seven-birdie, two-bogey 66 in Round 1 and followed it up with a four-birdie, no-bogey 67 in Round 2.
"I didn't really do anything that special," Nelson said afterward. "I played solid all day, drove it well and hit a lot of greens to give myself a lot of looks at birdie."
Two other golfers with UConn ties weren't far away from the top of the leaderboard. Nelson's UConn teammate Tommy Dallahan (Simsbury, Conn.) fired a 2-under, 74-65=140 to finish in sixth place, while former Husky Nick Harrington (Chaplin, Conn.) shot a 2-over, 72-72=144 to finish in 15th place.
A total of 7,749 golfers across the country were vying for the 312 open spots at the U.S. Amateur. The qualifiers will play 18 holes of stroke play on Aug. 15 and 16, with one round at Ridgewood and one at nearby Arcola, after which the field will be cut to the low 64 scores.
Six rounds of match play will then begin on Wednesday, Aug. 17, and the championship concludes with a 36-hole championship match on Sunday, Aug. 21. The winner and runner-up are exempt into the following year's U.S. Open Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club.
Nelson was UConn's second-leading scorer during the 2021-22 season, averaging 72.61 per round, with three Top 10 and five Top 20 finishes. He posted 13 rounds of par-or-better and shot a season-low round of 67 on three different occasions. Â Â Â Â Â
