Nick Dunlap, a native of Huntsville and currently a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's golf team, won the U.S. Amateur Championship on Sunday by defeating Neal Shipley from Ohio State. In the 36-hole match play format at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, the 19-year-old sophomore captured a 4&3 victory in just 33 holes.
Winning a U.S. Amateur championship is a huge accomplishment in itself, but Dunlap's victory etched his name in the record books with golf legend Tiger Woods. Woods and Dunlap are the only two male golfers to win a U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur championship. He won the U.S. Junior Am in 2021. Dunlap also became the second University of Alabama golfer to win the U.S. Amateur championship, joining Jerry Pate, who won in 1974.
Shipley and Dunlap went back and forth, finishing tied after the first 18 holes. On the 21st hole of the finals, Dunlap broke the match open, winning four of the next holes and halving the other four giving him a dominant four-shot lead with just eight holes left. Dunlap gave one hole back to Shipley on the 31st hole but won the 32nd and tied the 33rd to secure the victory.
As a freshman, Dunlap led Alabama in average strokes per round at 70.35, the second-lowest per-round single-season average in program history. During his offseason from collegiate golfing events, Dunlap won the Northeast Amateur title as well as the North & South Amateur championships. In September, Dunlap is set to represent the United States in the 2023 Walker Cup against Great Britain.
Adding to his recent accomplishments, with his U.S. Amateur win Sunday, Dunlap has earned a qualifying spot for the 2024 Masters, U.S. Open, and the Open Championship, three of the four PGA majors.
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