U.S. Amateur Four-Ball CHAMPIONSHIP
From David Shefter, USGA; Florida Teens, Coelho, Herrera Champions at Chambers Bay:
What Happened
The 2021 summer competition calendar just got a little busier for Kiko Francisco Coelho and Leopoldo Herrera III. The two Florida teenagers earned their way into the 121st U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club with a dramatic 19-hole victory over Canadians and University of Nevada teammates Brendan MacDougall, 23, and Sam Meek, 21, in Wednesday’s championship match of the 6th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Chambers Bay.
Notable
- The runners-up each receive silver medals, plus exemptions into the next three U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships. The 2022 event is scheduled for May 14-18 at the Country Club of Birmingham (Ala.). The 2023 championship will be staged May 20-24 at Kiawah Island (S.C.) Club and the 2024 competition will be played May 25-29 at Philadelphia (Pa.) Cricket Club.
- The two semifinal losers each received bronze medals, plus exemptions into the next two U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships.
- Entries for the 7th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship will open the week of June 7 and close on Aug. 11 at 5 p.m. EDT. To view qualifying sites, click here.
- A total of 52 Chambers Bay caddies were utilized for the championship. Charles Waggoner, who started looping at the course in 2008, and Steve Knoppi, a three-year veteran, carried the bag for finalists Kiko Francisco Coelho and Leopoldo Herrera III, respectively.
- The suspended quarterfinal match was completed on Wednesday morning with Brendan MacDougall and Sam Meek prevailing, 1 up, over Blake Hathcoat and Michael Slesinski. The latter side, teammates at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., had played the longest match in U.S. Amateur Four-Ball history on Tuesday morning in the Round of 16, a 25-hole contest that lasted nearly eight hours.
- Leopoldo Herrera has dropped out of Central Florida and is planning to turn professional in September.
- The 89 holes played by Herrera/Coelho was the most played by a championship side, surpassing the 85 played by 2016 champions Benjamin Baxter and Andrew Buchanan at Winged Foot.