Foreign countries represented (4):Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico
States represented (44): All but Delaware, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Virginia.
Youngest competitor: Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., is 14 years old (DOB: 8/9/1995). He began playing golf at age 6 and attends The Knox School. He shot 140 to earn the final spot at the Farmingdale, N.Y., sectional qualifier and advanced to the third round of match play at last year’s U.S. Junior Amateur.
Oldest competitor: Robert Nelson of Mobile, Ala., is 49 years old (DOB: 10/31/60). Nelson shot 142, bettering the next best player by seven strokes and earning the only spot at the Mobile, Ala., sectional. Nelson, who won the 2009 Alabama State Mid-Amateur Championship, is competing in his first USGA event.
Other individual storylines:
Max Adler, 28, of Norwalk, Conn., is a two-time winner of the Ransome Fellowship, a full scholarship to study at St. Andrews University in Scotland, where he obtained his master’s degree in English. He is a journalist for Golf Digest.
Stuart Allen, 24, of Lakewood, Colo., can beat the original Mario Nintendo game in nine minutes. Last summer, he formed an Issue Committee whose function was to amend the Colorado Constitution’s definition of marriage; however, the amendment never made the ballot.
Riley Arp, 22, of Fort Collins, Colo., lived in Saudi Arabia for six years while his father, David, worked for an oil company. Arp recently completed his senior season as a member of the Colorado State University golf team.
Brian Atkinson, 34, of Chicago, Ill., refuses to participate in social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. He says: If you are my ‘friend,’ I’ll call you. He competed in the U.S. Amateur Public Links in 2002 and 2004.
Richard Berkmeyer, 36, of St. Louis, Mo., owns ALL STAR Distributing, a trophy and awards business. At the U.S. Mid-Amateur, he tied for medalist honors in 2007 and was the lone medalist in 2008.
Clinton Boutelle, 20, of Cody, Wyo., says he’s played golf in snow and ice in Wyoming.
George and Wesley Bryan are brothers from Chapin, S.C., who both play golf at the University of South Carolina. George, 22, recently completed his senior season at USC. Wes, 20, is a rising junior at USC and was a quarterfinalist at the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links.
Ross Canavan, 23, of Palm Desert, Calif., played soccer, rugby and cricket at Charterhouse School in London until the age of 15. He is a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom.
Brian Csipkes, 38, of Gretna, Neb., was a professional bowler in the early 1990s. He recorded six 300 games and four 800-pin series. Csipkes, who played in last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur, is the Treasurer for the Omaha chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
Kevin Daniels, 20, of Anchorage, Alaska, is the only player from Alaska competing in this championship. He plays on the American International College golf team.
Harris English, 20, of Athens, Ga., is a three-time All-American selection who earned third-team honors in 2008 and 2009 and second-team honors in 2010 as a member of the University of Georgia golf team. He won the 2009 Olympia Fields Invitational and the 2010 Morris Williams Intercollegiate this past season.
Derek Ernst, 20, of Clovis, Calif., has limited vision in his right eye due to an accident suffered at the age of 8 while making a Valentine for his mother. He was using a toy to cut a PVC pipe and it broke, resulting in an injury that needed 10 stitches and caused permanent scarring.
Tim Fisher, 29, of Statts Mills, W.Va., has eight career holes-in-one. His most memorable hole-in-one came while playing with William C. Campbell at a college scholarship fundraiser. Campbell is the only person to have served as USGA president (1982-83) and captain of The R&A (1987). Campbell won the U.S. Amateur in 1964, the USGA Senior Amateur in 1979 and 1980 and was an eight-time USA Walker Cup Team member, going 7-0-1 in his singles matches.
Andrew Frame, 22, of Manteno, Ill., is an Elementary Education major who was forced to redshirt his senior season at Northern Illinois University in order to student teach. He spent 16 weeks teaching fourth grade in Kankakee, Ill., in the fall of 2009. Frame graduated this year but will return to NIU in the fall to complete his last year of eligibility.
Bryce Greeley, 21, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., is a triplet (brothers are Gavin and Grant). He is a rising junior at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he competes on the golf team.
Maximilian Greil, 22, of Germany lived in both Germany and Italy until the age of 15. Greil, who plays on the University of California, Irvine golf team, completed the 2009 LA Marathon in 3 hours, 30 minutes.
Cason Hammock, 25, of Columbus, Ga., was a semifinalist at the 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links.
Jordan Hawkinson, 24, of Grant, Minn., is a math teacher in the Shakopee School District. He will marry his fiancée, Justine Moses, on July 31.
Jay Hwang, 17, of San Diego, Calif., was runner-up at the 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur. He will be a senior at Torrey Pines High School this fall.
Ricky Jones, 38, of Thomaston, Maine, is a controller for Dragon Products Company, a cement and concrete company. His most memorable golf moment is beating Dustin Johnson in the first round of match play at the 2007 U.S. Amateur
Sean Knapp, 48, of Oakmont, Pa., was a member of the winning Pennsylvania team at the 2009 USGA Men’s State Team Championship. Knapp, who has competed in more than 25 USGA championships, was the stroke-play medalist at the 1989 U.S. Mid-Amateur. He is the assistant head coach for the Riverview High School girls’ basketball team.
Scott Langley, 21, of St. Louis, Mo., was the individual champion at the 2010 NCAA Div. I Championship and tied for low-amateur honors at the 2010 U.S. Open, finishing 16th. Langley, the 2010 Big Ten Conference Player of the Year, will be a senior at the University of Illinois this fall.
Peter Lansburgh, 22, of Elk Grove, Calif., broke his right collarbone in December 2007. The injury required surgery consisting of eight screws and two plates, keeping him out of golf for four months. The injury did not affect his golf swing.
John Larson, 25, of New Ulm, Calif., has attended every Minnesota Vikings home game the past three years. Larson, who played collegiate golf for the University of Minnesota and Iowa State University, lists his most memorable golf moment as the 2003 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club, where his father served as his caddie.
Jace Long, 20, of Dixon, Mo., wore an entire outfit that belonged to Payne Stewart in the 2008 AJGA Bass Pro/Payne Stewart Junior Championship, which he won. Long, the 2009 Missouri Golf Association Championship Player of the Year, lists his most memorable golf moment as the time he drove his father’s golf cart into a lake at the age of 5.
Justin Lower, 21, of Canal Fulton, Ohio, recently received the 2010 Jack Nicklaus Award as the NAIA’s Player of the Year. Lower, who was medalist at the 2010 NAIA Championship, suffered the tragic loss of his father, Tim, and brother, Chris, in a car accident in March 2005.
Sam Lyons, 21, of Little River, S.C., was a quarterfinalist at the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links.
Timothy Madigan, 21, of Rio Rancho, N.M., has a crossed eye due to an emergency cesarean section in which the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. Madigan, who has played in the last two U.S. Amateur Public Links, will be a senior at New Mexico State University this fall.
Brent Martin, 22, of La Plata, Md., has raced dragsters since the age of 8. Martin, a 2008 All-Big South Conference selection while at Winthrop University, is a four-time winner of the Southern Maryland Amateur (2007-2010).
Paul Misko, 21, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., rolled his car nine times down a hill onto a golf course on the way home from The Rose Parade. He and his girlfriend walked away from the accident. Misko, who attends Ventura College, won the 2009 Ventura County Golf Championship.
Paul Mitzel, 20, of Mercer Island, Wash., marched in the 2007 Rose Parade as a member of the Mercer Island High School marching band. Mitzel will be a junior at Washington State University this fall.
Marc Noel, 27, of Abbeville, La., was a caddie for the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course. Noel, who has his pilot’s license, works for Strata Control Services, Inc., a company that specializes in products and services designed to prevent and solve mud and fluid losses in oil and gas drilling.
Jason Novascone, 29, of Dallas, Texas, is a ticket administrator for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Novascone, who graduated from Wichita State University in 2003, played in last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Cody Paladino, 21, of Kensington, Conn., was runner-up at the 2007 U.S. Amateur Public Links. Paladino, the 2007 Connecticut Amateur champion and his brother, Brent, serve as tournament directors for the Stan Trojanowski Northern Junior, which honors their late grandfather. Cody, a language and linguistics major at Baylor University, is fluent in Italian, Spanish and Norwegian, and will be learning Greek and Mandarin Chinese this fall.
Bhavik Patel, 19, of Bakersfield, Calif., was a semifinalist at the 2009 U.S. Amateur. He will be a junior at Fresno State University this fall.
Cameron Peck, 19, of Olympia, Wash., won the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur, defeating Evan Beck in the final, 10 and 8, at Shoal Creek in Shoal Creek, Ala. Peck, a rising sophomore at Texas A&M University, posted five top-five finishes in collegiate events this year, earning honorable mention All-American honors.
Kevin Phelan, 19, of St. Augustine, Fla., played in the 2010 U.S. Open but missed the cut. Phelan owns dual citizenship in the USA and Ireland. He was born in New York City, where his father played professional squash, and moved to Ireland at the age of 3, living there until age 12.
Garren Poirier, 29, of Killington, Vt., is a self-employed photographer for his company, Garrentee Photography. Poirier runs a high-end steakhouse restaurant in the winter at Killington Ski Resort. Growing up, he lived in three countries and four states.
Garrett Rank, 22, of Canada is a dual-sport athlete at the University of Waterloo, where he plays on the golf and hockey teams. Rank, an aspiring NHL referee, is the younger brother of Kyle Rank, who plays for the AHL’s Portland Pirates.
Patrick Reed, 19, of Augusta, Ga., was a semifinalist at the 2008 U.S. Amateur. Reed, a rising junior at Augusta State University, won the 2010 Seahawk Intercollegiate and helped Augusta State to the NCAA Div. I Championship team title.
Scott Rubzin, 19, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was a junior national swimmer from the age of 8 to 14. Rubzin, who plays on the Cal State Fullerton golf team, once swam across the Hudson River.
Tim Sheppard, 49, of East Peoria, Ill., won a Toughman Contest in 1986 and a body building show in 1990. Sheppard had reconstructive surgery on his left elbow in November 2007, which he says has helped elevate his game.
Alexander Sitompul, 20, of Indonesia hasn’t been home in Jakarta since 2004. Sitompul will be a senior at the University of Michigan this fall.
Herschel Kip Smith, 27, of Franklin, Tenn., is playing in his first competitive golf event in three years. He joined the Air National Guard in 2003 and trained as an aircrew member on C-130 cargo planes. He has deployed to Afghanistan twice, Europe multiple times and the Caribbean, accumulating roughly 1,000 hours in the C-130 with approximately 100 of those in combat. He was recently selected for pilot training with the Air Force.
Nick Taylor, 22, of Canada was runner-up and stroke-play medalist at the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links and low amateur at the 2009 U.S. Open. Taylor recently received the 2010 Ben Hogan Award, presented annually to the nation’s top men’s college golfer. He earned first-team All-American and Pac-10 Conference Golfer of the Year honors this year after recording nine top-10 finishes in 13 events.
Greg Wenzel, 23, of Sparks, Nev., caddied for his father, Dick, at the 2006 U.S. Senior Open. Dick made it to 1-under after an eagle and was tied for the lead early on but later missed the cut. Greg recently graduated from the University of Nevada.
Chris Williams, 19, of Moscow, Idaho, earned the 2010 Phil Mickelson Award, presented to the most outstanding freshman in Div. I men’s golf and was named 2010 Pac-10 Conference Freshman of the Year. Williams, a rising sophomore at the University of Washington, tied for medalist honors twice, at the 2010 Battle at the Beach and the 2010 ASU Thunderbird Invitational.
Chase Wilson, 25, of Arden, N.C., is obsessive compulsive about ironing. He once snuck home from high school to re-iron his shirt during lunch because it was wrinkled. Wilson played in last year’s U.S. Amateur Public Links but missed the cut.
Steven Wilson, 40, of St. Martin, Miss., won the 2008 U.S. Mid-Amateur, defeating Todd Mitchell in the final, 5 and 4, at Milwaukee Country Club in River Hills, Wis. Wilson, who co-owns two gas stations on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, lists playing with Tom Watson in the 2009 Masters as his most memorable golf moment.
Sang Yi, 20, of Carrollton, Texas, was a quarterfinalist at the 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links. He will be a junior at Louisiana State University this fall.
Marc Zien, 30, of Encinitas, Calif., received his EMT certification in 2008 and hopes to become a Los Angeles City firefighter. Zien, whose application to become a firefighter has been in for more than five years, was extremely close to being hired before the city was put on a hiring freeze. As a baby, he watched golf on TV from his high chair and would cry when his parents changed the channel.
Storylines compiled by Justin Hancher.