At age 59, Sean Knapp has a lot of miles on his proverbial tires. But he didn’t even have to drive through a traffic light to reach the gates of Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, host site for this year’s U.S. Amateur Championship.
A lifelong Pittsburgher, Knapp has amassed more than three dozen titles and 14 Player of the Year Awards in Western Pennsylvania. That record may be hard to believe given that he didn’t take up the game until he was in college, at age 19. Golf wasn’t even his main athletic focus as an undergraduate at Indiana University (Pa.), where he played on the varsity basketball team.
Following his graduation in 1984, Knapp caddied at Oakmont for five years. He got to play the course on Mondays, sometimes going 54 holes.
“I don’t know that I’d be playing golf if it wasn’t for that opportunity to caddie and fall in love with the game,” said Knapp. “It was everything.”
His game progressed and by the late 1980s, Knapp started winning. A lot. He won his first Western Pennsylvania Amateur in 1988. On the national stage, Knapp faced Notah Begay (a win) and Tiger Woods (a loss) on the same day in the 1995 U.S. Amateur at Newport (R.I.) Country Club. Five years later, he fell to Luke Donald in the opening round.
“I’m just an average Joe,” said Knapp. “What touches my heart so much isn’t anything I’ve accomplished, it’s the people I’ve encountered on the golf course. I’m so blessed to have had these opportunities.”
In 2003, the U.S. Amateur was at Oakmont in Knapp’s hometown. He was in the prime of his career, but failed to qualify for match play. Though he had a great week playing in front of his family and friends, it was a disappointing result.
Knapp kept on grinding. He reached the semifinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur twice (2008 and 2010), then finally broke through with a victory in the 2017 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. It’s a victory he called his greatest moment in golf – until this summer.
With the U.S. Amateur returning to Oakmont in 2021, Knapp filed an entry. He had been exempt into the championship in 2018-2020 by virtue of his Senior Amateur victory, but hadn’t qualified since 2010. Nearing his 60th birthday, the odds seemed long as he competed against high school and college players less than half his age, but Knapp summoned two of his best rounds of the year to earn a spot in the field.
Knapp was euphoric. Not only for the opportunity to play in his 17th U.S. Amateur – and 52nd USGA championship – but that he could share it with his family. His oldest daughter, Kensey, 27, who had been on the bag in five previous USGA championships, once again got the call this week.
That Kensey was there by his side at all was solace to Sean. In December 2018, before her final semester at Penn State, Kensey was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The news was devastating to the close-knit family. Thankfully, after radiation treatment, the cancer has been in remission.
While Knapp won’t advance to match play after rounds of 74-77, the experience was one of pure satisfaction – to compete in another U.S. Amateur and to have his daughter with him for the experience.
“To play in any U.S. Amateur is the highlight of my year,” said Knapp. “To do it two blocks from my home is a dream come true.”