Winged Foot Member Earns Way Into Field

By David Shefter

Mamaroneck, N.Y. -- The perspiration being wiped off the foreheads of Winged Foot Golf Club members on Aug. 3 wasn't only the result of temperatures in the upper 80s and a Heat Index that approached the century mark.

News from Connecticut provided the perfect relief for this scorching late-summer day in Westchester County. Twenty-four-year-old Winged Foot member Andrew Svoboda earned his way into the 104th U.S. Amateur at a 36-hole sectional qualifier at Woodbridge Country Club in New Haven, Conn., shooting 139 to take medalist honors and garnering one of three qualifying spots.

For Svoboda, the pressure of trying to qualify was immense. He had actually delayed turning pro for a year because he knew the U.S. Amateur was being held at his home course. And the only other time the U.S. Amateur was staged at Winged Foot (1940), it was won by a Winged Foot member (Richard D. Chapman).

And Svoboda happened to be the last chance for Winged Foot to get one of its own into the 312-player field for the championship, which will be held Aug. 16-22. Stroke-play qualifying is being held on the West and East courses, with match play set for the West Course beginning on Wednesday.

Svoboda nearly earned an exemption into the field earlier this year at the British Amateur at St. Andrews when he advanced to the semifinals before being eliminated. The Britiah Amateur champion gets a five-year exemption into the U.S. Amateur.

The 2003 graduate of St. John's University also won the Met Open in 2003.

But the 36-hole qualifier was probably Svoboda's toughest challenge, considering he was carrying the weight of an entire club on his shoulders.

"This was my whole year," Svoboda told The Journal News of Westchester. "It's not that I didn't enjoy playing all the amateur tournaments, but this is the big one. This is why I waited to turn pro."

Last month, members of Winged Foot wrote a letter to the USGA hoping that Svoboda might receive a special exemption into the field. Not only did he have solid results in major competitions, but his presence could boost local interest in the championship. Although the USGA regularly grants exemptions for the U.S. Open, Women's Open and Senior Open, it is very rare that a special exemption is handed out for an amateur competition.

So Svoboda had to endure a hot and sticky day in Connecticut to earn his spot. He did so after playing 36 holes on Aug. 2 en route to a victory at the Mittelmark Invitational at Fenway Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.

Svoboda had a week to prepare for the U.S. Amateur, where he's never gone past the first round of match play in three previous appearances. He'll have an advantage in that he knows every nook and cranny on the course, but at 7,255 yards and a par of 70 (West Course), he'll need to be on his game to tame it.

And recent history shows it can be tough to compete at a USGA competition at your home venue. Besides Chapman, the only other golfers in recent history to win USGA events on their home course were Carol Semple Thompson (2001 USGA Senior Women's Amateur at Allegheny Country Club) and 2004 U.S. Amateur participant George Zahringer (2002 U.S. Mid-Amateur at The Stanwich Club). Besides Chapman, S. Davidson Herron took the U.S. Amateur at his home course of Oakmont Country Club in 1919, defeating Bobby Jones in the final, 5 and 4.

Then again, Jordan Cox and Will Haydon each enjoyed the home-course advantage at Olympic Club last month at the U.S. Junior and neither of them qualified for match play. Sometimes the pressure from the home crowd along with added fan support from friends, family and club members can be a bit overwhelming. And the golf course also is set up differently than it is for regular member play.

"The scores will be high, but that's good for me," said Svoboda. "I always play well on courses that are pretty difficult."

David Shefter is a staff writer for the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.