It's Dunlap vs. Shipley in U.S. Amateur Final

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CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. -- We aren't all that far from the start of the college football season; so it seems sort of fitting that it will be Alabama vs. Ohio State in Sunday's final at the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship.

Representing Alabama will be Nick Dunlap, who was a second-team All-American for the Crimson Tide in 2022-23 as a freshman. Although he's the No. 41 seed, Dunlap has been a popular pick to win the tournament since he beat the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, Gordon Sargent, the No. 24 seed, 2&1 in the Round of 64 -- and was 5 under par at the iconic Cherry Hills Country Club while he was at it.

That was Wednesday. On Thursday morning, Dunlap was 5 under again in a 4&2 victory over No. 9 Connor Jones, a local favorite because he lives in Denver and will be a grad student at Colorado State. Dunlap's only narrow escape in the five matches he's played thus far came in the quarterfinal round Friday, when he needed a birdie on the 19th hole (No.1, 333 yards) to edge No. 32 Jackson Koivun, Auburn's prize recruit. Dunlap, who is No. 9 in the amateur rankings and has two significant victories this summer (the Northeast Amateur and the North & South), was 2 down to Koivun after seven holes, but he won the 227-yard, par-3 eighth and the 192-yard 12th with 2s. He went 1 up when he won the par-4 13th with a par. That lead didn't last long. Koivun won the 14th witih a par. Dunlap won the longest par 3 on the course, the 245-yard 15th, with a par, but bogeyed the par-4 16th -- and the match was tied again.

Dunlap was fortunate just to get to the extra hole, because he made four 5s in the last five holes, including a bogey at the demanding, 477-yard, par-4 18th. But Koivun bogeyed the 18th, too.

On Saturday, Dunlap fell 1 down to No. 52 Parker Bell, a soon to be a sophomore at Florida, when he bogeyed the par-5 fifth hole, but he birdied the par-3 eighth once again. He won the long (494 yards) par-4 ninth with a par to go 1 up, and went 2 up with yet another birdie on a par 3, the 199-yard 12th. The tees at the 15th were moved up more than 100 yards, from 245 Friday to 136 on Saturday, and Dunlap birdied it again. For the second day in a row, he won three par 3s, and he won the match 3&2.

Dunlap won the 2021 U.S. Junior Boys Amateur, and beginning with that tournament, he's 29-2 in match play. In the five matches he's played this week, he's 16 under par. 

Shipley, 22, was the oldest of the four semifinalists, but the Ohio State grad student already has two college degrees. He earned a liberal arts degree in quantitative finance from James Madison during the three years he was there. Then he transferred, and in his one year so far at Ohio State, he's already picked up a master's in data analytics.

The No. 47 seed this week, Shipley was living a bit dangerously in his early matches. He won 1 up in the Round of 64, and had to birdie the 20th hole (No. 2, 418 par 4) to get past No. 15 Calvin Scott. But he hasn't seen the 18th tee since then.

He was 2 down after three holes against No. 11 John Marshall Butler on Saturday, but won the 444-yard, par-4 fourth with a birdie and the 531-yard, par-5 fifth with a birdie. He was 3 down after losing the 10th to Butler's par, but he won the 640-yard, par-5 11th with a birdie, and was conceded a birdie at the par-3 12th after Butler, who will be a senior at Auburn, found a water hazard with his tee shot. Still 1 down after 14 holes, Shipley then turned things around by winning the 15th and 16th holes with pars. That put him 1 up, and he sealed the victory by hitting a 93-yard wedge shot to within inches of the hole at the par-5 17th. Butler conceded Shipley's birdie, then narrowly missed holing his chip shot for a tying birdie, and that was that.

Shipley hasn't won any tournaments lately, but he's come close. At the Trans-Mississippi, he tripled the 17th hole during the final round, then birdied the 18th to tie for first, but lost in a playoff. That was one of three second-place finishes hes had this summer, and he's also had one third in the six events that he played before the U.S. Am.

Sunday's 36-hole final will begin at 8 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time.   

Although they both lost on Saturday, by virtue of making it to the semifinals, Bell and Butler are both guaranteed spots in the next two U.S. Amateurs. The Am in 2024 will be played at Hazeltine.

U.S. Amateur Championship

At Cherry Hills Country Club (par 71, 7,368 yards)

Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 

& Colorado Golf Club (par 72, 7,642 yards)

Parker, Colo. 

Stroke play

Final results (the top 64 finishers advance to match play on Wednesday)

T1. Blades Brown, Nashville, Tenn.               72 CH-64 CGC -- 136

T1. Sampson Zheng, China                            66 CGC-70 CH -- 136

T1. Jackson Buchanan, Dacula, Ga.              69 CH-67 CGC -- 136

T4. Piercen Hunt, Canada                              66 CGC -71 CH -- 137

T4. Maxwell Ford, Peachtree Corners, Ga.    71 CH-66 CGC -- 137

T4. Caleb Surratt, Indian Trail, NC                  70 CGC-67 CH -- 137

T4. Andi Xu, China                                           69 CGC-68 CH -- 137

T8. Connor Jones, Denver                               68 CGC-70 CH -- 137

T8. Nicholas Gross, Downington, Pa.              71 CH-67 CGC -- 137

Missed cut -- 143 (15 players tied for 50th; so there was no playoff required)

Brett Reid, Spicer                                            75 CH-72 CGC -- 147

Cecil Belisle, Red Wing                                   77 CH-73 CGC -- 150

Sam Foust, Edina                                             81 CGC-73 CH -- 154

Nate Adams, Maple Grove                               79 CGC-76 CH -- 155

Carson Herron, Wayzata                                  79 CGC-78 CH -- 157


Match play

Round of 64

No. 1 Blades Brown def. No. 64 Benton Weinberg 1 up

No. 2 Jackson Buchanan def. No. 63 Karl Vilips 2 up

No. 3 Sampson Zheng def. No. 62 Preston Summerhays 1 up

No. 4 Maxwell Ford def. No. 61 Brian Stark 4&3

No. 60 Grant Smith def. No. 5 Piercen Hunt 1 up

No. 6 Caleb Surratt def. No. 59 Dylan Menante 6&5

No. 7 Audi Xu def. No. 58 Matthew McClean 1 up

No. 8 Bowen Mauss def. No. 8 Nicholas Gross 2 up

No. 9 Connor Jones def. No. 56 Vocemte Marzilio 4&3

No. 55 Austin Greaser def. No. 10 Jonas Baumgartner 6&4

Round of 32

No. 32 Jackson Koivun def. No. 1 Brown 4&3

No. 31 Cooper Jones def. No. 2 Buchanan 4&3

No. 30 Jose Islas def. No. 3 Zheng 2&1

No. 4 Maxwell Ford def. Nick Gabrelcik 3&2

No. 28 David Ford def. No. 60 Smith 5&4

No. 38 Paul Chang def. No. 6 Surratt 22 holes

No. 7 Andi Xu def. No. 26 Cole Anderson 2 up

No. 57 Mauss def. No. 25 Brenden Valdes 1 up

No. 41 Nick Dunlap def. No. 9 Connor Jones 4&2

No. 42 Connor Gaunt def. No. 55 Greaser 3&2

Round of 16

No. 32 Koivun def. No. 40 Matthew Sutherland 19 holes

No. 47 Neal Shipley def. No. 31 Jones 3&2

No. 30 Islas def. No. 51. Carson Bacha 3&2

No. 52 Parker Bell def. No. 4 Maxwell Ford 5&4

No. 12 Ben James def. No. 28 David Ford 19 holes

No. 38 Paul Chang tied with No. 11 John Marshall Butler through 18 holes

No. 7. Andi Xu def. No.42 Gaunt 2 up

No. 41 Dunlap def. No. 57 Mauss 5&3

Quarterfinals

No. 41 Dunlap def. No. 32 Koivun 19 holes

No. 52 Bell def. No. 12 James

No. 47 Shipley def. No. 7 Xu 2&1

No. 11 Butler def. No. 30 Islas 3&2

Semifinals 

No. 41 Dunlap def. No. 52 Bell 3&2

No. 47 Shipley def. No. 11 Butler