HUDSON, Wis. — Harrison Arnold is one of the few players in the field not from Minnesota, and after his 2-under 69, he is also among the few to advance to the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
Hailing from Ascot, England, Arnold played four years of college golf for the Golden Gophers. Now 25, he will compete in his first U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. The tournament will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona at Troon Country Club and Troon North Golf Club, starting on September 13th.
Arnold endured an eventful stretch to start his back nine. After two birdies in the first three holes, he double-bogeyed the 342-yard fourth hole, before bouncing back with another birdie on the sixth. When asked about his strong recovery, Arnold said, “Ah, well, I knew I had a par five coming up and a shortish par four, so I knew I could at least get one back—It was annoying, but like I said, just take one shot at a time and see if I can make a good score.”
Joining Arnold in Scottsdale is 34-year-old Yarri Bryn, who birdied two of his final five holes to finish as co-medalist at 2-under par. A Minneapolis South High School graduate and four-year starter on the golf team at the University of Northern Iowa, Bryn isn’t competing as often as he used to. “I don’t really have any expectations anymore, so I just kind of show up and see what happens,” he said.
Asked about his final birdie on the seventh hole, Bryn explained, “I was 1-under at the time, and it was kind of straight up the hill. It was a good opportunity, and I made it—so I needed that one.” He will make his U.S. Mid-Amateur debut next month in Arizona.
With his sights set on redemption, Erik Bredesen survived a rollercoaster front nine to shoot a 2-under 69 and finish as co-medalist. Back in 2018, Bredesen was inside the top five at U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Troy Burne, but played the last six holes in 4-over par to miss the cut by three shots. Seven years later, he closed with two birdies over his final three holes.
Earlier in his round, Bredesen went eagle–birdie–double bogey on holes five through seven. Describing his approach on the par-5 fifth, he said, “We had 260 in, and I hit a hybrid kind of at the right edge of the green. I hit it so well, and it wasn’t doing anything as it started to fall. Then the wind kind of took it to the left—it hit into the slope, stopped on a dime, and rolled to about six inches—so it was a nice tap-in.”
The fourth and final qualifier is 38-year-old Bryce Hanstad, who emerged victorious from a 6-for-1 playoff. It came down to Hanstad, a former MGA Amateur champ (2007), and Max Tylke on the seventh tee, the third playoff hole. Both players missed the fairway to the left, with Hanstad in one of the many fairway bunkers at Troy Burne.
Hanstad missed the green long and made bogey, while Tylke missed short into the front bunker and made double bogey. “That’s just one of those really hard 80-yard bunker shots where I had to carry a bunker and then stop it quick, and it just came out hot. But yeah, Max is a really good player, and unfortunately it was a little bit of a pillow fight on the last playoff hole,” said Hanstad.
Bryce Hanstad advances to play in his fifth U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, and Max Tylke earns the first alternate spot.
Similar to the U.S. Amateur, the 2025 U.S. Mid-Amateur will begin with 264 players, then trim to a 64-player match-play bracket after two rounds of stroke play. Troon Country Club will host match-play, while Troon North Golf Club will co-host stroke-play. Both courses were designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf, in 1986 and 1990, respectively.
Troon Country Club previously hosted the 1990 U.S. Mid-Amateur and the 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.