CLEMSON, S.C. — Jack Beauchamp of Dallas, Texas, made a par on the 251-yard par three 17th hole to defeat Clemson rising senior Hampton Roberts, 2&1 on Wednesday in the first round of the 126th United States Amateur golf tournament at famed Merion Country Club in Ardmore, Pa.
Roberts, seeded 41st in the 64-player match play field after scoring 141 for the 36-hole qualifier, was trying to join former Clemson All-American Chris Patton as a Tiger senior to win the US Amateur at Merion Country Club. Patton won the event at the same course in 1989 by winning six matches.
Roberts will be a senior on the Clemson team this year after transferring from North Carolina where he played in 20 tournaments over the last three years.
Roberts got off to a good start, taking a 1-up lead through three holes. He won the 572-yard par five second hole with a par. That was a bit of a surprise because Beauchamp had set a TCU program record for stroke average on par five holes this past season with a 4.53 average. He completed his eligibility at the Texas school this past spring by posting a strong 71.1 average.
But, Beauchamp, who was seeded 24th after a 140 total for the 36-hole stroke play qualifier, came back strong, winning the par five fourth hole with a birdie, then won the fifth and sixth holes, to take a 2-up lead. He made it four wins over five holes with a better score on the eighth hole to go 3-up. He was still 3-up after 14.
Roberts came back and won consecutive par four holes, the 15th and 16th to cut the margin to one hole with two to play. But Beauchamp clinched the match with a par on the difficult 251-yard par three 17th hole to win 2 & 1.
The two players went back and forth trading punches throughout the round. Beauchamp won seven holes and Roberts won five. The players tied five holes.