Canton, GA – 1 – Taylor Smith of Covington, Ga., earned medalist honors to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship after posting a 7-under-par 137 (69-68) score at Woodmont Golf & Country Club in Canton, Ga. Joining Smith as the automatic qualifiers are a pair of players from Alpharetta, Ga., Greg O’Connor, a member of the Kennesaw State University golf team, and Minghao Wang, who plays for Georgia Tech. O’Connor (69-70) and Wang (68-71) tied at 5-under-par 139 to advance.
A playoff was needed to decide the first and second alternate positions, as Matt Nagy of Buena Vista, Ga. (72-68) and Sepp Straka of Valdosta, Ga. (72-68) finished each at 4-under-par 140 after 36 holes. On the second playoff hole, Nagy, a member of Kennesaw State University’s golf team and teammate of O’Connor, secured the first alternate position and Straka, who just graduated from Lowndes High School and will play for the University of Georgia next season, will be the second alternate.
Woodmont Golf & Country Club played to 6,830 yards and a par 72.
The 86th annual United States Amateur Public Links Championship will be held at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore., June 27-July 2.