THE FLATS –Georgia Tech has a representative on the United States team for the Walker Cup for the second straight time as senior 2020 U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci was officially named Monday along with the rest of the 2021 American team by the United States Golf Association.
The USA Team will meet Great Britain and Ireland in the 48th Match at Seminole Golf Club, in Juno Beach, Fla., Saturday and Sunday, May 8-9. It will be the first time the competition has been held in the spring on U.S. soil.
The 10-player team, which will be captained by Nathaniel Crosby, of Jupiter, Fla., also includes Three players who earned places as the top three Americans in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® / WAGR® as of Feb. 10. They are Ricky Castillo, 20, of Yorba Linda, Calif. (fourth in the WAGR); John Pak, 22, of Scotch Plains, N.J. (seventh in the WAGR); and Davis Thompson, 21, of St. Simons Island, Ga. (second in the WAGR).
The remaining players chosen by the working group are: Pierceson Coody, 21, of Plano, Texas; Quade Cummins, 24, of Weatherford, Okla.; Austin Eckroat, 22, of Edmond, Okla.; Stewart Hagestad, 29, of Newport Beach, Calif.; Cole Hammer, 21, of Houston, Texas; and William Mouw, 20, of Chino, Calif. Hagestad, Hammer and Pak are returning players from the 2019 USA Team, which defeated GB&I, 15½-10½, at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, in Hoylake, England.
Tech All-American and 2020 graduate Andy Ogletree, the 2019 U.S. Amateur champion, was part of that victorious U.S. team in England.
The 10th Georgia Tech alumnus or student-athlete to compete in the Walker Cup, the 22-year-old Strafaci (Davie, Fla.) earned his spot on the U.S. team after winning the U.S. Amateur Championship last August at Bandon Dunes in Bandon, Ore., the fourth Yellow Jacket player to win the national title.
The 2020 U.S. Amateur championship was the climax of a stellar summer for the 2020 Tech graduate. Strafaci also won the North & South Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C., and the Palmetto Amateur in Aiken, S.C. That followed a standout collegiate career in which he twice earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors and posted 10 top-10 finishes, including one tournament victory, and helped the Yellow Jackets win 14 tournament titles, including two ACC crowns. He was twice named an All-America Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association of America.