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CHASKA, M.N. – Seven amateur golfers from the Empire State will tee it up at Hazeltine National Golf Club for the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship August 12-18, 2024. 

Four from the New York State contingent are past NYSGA champions including 2024 Men's Am champion Aiden Spampinato of Rochester, 2023 Men's Am winner Kyle Downey of Fairport, two-time Boys' 18U Junior champion (2018-'19) Luke Sample of NYC, and 2021 Boys' 18U Junior champion Anthony Delisanti of Sanborn.

Joining them at Hazeltine is Donte Groppuso of Kingston, Ryan Hart of Buffalo and Matthew Lowe of Farmingdale.

Related: Pairings / Scoring / Championship Home

The championship will consist of 36 holes of stroke play played over two rounds on August 12th and 13th. After 36 holes, the low 64 competitors will qualify for the match play bracket. Six rounds of match play will be played between Wednesday and Sunday, with the championship match taking place over 36 holes on the final day of competition. 

The champion will receive a ten year exemption into the U.S. Amateur as well as exemptions into the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club and the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. The winner is also likely to receive an invitation into the 2025 Masters Tournament, so long as they maintain amateur status. 

Hazeltine National Golf Club was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened in 1962. The two-time U.S. Open venue will serve as the sole host for the match play bracket, as well as the co-host for the first two rounds of stroke play. The Chaska Town Course, located a few miles down the road from Hazeltine National, will co-host the two rounds of stroke play. 

Four of the seven New Yorkers in the field earned their spot at Hazeltine National via exemption. 

Aiden Spampinato, winner of the 2024 NYS Men’s Amateur Championship, was the final NYS player to receive an exemption into the U.S. Amateur. Spampinato went wire-to-wire at Wanakah, navigating multiple weather delays to finish at six under par. He was later crowned the RDGA District Champion thanks to a four under tournament at Irondequoit Country Club. Spampinato is set to enter his final season at Methodist University, where he was a key member of the 2024 DIII Men’s Golf Championship team. 

Anthony Delisanti was granted entry thanks to his victory at the 2024 Northeast Amateur Championship at Wannamoisett Country Club. Deslisanti fired a 62 (-7) in the final round to force a playoff with Bryan Lee. Delisanti made a clinching birdie on the fifth playoff hole to capture one of the highest profile amateur championships in the world. Delisanti’s top-five ranking on the Elite Amateur Golf Series’ 2024 points list is also enough to grant him exempt status. Delisanti has been well-known in New York golf circles for some time, winning the 2021 NYS Boys’ Junior Amateur Championship and finishing as the runner-up at last year’s NYS Men’s Amateur Championship. The 21-year-old has also been causing a stir at Valparaiso University, where the rising senior has six collegiate wins and finished with a 70.48 scoring average last season, the second lowest in program history. After qualifying at Seven Oaks Golf Club last year, Hazeltine will mark Delisanti’s second-straight appearance at a U.S. Amateur. 

Luke Sample’s position within the Top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking granted him exemption into this year’s U.S. Amateur. The 21-year-old, who plays collegiately at Duke University, presently ranks as 73rd on the points list and was, at one time, as low as 62nd. In June, Sample made the stroke play cut and progressed to the semi-final match of The Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin in Ireland. He is three-time NYS champion, having won the 14U Junior Boys’ Amateur in 2017 and the 18U in 2018 and 2019. Sample is also a four-time Metropolitan Golf Association Champion and two-time major champion, with victories at the Ike MGA Stroke Play Championship in 2022 as well as the Metropolitan Open Championship (a Professional tournament) in 2020. Sample was in the field for the 2021 U.S. Junior Amatuer Championship as well as the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Amateur Championships. 

Donte Groppuso’s win at the 2024 Metropolitan Amateur Championship earlier this month secured his spot in the field. After posting a three over par in stroke play, the 22-year-old took match after match, eventually prevailing in a tight, 1 up championship battle against Christian Cavaliere. Groppuso finished 10th at the Ike MGA Stroke Play Championship in June and was named Ping All-South Region in 2024, playing for Florida Southern University. 

The remaining three New Yorkers in the field earned their way into the tournament via local qualifying. 

Kyle Downey was one of eight qualifiers at Wykagyl Country Club, in a final qualifier conducted by the Metropolitan Golf Association. Downey, who won the 2023 NYS Men’s Amateur Championship, turned in a three under 69 to crack the U.S. Amateur field for the first time. Downey made four birdies and an eagle in the strong performance at Wykagyl, the same venue as his NYS Men’s Amateur Championship. Downey has qualified for two U.S. Mid-Amateurs and progressed to the round of 64 in 2018. 

Ryan Hart qualified for his first U.S. Amateur, earning co-medallist honors at the Wykagyl Country Club final stage qualifier. Despite opening with a double bogey, the rising senior at the University of Florida made eight birdies en-route to a five under 67. Hart has yet to compete in a USGA event, but qualified for the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship in 2023. He also finished in fifth place at the 2023 Porter Cup Invitational at Niagara Falls Country Club. 

Matthew Lowe was the final New Yorker to qualify. Lowe fired a 68 (-4) at the Wykagyl Qualifier to punch his ticket to Hazeltine. Lowe made four birdies in his first six holes and didn't look back. The 2022 Long Island Golf Association player of the year won the Richardson Memorial Invitational earlier this season and finished top five in both the Metropolitan Amateur Championship and Long Island Open Championship. In 2023, he won the 75th MGA Public Links Championship and finished runner up at the New York State Open Championship. This year’s tournament will be Lowe’s third appearance in the U.S. Amateur. He also represented New York at two U.S. Juniors in the early 2010s. 

Below are the pairings and starting times for the seven New Yorkers in the field at the U.S. Amateur Championship (CDT). 

C - Chaska Town Course, H - Hazeltine National Golf Club.