Neal Shipley on to the US Amateur Semifinals
8/18/2023 3:58:00 PM | General, Men's Golf
COLUMBUS, Ohio – It's been quite the summer for Ohio State's Neal Shipley and his run has continued this week at the US Amateur, where he is on to the semifinals. Shipley will take on Auburn's John Marshall Butler on Saturday, beginning at 2:15 ET at Cherry Hills Country Club outside of Denver, Colo.
The US Amateur is one of, if not the most prestigious amateur events in the world. The winner not only walks away with the trophy, but a number of other top perks in golf. A spot on the US Walker Cup team, a spot in both the U.S. Open and Open Championships as well as a likely invite to the Masters. The two semifinal winners will also likely receive an invitation to the Masters. There's a lot on the line for the 22-year-old Shipley this weekend.
The Pittsburgh native started his run back in May at the NCAA Championship, leading the Buckeyes through the final stroke play cut and earning honorable mention All-America honors. He then posted three runner-up finishes at The Dogwood Invitational, the Sunnehanna Amateur and the Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship. That was followed by another third-place finish at the Pacific Coast Amateur two weeks later. Through those events, he finished fourth in the Elite Amateur Series which earned him a future start on the Korn Ferry Tour and a spot in final qualifying for next summer's US Open.
This week, he opened stroke play with a 69 at Cherry Hills and then a 73 at the nearby Colorado Golf Club. That earned him a spot in match play where he beat Wenyi Ding 1-up in the opening round on Wednesday. He then erased a late deficit on Thursday morning against Calum Scott and won that match with a birdie on the second extra hole. In the round of 16 on Thursday afternoon, he made five birdies in a convincing 3 and 2 victory over Cooper Jones.
That setup a quarterfinal match with San Diego's Andi Xu on Friday. Neither player played their best golf, but it made for a good match. Shipley won three consecutive holes on Nos. 8, 9 and 10 to take a 1-up lead. Xu won No. 12 to pull even and then Shipley won the par-3 15th to go back ahead by one. On the par-5 17th, Shipley used his length to his advantage and hit the green in two. Xu was forced to lay-up and his third shot found the water shot of the green, giving Shipley the 2 and 1 victory.
Shipley was one of four current Buckeyes in the US Amateur field. Maxwell Moldovan also advanced to match play before falling to Cooper Jones in a tremendous first round match. Moldovan made three clutch putts in-a-row to stay alive before eventually losing on the fifth extra hole. Jacob Tarkany and Joe Wilson IV also competed this week.
Shipley joined the Buckeye program at the start of last summer when he was ranked 1497 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. He has since risen to as high as 118 this summer and will likely be in the Top 100 at the end of this week. Shipley played in every event in his first season as a Buckeye this past year and earned honorable mention All-America honors. He was second on the team in scoring at 72.72 and posted five Top 20 finishes.
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— Ohio State Mens Golf (@OhioStateMGOLF) August 18, 2023
The US Amateur is one of, if not the most prestigious amateur events in the world. The winner not only walks away with the trophy, but a number of other top perks in golf. A spot on the US Walker Cup team, a spot in both the U.S. Open and Open Championships as well as a likely invite to the Masters. The two semifinal winners will also likely receive an invitation to the Masters. There's a lot on the line for the 22-year-old Shipley this weekend.
The Pittsburgh native started his run back in May at the NCAA Championship, leading the Buckeyes through the final stroke play cut and earning honorable mention All-America honors. He then posted three runner-up finishes at The Dogwood Invitational, the Sunnehanna Amateur and the Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship. That was followed by another third-place finish at the Pacific Coast Amateur two weeks later. Through those events, he finished fourth in the Elite Amateur Series which earned him a future start on the Korn Ferry Tour and a spot in final qualifying for next summer's US Open.
This week, he opened stroke play with a 69 at Cherry Hills and then a 73 at the nearby Colorado Golf Club. That earned him a spot in match play where he beat Wenyi Ding 1-up in the opening round on Wednesday. He then erased a late deficit on Thursday morning against Calum Scott and won that match with a birdie on the second extra hole. In the round of 16 on Thursday afternoon, he made five birdies in a convincing 3 and 2 victory over Cooper Jones.
That setup a quarterfinal match with San Diego's Andi Xu on Friday. Neither player played their best golf, but it made for a good match. Shipley won three consecutive holes on Nos. 8, 9 and 10 to take a 1-up lead. Xu won No. 12 to pull even and then Shipley won the par-3 15th to go back ahead by one. On the par-5 17th, Shipley used his length to his advantage and hit the green in two. Xu was forced to lay-up and his third shot found the water shot of the green, giving Shipley the 2 and 1 victory.
Shipley was one of four current Buckeyes in the US Amateur field. Maxwell Moldovan also advanced to match play before falling to Cooper Jones in a tremendous first round match. Moldovan made three clutch putts in-a-row to stay alive before eventually losing on the fifth extra hole. Jacob Tarkany and Joe Wilson IV also competed this week.
Shipley joined the Buckeye program at the start of last summer when he was ranked 1497 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. He has since risen to as high as 118 this summer and will likely be in the Top 100 at the end of this week. Shipley played in every event in his first season as a Buckeye this past year and earned honorable mention All-America honors. He was second on the team in scoring at 72.72 and posted five Top 20 finishes.
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