College Golf News – Guilford Alums Ready for U.S. Amateur Championship

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College alumni Andrew Biggadike ’02 and Jeff Osberg ’06 are among 312 qualifiers for the United States Golf Association’s 112th U.S. Amateur Golf Championship, which begins Aug. 13 in Colorado.

An alternate for the 2011 tournament, Biggadike reached his first U.S. Amateur by winning the qualifying event at North Shore Country Club in Glen Head, N.Y., July 26. He carded a two-under-par 67-73-140 for a four-stroke victory in the 80-man field. The Ridgewood, N.J., resident starts his quest for the title Monday at 8:50 a.m. (MDT) on the Common Ground Golf Course, one of two layouts used for the two rounds of stroke play.

While at Guilford, Biggadike earned PING All-America honors three times and played on the school’s first NCAA Division III championship team in 2002. He finished third in the 2001 national tournament and sixth the following year. The 1999-00 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Player of the Year, Biggadike stands fourth in school history with a 74.989 career stroke average.

Osberg reached his second straight U.S. Amateur and his third in the last four years July 18 with a one-stroke win at a qualifier administered by the Golf Association of Philadelphia. He shot five-under 67-70-137 at the Applebrook Golf Club and the Waynesborough Country Club. Osberg tees off Monday at 8:50 a.m. (MDT) on the Cherry Hills Country Club, which will also host the match-play portion of the U.S. Amateur Aug. 15-19. The Philadelphia resident looks forward to playing Cherry Hills, where his father, Rick, competed in the 1978 U.S. Open and 1985 PGA Championship.

Jeff Osberg, US Am Qualifier 2012
Jeff Osberg, US Am Qualifier 2012

Jeff Osberg played on Guilford’s 2005 NCAA Division III national championship team and earned PING Second Team All-America recognition with a 16th-place finish at the 2006 Division III Championships. He twice earned All-ODAC recognition and recorded a 77.32 career stroke average in 74 rounds, which ranks 26th all-time at Guilford.

The U.S. Amateur Championship is the nation’s oldest golf championship. After two rounds of stroke play Aug. 13-14, the field will be cut to 64 contestants. Six rounds of match play begin Aug. 15 and the championship concludes with a scheduled 36-hole match on Aug. 19. Many of the great names of professional golf, such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Mark O’Meara, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, have won the Havemeyer Trophy, awarded to the tournament champion.