Vanderbilt's Augenstein, Georgia Tech's Ogletree will play for U.S. Amateur title at Pinehurst

   Two of Division I college golf’s powerhouses, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech, will be represented when the scheduled 36-hole final of the U.S. Amateur tees off at the Pinehurst Country Club & Resort’s No. 4 Course Sunday morning in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

   The Commodores’ John Augenstein matched the scorecard for 15 holes on Pinehurst’s No. 2 Course, the Donald Ross classic, and got a conceded birdie at the 16^th hole to close out a 3 and 2 victory over Sam Houston State senior William Holcomb V of Crockett, Texas in one semifinal Saturday.

   In the other semifinal, the Yellow Jackets’ Andy Ogletree of Little Rock, Miss. downed 17-year-old Cohen Trolio of West Point, Miss., 3 and 1, in the Battle of Mississippi.

   The scheduled 36-hole final will commence on the No. 4 Course, another Donald Ross original that Gil Hanse worked some of his renovation magic on, with the afternoon round to be played on the No. 2 Course, where the rest of the matches have been played this week.

   It’s a first for the U.S. Amateur to have the final played on two different courses. The USGA tried out this twist in the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, when the scheduled 36-hole final started on Stonewall’s North Course and concluded on Stonewall’s Old Course. It took Stewart Hagestad 37 holes to claim the title over Scott Harvey.

   The 21-year-old Augenstein, a senior at Vandy from Owensboro, Ky. and No. 38 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), has established himself as a strong match-play performer. In the spring, he helped the Commodores reach the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., where they fell to eventual national champion Stanford, 3-2. Augenstein, however, won his match, 2-up, over Henry Shimp.

   Augenstein was solid as a rock Saturday against Holcomb, continually getting it up and down for pars on the cruel humps and bumps that are the trademark of Ross’ design genius on the No. 2 Course.

   “I have an opportunity to win the biggest amateur tournament in the world,” Augenstein told the USGA website. “There were 310 guys who teed it up this week that don’t have that opportunity anymore. I’m one of the two that does.”

   Trolio, who has played with tremendous poise and composure on his way to the semifinals, finally made a couple of mistakes that made him look the 17-year-old kid that he is. But he still hung in there with Ogletree, a 21-year-old senior who led Georgia Tech to the team title in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in the spring with a second-place finish in the individual standings.

   Ogletree finally put Trolio away when he sent a 6-iron on the 215-yard, par-3 17^th hole to three feet from the hole for a conceded birdie.

   Both winners earned exemptions to next year’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. In a rule change, the winner of Sunday’s final can still use the exemption even if he turns pro. The runnerup, however, will have to remain an amateur for the exemption to remain in effect.

   I’ve speculated that Augenstein had a little extra motivation in his run through the match-play bracket because he was one of the players being considered for the United States team that will compete against Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup Match next month at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England.

   A victory in Sunday’s final by Augenstein would make it a moot point because a spot on the team is reserved for the U.S. Amateur winner should he be an American. After his performance at Pinehurst this week, I’d find a spot on my team for a match-play event on foreign soil for the gritty Augenstein, no matter the outcome of Sunday’s final.