Miller, Austin Headed To U.S. Amateur
08/03/2011 | Men's Golf
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND -- When the 2011 U.S. Amateur Championship tees off at Erin Hills in late August, University of Richmond golfers Nick Austin and Brad Miller will be in the field competing for a USGA National Championship.
Austin is the latest Spider to qualify, as the rising junior from nearby James River High School fired a competitive course record 8-under-par 64 in the afternoon session to earn medalist honors in the 36-hole sectional qualifying event Monday at the Country Club if Petersburg.
"I went out there knowing - wanting - to play well. I tried to make as many birdies as I could and I just kept making more," said Austin, who won the Richmond Golf Association Amateur Championship in June. "You have to stay patient, not get frustrated and luckily, the putts dropped. I was never trying to protect anything. I was always trying to take it further."
Austin joins rising senior Brad Miller, who qualified on July 25 at Piney Branch Golf Club in Hampstead, Md. when he holed-out from 85-yards for eagle on the first playoff hole.
Erin Hills Golf Club is located in Erin, Wis. outside Milwaukee and hosts the 2011 U.S. Amateur Championship August 22-28. The club is set to host the U.S. Open in 2017.
Richmond's last qualifier to the U.S. Amateur Championship was John Pelet in 2005.
