CHRIS LANG ( RASNICK AND ROSENSTOCK ); LOGAN WHITTON , USGA ( UTLEY ) |
“ I think there ’ s some luck involved in playing the right guy at the right time ,” Beck said . “ If I played Bobby the day before , who knows what would have happened . He shot 29 on the front nine ( in the semifinals ). He lit the place up . It ’ s good to be on the lucky side of the draw , I guess .”
The spoils of Beck ’ s career-changing victory are numerous . He ’ s exempt into the next 10 U . S . Mid-Amateurs and next two U . S . Amateur championships . He gains possession of the Robert T . Jones Memorial Trophy for a year . His name will be inscribed on the 2024 USGA champions ’ plaque that will live in the Hall of Champions inside the USGA Museum in New Jersey .
Most importantly , he ’ s punched his ticket to the 2025 U . S . Open at Oakmont and will receive a likely invitation to the 2025 Masters at Augusta National .
Even a month later , it hadn ’ t totally sunk in for Beck .
“ I ’ ve never played in a major ,” Beck said . “ It ’ s going to be absolutely incredible . I ’ ve been to the Masters to watch , but I never even thought ( playing in one ) would be a possibility . They ’ re both very exciting to me .”
Beck has tried unsuccessfully to qualify for past U . S . Opens . He had the opportunity to play in Oakmont ’ s fall member-guest in October and got a preview of what ’ s to come next June .
“ That place is extremely difficult , and they had the rough about half the length it ’ s going to be for the U . S . Open . That place is plenty hard without any rough ,” he said .
“ It ’ s going to be a wild year . I ’ m really excited to see how I stack up against the best players in the world .”
“ Wild year ” is a good way to describe 2024 as well . Beck said he ’ s probably practiced as little as he ever has in his career ,
Jed Rasnick , left , caddied for John Rosenstock , right , among others .
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reserving grind sessions for weekend trips back home to Virginia Beach to work with Mark Finn . Though he ’ s played rounds at River Bend and Belle Haven in northern Virginia , his work schedule limits midweek practice opportunities . Along with the U . S . Mid-Am , Beck won the prestigious Coleman and Thomas Invitationals , and as of early November , he rose to No . 20 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking .
Add in his engagement to girlfriend Alexis Hionis on July 4 — they ’ ve known each other since kindergarten and reconnected as adults — and Beck ’ s trophy case and heart are both full .
Utley ’ s Run
VSGA Mid-Amateur champion Jordan Utley made his first solo USGA championship appearance count , advancing to match play and defeating Austin Langdale in the round of 64 before falling 4 and 3 to eventual finalist Bobby Massa in the round of 32 .
“ I ’ m super pleased ,” Utley said after the match . “ I ’ ve got to put it in perspective . There are a lot of positives to take away . I ’ m proud of what I ’ ve done . On the flip side , I ’ ve always wanted the opportunity to play against the best . I got to play against one today and just came up short .”
Six other VSGA members qualified for the U . S . Mid-Amateur but did not reach match play : Adam Horton , Andrew Crowley , Brinson Paolini , George Ordway , Bruno Buccolo and John Rosenstock .
Caddie Central
Jed Rasnick started the U . S . Mid-Amateur caddying for
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Jordan Utley reached the round of 32 in his first solo USGA championship appearance .
longtime friend and fellow Longwood Lancer John Rosenstock . Once Rosenstock failed to reach match play , though , Rasnick didn ’ t have to look far to find work . He ’ s one of several VSGA competitors who caddie at Kinloch on a regular basis , joined by guys like Parker Wingfield , Luke Thornton and Peter Gasperini . Thornton caddied for three-time champion Stewart Hagestad until he was eliminated in the round of 32 . Rasnick landed on semifinalist Stephen Behr Jr .’ s bag after Rosenstock was done . Gasperini , who has caddied this year for Connor Burgess on the Korn Ferry Tour , looped for Doug Albers in the round of 64 in his loss to finalist Bobby Massa , who was impressed enough by Gasperini to hire him for the remainder of the championship . Kinloch employs 75 full-time caddies .
Giles Invitational Coming
With Seminole Golf Club in Florida set to undergo an extensive renovation that will close the championship course for two years , the Coleman Invitational will not be played in 2025 or 2026 . That hole in the elite mid-amateur schedule will be filled by the Giles Invitational , which will debut May 2-4 , 2025 at Kinloch Golf Club .
The event will feature 60 top mid-amateurs and 30 top seniors . Vinny Giles enlisted Evan Beck to help with player recruitment , though it turns out that the recent U . S . Mid-Amateur at Kinloch was enough to convince players to come back in the spring .
“ I think everybody loved Kinloch and just absolutely raved about it ,” Beck said . “ People were coming up to me and coming up to others on the committee , and they said they heard about the tournament and would like to be considered to play . I think Vinny was worried people weren ’ t going to come . But I think we ’ re going to have to cap the list and have more than enough demand for it , which is great .”
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