DENVER – When it comes to amateur golf, there's nothing quite like the United States Amateur Championship.
 
"It's the one," Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf Walter Chun said. "It's the major championship of amateur golf."
 
As a two-time qualifier for the U.S. Amateur during his Cal playing days in 1999 at Pebble Beach and 2002 at Oakland Hills Country Club, Chun would know. Organized by the United States Golf Association and held annually over a seven-day period, the U.S. Amateur is regarded as the country's leading tournament for amateurs and has been won by the likes of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, among others. Former Golden Bear Ben An won the 2009 U.S. Amateur at 17 one year prior to arriving in Berkeley.
 
Next week Chun will root for three of his veteran golfers – seniors Aaron Du and Sampson Zheng and redshirt junior Tony Chen, all of whom are roommates – experience the big stage at Cherry Hills Golf Club and Colorado Golf Club, both located just outside of Denver. Two Cal alumni, Michael Jensen '09 and Stephen Hale '11, also qualified for the championship and will join in the pursuit of the Havemeyer Trophy and the benefits that come from winning the U.S. Amateur.
 
The U.S. Amateur champion not only receives exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Amateurs, but earns exemption to the 2024 U.S. Open, 2024 Open Championship and likely an invitation into the 2024 Masters Tournament.
 
"The U.S. Amateur means a lot," said Du, who advanced through stroke play to the round of 64 in the 2020 U.S. Amateur, the summer prior to his freshman year at Cal. "But you have to treat it just like any other tournament; you have to prepare to the fullest. My game is feeling good and I'm ready to compete."
 
Du and Zheng punched their tickets to the U.S. Amateur early this summer. Just one week after Cal narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships with a sixth-place finish at the Morgan Hill Regional on May 17, the duo capped an impressive five-day stretch at Kiawah Island Club in South Carolina by winning the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship. The victory – a 2-and-1 win over Drew Kittleson and Drew Stoltz in the 18-hole final – secured Du and Zheng exemptions for the U.S. Amateur.
 
The four-ball title run on Kiawah Island prepared Du and Zheng for could be a grueling week of golf in Colorado next week. Golfers will play 36 total holes of stroke play between Monday and Tuesday before the field is cut to 64 and the format shifts to match play the following five days, culminating in a 36-hole championship match on Sunday, Aug. 20.
 
"If you advance in a championship like this, you end up playing a lot of golf," Du said.
 
"It gives golfers a taste of what the pros face four times a year at major championships," Chun said. "You feel the magnitude of playing on the biggest stage, and it's a great test for our guys before they return to campus for the upcoming college season."
 
Chun, while thrilled for all three of his golfers getting to compete at the U.S. Amateur, feels the best for Chen, who played in four stroke-play events for Cal last season but did not make the lineup for the Pac-12 Championships or the NCAA Morgan Hill Regional. Chen – who tied for eighth at the Canadian Amateur Championship on Thursday – nailed down his spot in the U.S. Amateur field by shooting 68-66 (134) and finishing third in qualifying at Dragonfly Golf Club in Madera on June 29.
 
"Tony is as even keel as it gets, but I'm sure it was tough on him to be back home during those championship events," Chun said. "This puts an exclamation mark on a strong summer and the start of one final college season that these three get to play together."
 
Zheng acknowledged the significance of what will be his first U.S. Amateur experience – and possibly his last. An All-American and All-Pac-12 Team selection last season, Zheng enters his senior year at Cal with lofty expectations before shifting to a pursuit of professional golf.
 
"I'm going to make it count," Zheng said of his U.S. Amateur experience.
 
With a return to campus and the fall collegiate season right around the corner, the U.S. Amateur will provide one final high-level competition for Du, Chen and Zheng this summer. The trio of teammates, roommates and, in this instance, competitors intends to use the championship as a tone-setting opportunity for what should be a quality 2023-24 season for a Cal squad that returns 10 of 11 members of last year's roster and added the nation's No. 3-ranked signing class.
 
"To be able to compete together – and against one another – is special," Du said. "Playing alongside your friends isn't something to take for granted."
 
Zheng and Chen tee off at 7:06 a.m. PT and 1:20 p.m., respectively, at Colorado Golf Club on Monday while Du starts at 1:20 p.m. at Cherry Hills Golf Club. The first three rounds of match play (Wednesday-Friday) will be televised on Peacock and GOLF Channel, while the semifinals and championship match (Saturday-Sunday) will be broadcast on GOLF Channel and NBC.
 
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