Introduction

The 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship will be played at Merion G.C. in Pennsylvania from 10th-16th August with the nearby Philadelphia C.C. co-hosting the stroke play qualifying stage.

Administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) the U.S. Amateur is the most important and prestigious individual competition in the amateur golf calendar.

I will be updating this article as more information comes to light and providing daily reports once play starts.

2026 Field

5,111 entries were received by the USGA for this year’s Championship.

312 players will be competing. 173 were exempt with the remaining 139 coming through qualifying.

Exemptions were granted based on past performances in previous amateur championships, selection for the Walker Cup teams and World Amateur Golf Rankings.

48 Local Qualifying events, all played over 18 holes, were staged between 1st-30th June and 3rd July before 19 Final Qualifying competitions, again over 18 holes, took place between 13th-22nd July.

Click here to view the – 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship Local & Final Qualifying Results

14 Great British & Irish (GB&I) players are competing in 2026: –

Eliot BAKER (ENG) – Exemption: Walker Cup GB&I Team 2025 / WAGR Top 100 May 2026
Jack BIGHAM (ENG) – Exemption: Walker Cup GB&I Team 2023
Sam EASTERBROOK (ENG) – Exemption: WAGR Top 100 June 2026
Connor GRAHAM (SCO) – Exemption: Walker Cup GB&I Team 2023 & 2025 / WAGR Top 100 May 2026
Stuart GREHAN (IRL) – Exemption: Walker Cup GB&I Team 2025 / Amateur champion 2026 / WAGR Top 100 May 2026
Mike HEARNE (WAL) – Qualifier: Dallas National G.C. (Alt. 1), July 2025
Ieuan JONES (WAL) – Qualifier: Ohio State University GC, July 2025
Zach LITTLE (ENG) – Exemption: WAGR Top 100 May 2026
Matt MCCLEAN (IRL) – Exemption: Walker Cup GB&I Team 2023
Luke POULTER (ENG) – Exemption: Walker Cup GB&I Team 2025 / WAGR Top 20 March 2026 / WAGR Top 100 May 2026
Niall SHEILS DONEGAN (SCO) – Exemption: US Amateur SF / Walker Cup GB&I Team 2025 / WAGR Top 100 May 2026
Gavin TIERNAN (IRL) – Exemption: Walker Cup GB&I Team 2025
Freddie TURNELL (ENG) – Exemption: WAGR Top 100 May 2026
Jack WHALEY (ENG) – Exemption: WAGR Top 100 June 2026

This number matches the historical high of 14 GB&I players who competed last year at Olympic Club. There were 10 at Hazeltine National in 2024, 8 at Cherry Hills in 2023, 9 at Ridgewood in 2022, 5 at Oakmont in 2021, 11 at Bandon Dunes in 2020, 11 at Pinehurst in 2019, 7 at Pebble Beach in 2018, 9 at Riviera in 2017 and 11 at Oakland Hills in 2016.

Format / Schedule

36-holes of stroke play (SP) will determine the top 64 match play (MP) qualifiers. Ties for the last qualifying place will be resolved by a sudden death play-off.

Six 18 hole MP rounds will then be played culminating in a 36-hole Championship Final. Extra holes will be played to resolve any halved games.

Monday 10th August – SP Qualifying Round 1 (Merion and Philadelphia – 18 holes)
Tuesday 11th August – SP Qualifying Round 2 (Merion and Philadelphia – 18 holes)
Wednesday 12th August – SP Qualifying Play-Off / MP Round of 64 (Merion – 18 holes)
Thursday 13th August – MP Rounds of 32 and 16 (Merion – 18 holes)
Friday 14th August – MP Quarter Finals (Merion – 18 holes)
Saturday 15th August – MP Semi-Finals (Merion – 18 holes)
Sunday 16th August – MP Championship Final (Merion – 36 holes)

Stroke Play Qualifying Start Times

GB&I Player: Round 1 / Round 2
1 – 1st hole  /  10 – 10th hole /  M – Merion Golf Club (East) / O – Philadelphia Country Club
Time Difference – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania EDT: BST – 5 hours

Sam EASTERBROOK (ENG): 10-P 7.00am / 1-M 12.30pm
Connor GRAHAM (SCO): 10-M 7.37am / 1-P 12.52pm
Zach LITTLE (ENG): 10-P 7.55am / 1-M 1.25pm
Eliot BAKER (ENG): 1-M 8.06am / 10-P 1.36pm
Gavin TIERNAN (IRL): 1-M 8.06am / 10-P 1.36pm
Jack WHALEY (ENG): 10-P 8.17am / 1-M 1.47pm
Stuart GREHAN (IRL): 10-M 8.54am / 1-P 2.09pm
Freddie TURNELL (ENG): 1-M 9.12am / 10-P 2.42pm
Mike HEARNE (WAL): 1-M 12.30pm / 10-P 7.00am
Ieuan JONES (WAL): 10-P 1.14pm / 1-M 7.44am
Matt MCCLEAN (IRL): 1-M 1.36pm / 10-P 8.06am
Niall SHEILS DONEGAN (SCO): 1-M 2.09pm / 10-P 8.39am
Jack BIGHAM (ENG): 1-M 2.09pm / 10-P 8.39am
Luke POULTER (ENG):  10-P 2.09pm / 1-M 8.39am

Host Courses

The Championship is being played at Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club.

7th Hole, Merion Golf Club (Photo: USGA / Fred Vuich)

Merion Golf Club (East Course) – stroke play and match play
6,693 yards / Par 70 / Course Rating 75.3 / Slope 153

Opened in 1912.
Originally designed by Hugh Wilson with recent renovations by Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner (2014).
It has previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1934, 1950, 1971, 1981 and 2013, U.S. Amateur in 1916, 1924, 1930, 1966, 1989 and 2005 and Walker Cup in 2009.

Philadelphia Country Club – stroke play co-host
7,201 yards / Par 70 / Course Rating 75.4 / Slope 144

Opened in 1890.
Designed by William Flynn with recent renovations by Jim Nagle of Forse Design (2012).

Weather Forecast (as at 6th August 2026)

The weather forecast looks good for the whole Championship week with generally sunny conditions. Only modest breezes are expected which shouldn’t interfere with play.

Stroke Play Qualifying
Mon 10th August – Sunny / Wind 9mph SW / Temp. Min. 22°C, Max. 33°C.
Tues 11th August – Sunny / Wind 12mph W / Temp. Min. 21°C, Max. 32°C.

Match Play Stage
Weds 12th August – Thundery Showers / Wind 7mph W / Temp. Min. 19°C, Max. 29°C.
Thurs 13th August – Sunny Intervals / Wind 7mph W  / Temp. Min. 18°C, Max. 29°C.
Fri 14th August – Sunny Intervals / Wind 8mph W  / Temp. Min. 18°C, Max. 28°C.
Sat 15th August – Sunny Intervals / Wind 7 mph NW / Temp. Min. 18°C, Max. 28°C.
Sun 16th August – Light Cloud / Wind 7mph NW / Temp. Min. 18°C, Max. 27°C.

Prizes

The 2026 U.S. Amateur champion will receive the following: –

a) A gold medal and custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for the following year;

b) Automatic selection to the 2026 USA or GB&I Walker Cup squad (if applicable);
c) An exemption to play in the 2027 U.S. Open which is being staged at Pebble Beach Golf Links;
and assuming they remain amateur,
d) An invitation to play in the 2027 Masters at Augusta National G.C.;
e) An exemption to play in the 2027 Open Championship at St. Andrews Old Course;
f) An exemption to play in the 2027-2036 U.S. Amateur Championships;

and unofficially

g) Various invitations to play in PGA Tour and DP World Tour events.

A Silver Medal is awarded to the runner-up and Bronze Medals to the two losing semi-finalists.

A Silver Medal is also awarded to the stroke play medalist(s).

The original silver Havemeyer Trophy was presented to the U.S.G.A. on March 1895 in honour of the Association’s first President Theodore A. Havemeyer. This was lost in a fire at Bobby Jones’ home club, East Lake, in 1925.

A new gold trophy was produced in 1926. This was retired in 1992 with a copy of the trophy being produced and passed from champion to champion ever since. Sadly the original gold trophy was stolen from the U.S.G.A. Museum in 2012 and has never been seen since.

US Amateur Information

Click here to view the – 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship Official Website

Spectators / Television Coverage

Some highlights of the SP Qualifying will be shown on the USGA website and social media channels.

In the USA Peacock and Golf Channel will be covering the MP stage.

In the UK Sky Sports Golf normally takes the U.S. television feed, via the Red Button, over the final match play weekend.

2025 U.S. Amateur Championship
Mason HOWELL (USA) beat Jackson HERRINGTON (USA) by 7&6 to win the 125th U.S. Amateur Championship at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Mason Howell (Photo: Chris Keane / USGA)

The Georgian became the third-youngest champion behind Byeong-Hun An and Danny Lee at 18 years, 1 month and 20 days old. Herrington was the first left-handed player to compete in the final since Phil Mickelson won the title in 1990 at Cherry Hills.

Niall SHIELS DONEGAN (SCO) was the best of the 14 GB&I players who competed. The US-based Scot became the first GB&I player to reach the Semi-Finals of the U.S. Amateur Championship since Matt Fitzpatrick in 2013, the year he won it. During the Match Play Stage he beat four WAGR top 30 players in a row; Preston Stout #4 (Round of 16), Christian Maas (Round of 32) #9, Jacob Modleski (Quarterfinals) #15 and Luke Poulter (Round of 64) #28.

Click here to view the full – 2025 U.S. Amateur Championship MP Results – use filter

Preston STOUT (USA), 21, earned medalist honours with a 132 (-8) total. He separated himself impressively from 2nd placed Tommy MORRISON (USA) -6, top-ranked junior Miles RUSSELL (USA) -4 in 3rd and Logan REILLY (USA) -3 in 4th.

Daniel BENNETT (RSA), Daniel SVÄRD (SWE) and Charlie FORSTER (ENG), who all finished on 139 (-1), were the leading International qualifiers.

Charlie FORSTER (ENG) -1 tied 8th, Luke POULTER (ENG) Ev tied 16th, Tyler WEAVER (ENG) +1 tied 23rd and Connor GRAHAM (SCO) +2 tied 33rd all advanced to the Match Play Stage. They were joined after a 20 players-for-17 spots play-off by Niall SHIELS DONEGAN (SCO), +3 tied 48th, but Jack BIGHAM (ENG), also +3 tied 48th, missed out.

2025 Stroke Play Qualifying Results – GB&I Players (Graphic: USGA / CISCO)

Click here to view the full – 2025 U.S. Amateur Championship SP Qualifying Results – use filter

U.S. Amateur Championship History

The U.S. Amateur is the oldest golf championship in America and 2026 will see its 126th playing.

It was first played in 1895, the winner being Charles B. Macdonald.

It has always been decided by match play save for an 8 year period between 1965 and 1972 when the winner was determined solely by stroke play.

Former U.S. winners include Walter Travis (1900-01-03), Jerome Travers (1907-08-12-13), Bobby Jones (1924-25-27-28-30), Francis Ouimet (1914-31), W. Lawson Little (1934-35) Arnold Palmer (1954), Jack Nicklaus (1959-61), Deane Beman (1960-63), Lanny Wadkins (1970), Craig Stadler (1973), Mark O’Meara (1979), Hal Sutton (1980), Phil Mickelson (1990), Justin Leonard (1992), Tiger Woods (1994-95-96), Matt Kucher (1997), Ryan Moore (2004) and Bryson DeChambeau (2015).

The last five winners, 2025-2019, have been Mason Howell (USA), Jose Ballester (ESP), Nick Dunlap (USA), Sam Bennett (USA) and James Piot (USA).

British players have won the Championship on six occasions but just twice in the last 100 years – H.J. Whigham (1896-97), Findlay Douglas (1898), Harold Hilton (1911), Richie Ramsay (2006) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (2013).

Matthew Fitzpatrick (Photo: USGA)

Italy’s Edoardo Molinari (2005 at Merion) and Norway’s Viktor Hovland (2018) are the only players from the Continent of Europe to have lifted the Havemeyer Trophy.

Click here to view the full list of past – U.S. Amateur Champions

Future U.S. Amateur Venues

For reasons I have never understood the USGA continue to allocate their Championship venues far out into the future: –

127th – 9-15 August 2027 – Oak Hill Country Club, Pittsford, New York
128th – 14-20 August 2028 – Whistling Straits Golf Club, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
129th – 13-19 August 2029 – Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio
130th – 12-18 August 2030 – Atlanta Athletic Club, Johns Creek, Georgia
131st – 11-17 August 2031 – Honors Course, Ooltewah, Tennessee
132nd – 9-15 August 2032 – Bandon Dunes, Bandon, Oregon
133rd – 15-21 August 2033 – Chambers Bay, University Place, Washington
134th – 14-20 August 2034 – The Country Club, Brookline, Massachusetts
135th – 13-19 August 2035 – Erin Hills, Erin, Wisconsin
136th – 11-17 August 2036 – Scioto Country Club, Upper Arlington, Ohio
137th – TBD August 2037 –
138th – TBD August 2038 – Pinehurst Resort No. 2, Pinehurst, North Carolina
139th – TBD August 2039 – Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, New Jersey
140th – TBD August 2040 –
141st – TBD August 2041 – Bandon Dunes, Bandon, Oregon
142nd – TBD August 2042 – Ridgewood Country Club, Paramus, New Jersey
143rd – TBD August 2043 –
144th – TBD August 2044 – Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma
145th – TBD August 2045 –
146th – TBD August 2046 –
147th – TBD August 2047 – Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
148th – TBD August 2048 –
149th – TBD August 2049 –
150th – TBD August 2050 –
151st – TBD August 2051 – Saucon Valley Country Club, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2026, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.