18th December 2025

The inaugural International Amateur will be played between Friday 19th and Monday 22nd December 2025 at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida (GMT -5 hours).

Formerly known as the South Beach International Amateur (SBIA), which was played on 14 occasions from 2011 onwards, the event has this year moved 300 miles north west from Miami to Tampa.

The SBIA become one of the world’s leading amateur golf competitions, attracting an international field, and this looks set to continue in its new guise.

This article will be updated on a daily basis once play commences.

Format

The International Amateur is a 72 hole stroke play competition played over four days.

18 holes will be played on both Innisbrook’s Copperhead and Island Courses by the full field over the first two days.

After a top 64 and ties cut (previously top 72) the final 36 holes will be played exclusively on the Copperhead Course.

The Copperhead Course (Photo: Innisbrook Resort)

Players

192 competitors (down from the historic 210) are playing having paid the $510 entry fee.

9 golfers from Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) are in this year’s starting field. There were 14 last year with the highest ever entry being 19 in 2018.

I’ve listed all of this year’s GB&I entries below (in alphabetical order) along with their current WAGR (as at 18th December): –

Ben BOLTON (ENG) #399
Joe BUENFELD (ENG) #1,751
Henry DALY (ENG) #NR
Lewy HAYWARD (ENG) #642
Joshua PRITCHETT (ENG) #2,079
Alexander ROWLAND (ENG) #3,115
Tom SCULLION (ENG) #1,647
Jake SOWDEN (ENG) #1,150
Jamie VAN WYK (ENG) #970

Other players in the WAGR Top 200 competing include (in rank order): –

Segundo OLIVA PINTO (ARG) #84
Lev GRINBERG (UKR) #107
Camden SMITH (USA) #183

Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club

The Copperhead Course, opened in 1974, is 7,209 yards long and plays to a par of 71. It is home to the PGA TOUR’s Valspar Championship and is known for its tough ‘Snake Pit’ three closing holes.

The Island Course, opened in 1970, is 7,194 yards long and plays to a par of 72.

Both courses were designed by Larry Packard and have a slope rating of 144 off the Black Tees.

The courses are typical Florida layouts with numerous lakes coming into play throughout the 18 holes.

Weather Forecast (as at 18th December)

The weather generally looks good for the duration of the event.

Fri 19th Dec – Sunny Intervals / Wind 12mph NW / Temp. Min. 10°C, Max. 25°C.
Sat  20th Dec – Sunny / Wind 7mph NE / Temp. Min. 13°C, Max. 25°C.
Sun 21st Dec – Sunny / Wind 7mph N / Temp. Min. 13°C, Min 25°C.
Mon 22nd Dec – Sunny Intervals / Wind 14mph NE / Temp. Min. 15°C, Max. 27°C.

2024 South Beach International Amateur

Left-handed Miles RUSSELL (USA), then 16, won the 2024 South Beach International Amateur (SBIA) title with a record breaking 264 (-19) total. Russell finished tied 2nd in 2023.

Jim McClean and Miles Russell (Photo: SBIA)

Henry GUAN (USA) -17 finished 2nd, Alex HEFFNER (USA) -15 3rd, Lev GRINBERG (UKR) -14 4th and J. Holland HUMPHRIES (USA) -13 5th.

Here are the final results of the leading players: –

SBIA Results – Leading Players

Tom BASTOW (WAL) and Daniel HAYES (ENG) finished on -9 to secure a tied 16th result.

Charlie FORSTER (ENG) -6 finished tied 33rd and Ben BOLTON (ENG) -5 tied 36th.

Here are the 72 hole results for the GB&I players who made the cut: –

SBIA Results – GB&I Players

Here are the GB&I 36 hole scores showing the players who missed the cut: –

Click here to view the – SBIA 2024 Leaderboard

Historic SBIA Results

Here is a list of past winners, provided with their winning scores and the 36 hole cut marks for each year: – 

2024 – Miles RUSSELL (USA) -19 / Cut -2
2023 – Ben JAMES (USA) -12 / Cut +1
2022 – Luke CLANTON (USA) -17 / Cut Ev
2021 – Finigan TILLY (USA) -15 / Cut -1
2020 – Cole HAMMER (USA) -16 / Cut Ev
2019 – Ben SHIPP (USA) -2 / Cut +8
2018 – Pierceson COODY (USA) -11 / Cut +3
2017 – Jacob BERGERON (USA) -3 / Cut Ev
2016 – Danny WALKER (USA) -4 / Cut +1
2015 – Jorge GARCIA (VEN) -5 / Cut +6
2014 – Gabriel LENCH (USA) -4 / Cut +3
2013 – Greg EASON (ENG) -5 / Cut +6
2012 – Juan Pablo HERNANDEZ (MEX) -10 / Cut +3
2011 – Kelly KRAFT (USA) -4 / Cut +11

More Information

Click here to view the – The International Amateur Website

Click here to view the – The International Amateur 2025 Leaderboard

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2025, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.

22nd December 2024

Round 4

Miles RUSSELL (USA) won the 2024 South Beach International Amateur (SBIA) title with a record breaking 264 (-19) total.

As the lowest WAGR ranked player in the field 16 year old left hander Russell backed up his favourite status to enhance his reputation even further.

Jim McClean and Miles Russell (Photo: SBIA)

Henry GUAN (USA) -17 finished 2nd, Alex HEFFNER (USA) -15 3rd, Lev GRINBERG (UKR) -14 4th and J. Holland HUMPHRIES (USA) -13 5th. 

Zach ADAMS (USA) produced the best round of the day matching Russell’s 8-under 63 from Rounds 1 and 3. A tied 6th place result was the outcome of his final day charge.

The average Round 4 score at Miami Beach from the 77 remaining players was 71.08 (+0.08).

SBIA Results – Leading Players

Tom BASTOW (WAL) and Daniel HAYES (ENG) finished on -9 to secure a tied 16th result.

Charlie FORSTER (ENG) -6 finished tied 33rd and Ben BOLTON (ENG) -5 tied 36th.

Given the starting field of 210 players these all represent encouraging results for all four GB&I players. 

SBIA Results – GB&I Players

Click here to view the – SBIA 2024 Leaderboard

ME.

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21st December 2024

Round 3

Miles RUSSELL (USA) produced his second 63 of the tournament at Miami Beach, the best of the day, to move into a 3-shot 54 hole lead at the SBIA on -18.

Lev GRINBERG‘s (UKR) and Henry GUAN‘s (USA) 66’s kept them firmly in the mix on -15 and -14 respectively.

Probably too far back to challenge tomorrow Cooper CLAYCOMB (USA), Alex HEFFNER (USA) and Jack SCHOENBERGER (USA) are all tied 4th on -11.

The average Round 3 score at Miami Beach from the 77 remaining players was 70.56 (-0.44).

SBIA Round 3 Scores – Leading Players

Daniel HAYES (ENG) -9 remained in the top 10 after a third round 69.

SBIA Round 3 Scores – GB&I Players

ME.

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20th December 2024

Round 2

Lev GRINBERG (UKR) and Miles RUSSELL (USA) share the 36 hole lead at the SBIA on 131 (-10). Grinberg posted a 65 (-5) and Russell a 68 (-2) for their second rounds at Normandy Shores.

Adam BRESNU (MOR), Henry GUAN (USA) and Drew WILSON (USA) are all tied 3rd on -9.

Julio ARRONTE (MEX), a 63 (-8) at Miami Beach, and Hugo TROMMETTER (FRA) & Deven PATEL (USA), 64’s (-6) at Normandy Beach, posted the low rounds of the day.

The average Round 2 scores at Miami Beach and Normandy Shores were 71.01 (+0.01) [Round 1: 71.39 (+0.39)] and 70.91 (-0.09) [Round 1: 69.90 (-0.10)] respectively.

77 players made the top 72 and ties 36 hole cut which fell at record low of 139 (-2).

SBIA Round 2 Scores – Leading Players

After both recorded Round 2 68’s at Miami Beach Ben BOLTON (ENG) and Daniel HAYES (ENG) -7 finished the day tied for 10th place.

Tom BASTOW (WAL) -6, tied 19th, and Charlie FORSTER (ENG) -4, tied 37th, were the only other GB&I players to make the cut.

SBIA Round 2 Scores – GB&I Players

ME.

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19th December 2024

Round 1

Cooper CLAYCOMB (USA) took the early lead at the SBIA with a blemish free round of 62 (-9) at Miami Beach (par 71).

Highly rated junior Miles RUSSELL (USA), the lowest WAGR-ranked player in the field at #77, is 1-shot back after his own 63 (-8) also at the main tournament course.

Henry GUAN (USA), Carter LOFFIN (USA), Cooper SMITH (USA) and Dylan TEETER (USA) all produced the best score at co-hosting Normandy Shores (par 70); a 6-under 64.

The average Round 1 scores at Miami Beach and Normandy Shores were 71.39 (+0.39) and 69.90 (-0.10) respectively. 

SBIA Round 1 Scores – Leading Players

Tom BASTOW (WAL) -5 (NS), Ben BOLTON (ENG) -4 (NS), Daniel HAYES (ENG) -4 (NS), Tom SCULLION (ENG) -2 (MB), Jake HIBBERT (ENG) -1 (MB) and Kris KIM (ENG) -1 (NS) all made encouraging under par starts to the tournament.

SBIA Round 1 Scores – GB&I Players

ME.

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16th December 2024

The 14th South Beach International Amateur (SBIA) will be played between 19th-22nd December 2024 in Miami Beach, Florida (GMT -5 hours).

First played in 2011 the SBIA has quickly become one of the world’s leading amateur golf competitions, attracting an international field.

This article will be updated on a daily basis once play commences.

Format

The SBIA is a 72 hole stroke play competition played over four days.

18 holes are played at both Miami Beach G.C. and the nearby Normandy Shores G.C. by the full field over the first two days.

After a top 72 and ties cut the final 36 holes are played exclusively at Miami Beach over the remaining two days.

Miami Beach Golf Club

Players

A maximum field of 210 players are permitted with the entry fee set at $465.

14 golfers from Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I) are in this year’s starting field, a number of whom are studying at U.S. colleges. There were also 14 last year with the highest ever entry being 19 in 2018.

I’ve listed all of this year’s GB&I entries below (in alphabetical order) along with their current WAGR (as at 16th December): –

Tom BASTOW (WAL) #619
Max BERRISFORD (ENG) #N/R
Ben BOLTON (ENG) #398
Charlie FORSTER (ENG) #161
Daniel HAYES (ENG) #423
Jake HIBBERT (ENG) #2,783
Kris KIM (ENG) #380
Cameron MUKHERJEE (SCO) #1,372
Oliver MUKHERJEE (SCO) #1,631
Sam MUKHERJEE (ENG) #1,641
Joe PAGDIN (ENG) #938
Luke POULTER (ENG) #328
Alexander ROWLAND (ENG) #2,360
Tom SCULLION (ENG) #883

Other players in the WAGR Top 200 competing include (in rank order): –

Miles RUSSELL (USA) #77
Deven PATEL (USA) #83
Jackson HERRINGTON (USA) #129
Hugo LE GOFF (FRA) #139
Lev GRINBERG (UKR) #146

Courses

Both courses were designed by Arthur Hills and play to around 6,800 yards.

They are typical Florida layouts with numerous lakes coming into play throughout the 18 holes. As a result scores can be high if the wind blows – which it frequently does here.

Normandy Shores plays to a par of 70 and Miami Beach a par of 71 during the tournament.

Normandy Shores Golf Club

Weather Forecast (as at 16th December)

The weather generally looks good for the duration of the event albeit the wind shouldn’t be under-estimated as it normally proves to be a factor on both of these flat exposed coastal courses.

Tue 19th Dec – Thundery Showers / Wind 7 mph SE / Temp. Min. 17°C, Max. 26°C.
Wed  20th Dec – Sunny Intervals / Wind 9 mph NW / Temp. Min. 11°C, Max. 26°C.
Thu 21st Dec – Sunny / Wind 10 mph NW / Temp. Min. 9°C, Min 22°C.
Fri 22nd Dec – Sunny Intervals / Wind 13 mph NE / Temp. Min. 13°C, Max. 23°C.

SBIA Website Link

Click here to view the – SBIA Website

2023 South Beach International Amateur

Ben JAMES (USA) won the 2023 South Beach International Amateur (SBIA) by 2 shots with a 271 (-12) total.

Ben James (Photo: SBIA)

His nearest challengers were Michael LA SASSO (USA) and Miles RUSSELL (USA) who tied for 2nd place.

Here are the final results of the leading players: –

SBIA Results – Leading Players

Here are the 72 hole results for the GB&I players who made the cut: –

SBIA Results – GB&I Only After 72 Holes

Here are the GB&I 36 hole scores: –

SBIA Scores – GB&I Only After 36 Holes

Click here to view the – SBIA 2023 Final Results

Historic Results

Here is a list of past winners, provided with their winning scores and the 36 hole cut marks for each year: – 

2024 – Miles RUSSELL (USA) -19 / Cut -2
2023 – Ben JAMES (USA) -12 / Cut +1
2022 – Luke CLANTON (USA) -17 / Cut Ev
2021 – Finigan TILLY (USA) -15 / Cut -1
2020 – Cole HAMMER (USA) -16 / Cut Ev
2019 – Ben SHIPP (USA) -2 / Cut +8
2018 – Pierceson COODY (USA) -11 / Cut +3
2017 – Jacob BERGERON (USA) -3 / Cut Ev
2016 – Danny WALKER (USA) -4 / Cut +1
2015 – Jorge GARCIA (VEN) -5 / Cut +6
2014 – Gabriel LENCH (USA) -4 / Cut +3
2013 – Greg EASON (ENG) -5 / Cut +6
2012 – Juan Pablo HERNANDEZ (MEX) -10 / Cut +3
2011 – Kelly KRAFT (USA) -4 / Cut +11

ME.

Copyright © 2014-2025, Mark Eley. All rights reserved.