Former Hahnville High School golfer Andrew Noto will play for the U.S. Amateur Championship after shooting a 66-69–135 in the 36-hole qualifier at Lake Charles Country Club.
The U.S. Amateur will be held Aug. 23-29 at Chambers Bay in Tacoma, Wash.
Noto, who is a junior at Louisiana-Lafayette, said that qualifying for the Amateur has been a major goal of his. The first year Noto tried to qualify, he shot an even par. Last year, Noto finished 3 under but missed the cut by one shot.
“I’m feeling relieved and excited,” he said. “This has been a major goal of mine and a lot of hard work went into it.
“I’m really feeling a sense of accomplishment.”
Though this is the first time Noto has qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship, he has had an illustrious golfing career so far.
In 2005, he helped lead Hahnville to the 5A state championship and the Tigers finished runner-up in both 2006 and 2008.
In 2008, Noto also won the Southern Junior Championship.
In his sophomore year at Louisiana-Lafayette, Noto has had four Top 10 finishes, and finished in the Top 25 in nine of the 12 tournaments that he competed in.
For his efforts, he was named to the 2010 Sun Belt Conference Men’s All-Conference Team.
This summer, Noto finished second in the Louisiana State Amateur and finished tied for 61st in the Southern Amateur Championship that was held near Birmingham, Ala.
But Noto knows he will need to bring his “A” game with him to Washington.
“There is no doubt that the U.S. Amateur Championship consists of the best field of amateurs in the world,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be a challenge.”
The Amateur Championship is the oldest golf championship in the country – one day older than the U.S. Open. Except for an eight-year period, from 1965-72, when it was stroke play, the Amateur has been a match-play championship.
Over the years, as interest in the game grew and the number of quality players increased, it became necessary to establish a national handicapping system to determine who was eligible to compete in the Amateur. The USGA’s first national handicap list, which was published for the 1912 Championship, was the forerunner of the present-day USGA Golf Handicap System.
Throughout its history, the U.S. Amateur has been the most coveted of all amateur titles. Many of the great names of professional golf, such as Gene Littler, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Mark O’Meara, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, grace the Havemeyer Cup.
Noto is flying into Seattle on Aug. 18 to acclimate himself to both the course and the weather. That’s the first step to what he hopes will be a strong showing.
“I have to have a good mindset, so first I have to get used to the course, then get to match play and take it one match at a time,” he said.
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