Badgett brings momentum into U.S. Amateur

Fresh off a high-profile performance in a national junior tournament, a Triad golfer will tee it up Monday in the most prestigious amateur tournament.

Pennson Badgett of Pilot Mountain has a 2:10 p.m. PDT tee time at The Olympic Club’s Ocean Course in the first round of qualifying at the U.S. Amateur in San Francisco.

Badgett, a rising sophomore at East Surry High, will compete against a field of many of the best collegiate golfers in the tournament, which includes a 36-hole stroke-play qualifier for 64 match-play berths. Badgett has committed to play college golf at the University of Tennessee.

Each of the 312 players will play one round each on Olympic’s Ocean and Lake courses before the match-play cut. The 36-hole final is scheduled for next Sunday.

Badgett contended for the Junior PGA Championship last weekend, tying for fourth place while playing with Charlie Woods’, Tiger Woods’ son, for the final round at Brick Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana. Badgett shot 12-under 273 in the 72-hole tourney.

Badgett earned a spot in the U.S. Amateur by finishing second with 66 in sectional qualifying last month at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington.

Jackson Spires of Apex received an exemption into the U.S. Amateur field for winning the North Carolina Amateur last month at The Cardinal Golf Club.