Fresno State Athletics
Watney Prepares for U.S. Amateur Golf Championship
8/15/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Aug. 15, 2001
FRESNO, Calif. - Two of Fresno State's top golfers have been playing well in some big tournaments this summer.
Senior Jonathan Echols was the top seed in the Northern California Golf Assocation Amateur championship but was ousted in the first round of match play today by Spencer Hardy 5 and 3. Echols won the stroke play portion of the tournament to qualify for the match play segment and earned the No. 1 seed. Earlier this summer, Echols won the Fresno City Amateur championship.
2001 WAC Player of the Year and second-team All-American Nick Watney is preparing for the 2001 United States Amateur championship which begins Monday, Aug. 20, at East Lake Golf Club and Druid Hill Golf Club in Atlanta. Watney qualified for the U.S. Amateur by winning a three-way playoff earning one of the two positions from his qualifying district at the Sunset course in Whitney.
This is Watney's second consecutive appearance in the U.S. Amateur. Last year he placed 12th in the 36-hole qualifying and won a match play match before being eliminated prior to the quarterfinals.
"Both Jonathan and Nick have played very well this summer," said head coach Mike Watney. "It's great experience for them to play well in some big tournaments like these."
