The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a men's

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the United States Golf Association. The USGA typically called the event the U.S. Amateur Public Links, which it has registered as a service mark. The tournament was devised as a championship for golfers who played on public courses, as members of private clubs were barred from entry. In February 2013, the USGA announced that the event would be discontinued after its 2014 edition, and would be replaced by a new men's amateur four-ball championship. The first Public Links was held in 1922 at the Ottawa Park Course in Toledo, Ohio. The event grew over time, from 140 entries in 1922 to over 6,000 in 1998. The Publinx was created to provide an outlet for national competition for public-course golfers because at that time, entry to the U.S. Amateur was restricted to members of clubs that were affiliated with the USGA or (presumably) other national governing bodies. However, in 1979, entry to the U.S. Amateur was opened to all amateurs, whether or not they were club members. When the USGA announced the demise of the Publinx, it specifically stated that "the APL mateur Public Linksand WAPL omen's Amateur Public Linkschampionships no longer serve their original mission because of the widespread accessibility public-course golfers today enjoy in USGA championships." Eligibility was similar to that for the U.S. Amateur. Golfers must follow the USGA's guidelines for amateur status, which, in general, exclude anyone who has ever played or taught golf for money. The Public Links, like the U.S. Amateur, had no age limit. However, there were two key differences in the eligibility criteria for the Public Links: *Entries were accepted from golfers with a USGA men's handicap of 4.4 or lower, as opposed to 2.4 for the U.S. Amateur. *Entries were ''not'' accepted from players who have playing privileges at golf clubs not open to the general public, and such golfers were not allowed to compete if they received such privileges between their entry and the end of the main tournament. **Exceptions to above: The USGA did consider some players with privileges at non-public facilities to be "bona fide public course players," specifically those whose privileges were solely due to any of the following: ***Their enrollment in a specific educational institution. ***Their status as active or retired members of the military. ***Their current or former employment by an entity other than a golf club. The Public Links was open to men and women, although very few women ever entered. In 2005, 15-year-old Michelle Wie became the first woman to advance to the match-play portion of the tournament. She was also the first woman to ever qualify for any USGA championship typically played by men. Entrants qualified to play in the U.S. Amateur Public Links by playing one of many qualifying tournaments held at sites around the United States with players completing 36 holes of

stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In stroke play, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the ...

in one day. The 64 qualifiers played in the tournament proper which began with three rounds of

to narrow the field to 16 players who then competed in a single-elimination match play tournament. Each match was 18 holes except the championship match which was 36 holes; before 2001, the final was an 18-hole match. The winner of the event earned an invitation to the following year's

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

, if he/she was still an amateur at the time of the Masters. The 2005 edition, held in Lebanon, Ohio, drew an unusually large amount of media attention due to Michelle Wie's presence. She had stated on several occasions that she wished to one day play in the Masters, and this event was generally considered to be her best chance to qualify. Wie advanced to the match play rounds, losing in the quarterfinals to Clay Ogden, who went on to win the tournament. The equivalent event for women was the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, established in 1977 and also discontinued after 2014 and replaced by a women's four-ball tournament. Trevor Immelman became the first winner of the Public Links to win a Major Championship with his victory at the

2008 Masters Tournament The 2008 Masters Tournament was the 72nd Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Trevor Immelman won his first major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Tiger Woods, a four-time champion. Immel ...

. His playing partner in the final round, Brandt Snedeker, was also a past Public Links winner.

Winners

*2014

Byron Meth George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

*2013

Jordan Niebrugge Jordan Niebrugge (born August 4, 1993) is an American professional golfer. Early life Niebrugge was born just outside St. Louis in Bridgeton, Missouri. When he was at a young age, his parents, Rod and Judy Niebrugge, moved with Jordan and his old ...

*2012 T. J. Vogel *2011

Corbin Mills Corbin may refer to: People * Corbin (given name) * Corbin (surname) * Corbin (musician), American singer Buildings * Corbin Building, a historic building located at 192 Broadway in New York, US * Corbin Cabin, a log structure in Shenandoah Nat ...

*2010 Lion Kim *2009 Brad BenjaminBenjamin Wins 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links
*2008 Jack Newman *2007 Colt Knost *2006

Casey Watabu Casey may refer to: Places Antarctica *Casey Station *Casey Range Australia * Casey, Australian Capital Territory * City of Casey, Melbourne * Division of Casey, electoral district for the House of Representatives Canada * Casey, Ontario * ...

*2005 Clay Ogden *2004 Ryan Moore *2003 Brandt Snedeker *2002 Ryan Moore *2001

Chez Reavie William Chesney "Chez" Reavie (born November 12, 1981) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early career Reavie was born in Wichita, Kansas. He attended Dobson High School in Mesa, Arizona. He played college golf at Ariz ...

*2000 D. J. Trahan *1999 Hunter Haas *1998 Trevor Immelman *1997 Tim Clark *1996 Tim Hogarth *1995

Chris Wollmann Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

*1994

Guy Yamamoto Guy Yamamoto (born 1961) is an American amateur golfer from Hawaii. Yamamoto won the U.S. Amateur Public Links in 1994. Yamamoto was the fourth person from Hawaii to win the championship, and the only one from Kauai to win the APL until Casey Watab ...

*1993

David Berganio Jr. David Berganio Jr. (born January 14, 1969) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. Berganio was born in Los Angeles, California. He won the U.S. Amateur Public Links twice (1991 and 1993) while playing college golf ...

*1992

Warren Schutte A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Ang ...

*1991

*1990

Michael Combs Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

*1989 Tim Hobby *1988 Ralph Howe III *1987

Kevin Johnson Kevin Johnson may refer to: Entertainment *Kevin Johnson (singer) (born 1942), Australian singer * Kevin Johnson (ventriloquist) (born 1970), ventriloquist on ''America's Got Talent'' * Kevin Royal Johnson (born 1961), American singer-songwriter a ...

*1986 Billy Mayfair *1985

Jim Sorenson Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim'' ...

*1984

Bill Malley Bill Malley is an American production designer and art director. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''The Exorcist''. Selected filmography * ''The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 Amer ...

*1983

Billy Tuten Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a young ...

*1982

*1981 Jodie Mudd *1980 Jodie Mudd *1979 Dennis Walsh *1978 Dean Prince *1977 Jerry Vidovic *1976 Eddie Mudd *1975 Randy Barenaba *1974 Charles Barenaba, Jr. *1973 Stan Stopa *1972

Bob Allard Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

*1971 Fred Haney *1970 Robert Risch *1969 John M. Jackson, Jr. *1968 Gene Towry *1967 Verne Callison *1966

Monty Kaser Lamont A. "Monty" Kaser (September 24, 1941 – September 19, 2009) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s. A native of Wichita, Kansas, Kaser competed in amateur tournaments during the early and mi ...

*1965 Arne Dokka *1964 William McDonald *1963

Robert Lunn Robert "Rob" Lunn is a former defensive tackle from University of Connecticut. He earned Academic All Big East accolades in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Winner of the coveted "Iron Husky" award in 2007 for "Unbreakable Work Ethic" Lunn was a fixt ...

*1962 R. H. Sikes *1961 R. H. Sikes *1960 Verne Callison *1959 Bill Wright *1958 Dan Sikes *1957

Don Essig III Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places * County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vil ...

*1956 James H. Buxbaum *1955 Sam D. Kocsis *1954 Gene Andrews *1953 Ted Richards Jr. *1952 Omer L. Bogan *1951 Dave Stanley *1950 Stanley Bielat *1949 Kenneth J. Towns *1948 Michael R. Ferentz *1947 Wilfred Crossley *1946 Smiley Quick *1942–45 ''No tournament'' *1941 William M. Welch, Jr. *1940 Robert C. Clark *1939

Andrew Szwedko Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

*1938 Al Leach *1937 Bruce McCormick *1936 Pat Abbott *1935

Frank Strafaci Frank Strafaci (April 24, 1916 – February 19, 1988) was an American amateur golfer, who competed against the top amateurs of his time. He is remembered as one of Brooklyn's top amateur golfers. Career Strafaci was born and raised in Brooklyn ...

*1934 David A. Mitchell *1933 Charles Ferrera *1932 R. L. Miller *1931 Charles Ferrera *1930 Robert E. Wingate *1929 Carl F. Kauffmann *1928 Carl F. Kauffmann *1927 Carl F. Kauffmann *1926 Lester Bolstad *1925 Raymond J. McAuliffe *1924 Joseph Coble *1923

Richard J. Walsh Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

*1922 Edmund R. Held

Multiple winners

*3 wins: Carl F. Kauffmann *2 wins:

, Verne Callison, Charles Ferrera, Ryan Moore, Jodie Mudd, R. H. Sikes,

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official site
Amateur golf tournaments in the United States Amateur Public Links