Ben Rebne has added another great accomplishment to the list he is racking up in 2020 as the senior from Ringgold made the field for the 120th United States Amateur Championship. The tournament kicks off today at Brandon Dunes Golf Resort in Brandon, Ore.
With the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, the USGA elected to skip qualifiers and go with an exempt field for the event. Rebne collected an email from the USGA late last week notifying him he was on a short list as a possible last-minute qualifier.
With the news in hand, Rebne withdrew from the Tennessee Amateur where he started off well after an opening round 71 (-1) to fly to Oregon for COVID-19 testing.
He would not wait long to get the news that he cleared his test and was in the field.
"It means the world to play in such a prestigious event," said Rebne. "It's incredible, but at the end of the day it's just another golf tournament that I'm trying to win. It is definitely special and I'm pumped to be in the event."
The event will be played on two courses at Brandon Dunes Resort, Brandon Trails and Brandon Dunes. Rebne will see both as he tees off at 2:09 pm PT on Monday at Brandon Trails. He will see Brandon Dunes on Tuesday with a 9:56 am PT tee time.
The U.S. Amateur will have two days of stroke-play qualifying on Monday and Tuesday to determine seeding for match play that will follow beginning on Wednesday. The championship match will be Sunday.
Coverage of the event will be carried by NBC Universal who acquired the USGA contract from Fox earlier this year. Peacock TV, the new streaming app from NBC Universal, will have coverage beginning Wednesday and will share coverage with Golf Channel.
120th U.S. AMATEUR SCHEDULE OF COMPETITION (TV/streaming coverage)
Monday, Aug. 10: First round, stroke play
Tuesday, Aug. 11: Second round, stroke play
Wednesday, Aug. 12: Round of 64, match play (3-4 p.m. Peacock, 4-6 p.m. Golf Channel)
Thursday, Aug. 13: Rounds of 32 and 16 matches (3-4 p.m. Peacock, 4-6 p.m. Golf Channel)
Friday, Aug. 14: Quarterfinal matches (3-4 p.m. Peacock, 4-6 p.m. Golf Channel)
Saturday, Aug. 15: Semifinal matches (4-7 p.m. Golf Channel)
Sunday, Aug. 16: Championship match (4-7 p.m. Golf Channel)