Herrington’s U.S. Amateur Journey Continues To Final 4

For Jackson Herrington, his focus in this week’s 125^th U.S. Amateur has been more about the journey rather than the destination. And, it’s about having plenty of fun in the process.

The Dickson native, who is entering his sophomore campaign at the University of Tennessee, extended his quest one more day on Friday, winning his quarterfinal match over upstart Jimmy Abdo of Minnesota by a 4 & 2 count at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif.

Herrington becomes the first Tennessean to advance to the tournament’s semifinals since the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Steven won the U.S. Amateur in 2012. His opponent at 11 a.m. PDT Saturday is Niall Shiels Donegan, a Bay Area resident who was born in Scotland.

“The goal for the week was to make it to where I did last year,” Herrington said by phone following his quarterfinal win. “Now that I've done it, my mom said it best – the rest is cake. I accomplished my goal making it to where I wanted to last year, and then I got further yesterday. And so now I just go out there and have fun. And that's what I've been doing so far. It's been awesome. I’m one step closer to Augusta.”

Herrington advanced from two days of stroke play in his initial U.S. Amateur last year played at Minnesota’s Hazeltine National Golf Club. He eventually lost in the Round of 32, although he created a lasting memory with a hole-in-one in his opening match.

The beefy lefthander nicknamed “Fridge” made tremendous strides during his first season of college golf, even though the results didn’t always reveal the growth that was occurring. He now stands 18 holes away from advancing to Sunday’s 36-hole final and securing the invitation to next year’s Master’s Tournament that is extended to both finalists.

“The maturity I’ve gained since last year has been pretty big,” Herrington said. “Even though I felt that I didn't play great golf this year at UT, learning from (Tennessee head coach Brennan) Webb and Bo (Andrews, assistant coach) and seeing how to approach different shots in different situations was huge. Learning from those guys, and then going out there and doing it this week has been a good experience.”

Herrington took a 2-up lead through three holes with pars, eventually increasing his margin to 3-up after 6 as Abdo struggled early with four bogeys during that span.

“At the start you want to push the gas and be able to get an early lead,” Herrington said. “Knowing the right opportunity in the right place to be aggressive, and sometimes you’ve got to play defensive and make them make a par or birdie to beat you. It’s all about just not giving anything back and playing my game.”

Consecutive bogeys from Herrington at 8 and 9 trimmed his lead to one, and he maintained that advantage after he and Abdo traded wins on the next two holes. But a crucial birdie on the par-3 13^th doubled Herrington’s advantage to 2-up to put the pressure back on his opponent.

Herrington’s margin swelled to 3-up when Abdo double bogeyed 14, and he then closed out the match with a conceded birdie at 16.

One of the keys to Herrington’s success this week has been caddie Collins Banks, who he met at the 2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in Kiawah Island, S.C. Herrington was paired with Nashville’s Blades Brown as they made it into the quarterfinals before advancing to the finals the next year.

“We just have a good time out there. That's all we do,” Herrington said. “You'll see us walking down the fairway laughing and giggling even if it's a stressful situation. I wanted somebody I knew with me and my game at all times, somebody to keep me calm and focused. I found that Collins was that guy. We’ve got all his crew down in Charleston cheering for us, and I’ve got my Vol crew and the folks in Dickson and Nashville cheering for me as well. It’s been awesome.”

With two more legs remaining in Herrington’s journey, he’s still locked in on taking the next step and not the prize that awaits at the end.

“I'm just taking each match as an opportunity, moving one step closer to my dream,” Herrington said. “Some people don't think I should have gotten here, but I think otherwise. I know I belong here. Now we’re going to see if we can make it happen.”

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com