June 27, 2011

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina rising senior Wesley Bryan will compete for the fourth straight year in the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, which begins Monday at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore.

Bryan qualified for this year’s championship with a two-day score of 136 in a sectional qualifier on May 23 at Clustered Spires Golf Course in Frederick, Md. He will begin play Monday at 2:20 p.m. PT (5:20 p.m. ET) on the Bandon Trails course.

Bryan is one of 156 competitors in this year’s Public Links championship. The top 64 players after two rounds of medal play will advance to a match play bracket to determine the 2011 U.S. Public Links Champion. In addition to earning an exemption into the 2011 U.S. Amateur and 2012 U.S. Open championships, the PubLinks champion is traditionally extended an invitation to play in the following year’s Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga.

This year’s USAPL is being contested in conjunction with the Women’s PubLinks. The men will play the Bandon Trails course in the first round and Old Macdonald in the second round; the women will play the opposite rotation.

Last year, Bryan advanced to the second round of match play before falling to Ryan Butler, 1 up. Two years ago in Norman, Okla., Bryan made a run to the quarterfinals before bowing out to top-seeded Nick Taylor, 2 & 1. In 2008, he made it to the third round.

Bryan will look to draw on the experience at Bandon Dunes that brought him a third-place finish in this spring’s Bandon Dunes Championship, where he shot 70-73-74=217 (+1) to lead the Gamecocks to a tie for seventh place.

The U.S. Amateur Public Links, established in 1922 for bona fide public-course players, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. It is open to all amateur golfers who, since Jan. 1, 2011, have not held privileges at any course that does not extend playing privileges to the general public and who have a USGA handicap index not exceeding 4.4.

Live scoring is available through usapl.org.