Aug. 12, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina senior Dean Hester and junior Blaine Woodruff will tee off in the 2012 U.S. Amateur Championship on Monday at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo.

The championship, which runs through Aug. 19, will begin with a field of 312 golfers competing in two rounds of stroke play. After the stroke play, the field will be cut down to 64 individuals for match play.

A native of Dublin, Ga., Hester qualified for the Amateur by posting a two-round score of 140 (-4) in the qualifier at The Brickyard at Riverside in Macon, Ga. Hester played in two tournaments for the Gamecocks last season, including the SEC Championship.

Woodruff shot a two-round total of 141 in the qualifier at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss., to earn his spot in this week’s championship as he is making his second straight appearance at the event. The Acworth, Ga., native played in eight tournaments for Carolina in 2011-12 and had a scoring average of 75.43.

Woodruff will begin first-round play on Monday at 12:15 p.m. MDT, while Hester is slated to tee off in the 12:55 group. Live results will be available by clicking here.