Thomas gets in U.S. Amateur

Recent University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate Brooks Thomas from Ringgold High School qualified for the 2017 U.S. Amateur golf tournament with a 40-foot sudden-death birdie putt Tuesday at Knoxville’s Willow Creek Golf Club. Thomas, a 2017 All-Southern Conference player as a Mocs senior, shot 67 and 69 in the 36-hole qualifier and made a three-man playoff for a U.S. Am spot. On the first extra hole his tee shot went into the rough while the other two were in the fairway, and his second shot left him the long putt that he made. “It was a grind all day, and just to finally be done with it after 37 holes, it was just awesome,” Thomas said in a UTC release. The U.S. Amateur is Aug. 14-20 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., near Los Angeles, and Thomas is the first Moc to make the field since Steven Fox won the national championship in 2012. Thomas signed with UTC that fall. “One of the main reasons I chose to come to UTC in the first place was Fox’s win in 2012. It was such a huge accomplishment,” he said. “He earned his spot,” Mocs coach Mark Guhne said of Thomas. “The work he put in all four years … he was not outworked, I can tell you that. To sum up my thoughts on Brooks into a word: proud. Just very, very proud of him and excited to follow him.”

› Sewanee golfers Tommy Oliver and Nic Vandeventer — who prepped at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee and Baylor, respectively — shot a 6-under-par 66 as the Tennessee Four-Ball Championship began Wednesday at The Country Club of Morristown. They are tied for sixth place. The leading duos with 64s are Nick Garretson of Franklin with Jacob Sherlin of Hendersonville and Dan Crockett of Nashville with PJ Smith of Morristown. Area residents Rick Mays and Bob Rice and Richard Spangler with Todd Gerrez are in a group tied for 12th at 68.