Fort Collins’ Gavin Hagstrom, future CU golfer Parker Paxton qualify in Wyoming for U.S. Amateur that Cherry Hills and Colorado GC will host
By Gary Baines – 7/3/2023
A total of 312 players will compete in the U.S. Amateur Aug. 14-20 at Cherry Hills Country Club — along with Colorado Golf Club in Parker during the stroke-play portion of the championship Aug. 14-15. And there’s a good chance the field will include more than a few Coloradans and others with ties to the Centennial State.
On Monday, that part of the field began taking shape.
At a 36-hole qualifiers in Laramie, Wyo., two of those who punched their tickets from the field of 84 were Gavin Hagstrom of Fort Collins and University of Colorado commit Parker Paxton.
With three players advancing to the U.S. Am from the site, Hagstrom and three-time Wyoming state high school champion Paxton joined Cooper Jones of Highland, Utah — an incoming Brigham Young University golfer — in earning spots in the national championship.
For Hagstrom, it will be his second straight year competing in the U.S. Am after he earned medalist honors in qualifying at Columbine Country Club in 2022. Hagstrom recently announced on Instagram that after three years of playing for Colorado State, he’s headed to the University of Minnesota.
On Monday, Hagstrom posted rounds of 67-71 at Jacoby Golf Course for a 4-under-par total. That tied him with Paxton, who went 69-69.
For the two rounds, Hagstrom posted nine birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. Paxton carded nine birdies and five bogeys.
Jones recorded eight birdies and three bogeys en route to rounds of 69-68 for a 5-under total and medalist honors.
Three Colorado-based U.S. Amateur qualifiers will be held this month: Thursday at Columbine Country Club, July 18 at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora and July 25 at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins
For all the scores from U.S. Am qualifying in Laramie, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com