SAN FRANCISCO – There’s a shiny new handcrafted silver trophy that sits in a case downstairs at famed Olympic Club, one of only two new trophies commissioned by the U.S. Golf Association in a century.
One problem: There aren’t any names on it.
Monday at Olympic’s Lake Course, first-round matches were staged in the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship (the other new trophy is for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, set to begin Saturday at Bandon Dunes in Oregon). Monday’s Round of 32 at Olympic provided an interesting mix of winners, both young and old.
Among those advancing to Day 2 of match play on Tuesday:
• Medalists Viraat Badhwar and Maverick McNealy, teammates on the Pac-12 champion Stanford Cardinal, who cruised to a 6-and-4 triumph over Michael Affeldt and Erik Ciotti.