Three Buff Golfers
Qualify for U.S. Amateur

BOULDER, CO (August 8, 2001) - Three University of Colorado golfers have qualified for the U.S. Amateur later this month, the most Buffaloes competing in a single year in quite some time.

Seniors Ben Portie and Matthew Zions and freshman transfer Mike Brenneman will represent the Buffaloes in Atlanta, Ga., the home of East Lake Golf Club and the site of this year's 101st Annual U.S. Amateur competition.

Portie recorded a pair of 69s for a 138 total at the par-72 Murphy Creek Golf Club in Aurora, tying for second in the final regional stage of qualifying. Zions shot 73-68-141 and won a three-man playoff to earn the final spot. Brenneman tied for fourth at Quintero Golf & Country Club (also par-72) in Peoria, Ariz., with a 74-71-145 effort, seven strokes behind medalist Hong-Wei Chang of Taipei.

• Discuss this story at GolfBoards.com • Past RockiesGolf.com News and Notes

"I'm obviously very pleased and happy for the guys," CU head coach Mark Simpson said. "Where it helps the program is that these three guys get one more tournament on a national basis, and that happens to come in the form of the ultimate amateur tournament in the world."

"The experience that they will get from this comes back in many intangible ways, such as knowing what it takes to compete at the highest level, and then comparing what scores they shoot with what other top amateurs scored. And if they can qualify out of stroke play and then advance a few matches, it becomes even a greater experience and their confidence can begin to grow. These three guys now have an opportunity to do that," he says.

It's the second time for both Zions and Portie, as Zions played at Pebble Beach in 1999 and Portie at Baltusrol (Springfield, N.J.) last summer. Zions missed advancing by five strokes, while Portie also did not advance into match play.

Brenneman is a redshirt freshman at CU, transferring to the Buff program from Virginia Tech, where he did not play as a true frosh in 2000-01. He prepped in both Maryland (Bethesda Chevy Chase High, three years) and Phoenix (Arcadia, his senior season) and will be eligible to play this fall for CU.