August 8, 2024 | David Shefter, USGA
Greg Berthelot has stared down hundreds – if not thousands – of 6-foot putts during his competitive golf career that spans nearly three decades. But the 72 inches he faced on the 72nd hole of the Louisiana Golf Association’s Amateur, on a sweltering early June Sunday afternoon at the Country Club of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, had an entirely different feel.
A previous two-time champion of the state’s premier amateur competition, Berthelot knew the stakes were even higher this time around. Making matters worse? He carried what appeared to be an insurmountable lead into the final hole of the four-day event, only to see a series of mistakes put a third title in jeopardy. Adding pressure to this moment was the fact that, for the first time, the LGA Am champ would get an exemption into the 124th U.S. Amateur Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in Chaska, Minn., a competition Berthelot had yet to experience.
“That didn’t enter my mind,” said Berthelot of the perk. “It was more, are you really going to do this? I got over this 6-footer and told myself you’ve made thousands of these … just make it so you don’t have to go to a playoff. It’s so hot in Louisiana in the summer. I don’t want to be out here [in the heat] anymore.”
Berthelot’s putt was center cut as he edged collegian Jarrod Johnson by one stroke to punch his ticket to Minnesota. This will be the second USGA championship for the reinstated amateur, as he advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2019 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Bandon Dunes alongside retired NFL defensive tackle and fellow Louisiana native Kyle Williams.
Berthelot, 35, of Baton Rouge, joined 51 other unique winners of state/Allied Golf Association amateur competitions to garner this new U.S. Amateur exemption category that the USGA created. Austin Barbin, of Elkton, Md., actually qualified twice, winning both the Maryland Amateur and Golf Association of Philadelphia Amateur.
The U.S. Junior, U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Amateur were the first four championships targeted for this new exemption category, which elevates state-level competitions and hopefully, elevates the strength of fields across the country.
David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.
Photo Credit: (USGA/Steven Gibbons)
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