Previewing This Week’s Golfweek Myrtle Beach Amateur at Barefoot Resort
By Dylan Hoffman
With their spring 2021 seasons now complete, 73 golfers from 47 schools throughout the nation have descended upon the Grand Strand to compete individually as part of the 2nd Annual Golfweek Myrtle Beach Amateur this week at The Dye Course at Barefoot Resort.
The Golfweek Myrtle Beach Amateur field represents a complete cross-section of college golf’s competitive landscape, including NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NJCAA and NAIA schools, with 50 men and 23 women set to tee it up starting with Wednesday’s first-round action. The 54-hole stroke play event continues through Friday.
Among the event’s top competitors expected to contend is Connor Burgess (Virginia Tech), whose World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) of 618 puts him atop the list of favorites in the men’s field. Burgess’ resume includes his victory at the 2019 Fox Puss Invitational at Boonsboro Country Club with rounds of 66, 65 and 68. He also earned a top-10 finish at the 2019 ACC Championship at the Old North State Club in New London, N.C. (71-69-71). Burgess registered a 73.29 scoring average for the Hokies during the 2021 season.
Burgess is expected to face a strong test from the likes of Herman Wibe Sekne (Purdue), a native of Oslo, Norway with a WAGR ranking of 660. Sekne won the 2020 International Trophy in Norway (64-73-76) and recorded top-10 finishes at the 2021 Kiawah Invitational (70-67-69) and the 2020 Portuguese International Amateur Championship (68-66-69-72). Sekne was also a member of the Norway Junior Team, which won the National Junior Team Championship of Norway in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Another contender with international roots, Patrick Schmucking (Ohio State) from Wiesbaden, Germany, carries a WAGR ranking of 1248. Schmucking won the 2018 Scottish Boys Open Championship (71-72-76) and recorded top-10 finishes at the 2020 GCAA Amateur Series – Michigan (76-69-67), 2020 HNS Amateur Open (72-78-72), 2020 JAGA First Coast Amateur (70-73-73) and 2019 German Match Play. He registered a 75.11 scoring average during his 2019-20 season for the Buckeyes.
The women’s contender field is led by Sekne’s fellow Oslo, Norway native Dorthea Forbrigd (East Carolina), whose WAGR ranking of 95 leads that division. Forbrigd won the 2021 American Championship in Pinehurst, N.C. (71-72-72), 2019 Pirate Collegiate Classic (72-69-69) and the 2019 Garmin Norgescup 4 in Norway (73-72-69-68). She has been ECU’s lowest scoring player, with a 73.13 career stroke average in 47 events for the Pirates to go with 11 top-5 event finishes, 17 top 10s and 30 top-20 finishes throughout her collegiate career.
Forbrigd will be pushed by Phu Khine of Yangon, Myanmar (University of North Carolina – Wilmington). Khine brings a WAGR ranking of 347 into this event, buoyed by victories in the 2021 PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship at TPC Sawgrass (75-67-76), 2020 River Landing Classic (72-76-68), and the 2019 Golfweek Program Challenge in Pawleys Island, S.C. (71-71-67). Khine recorded a UNCW-record 72.90 scoring average during the 2019-20 season, earning First Team All-CAA honors in the process.
Golfweek Myrtle Beach Amateur play begins Wednesday at Barefoot-Dye with tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. and running through 11:06 a.m.
