PINEHURST, N.C. — Prior to Wednesday, Matt Hill considered his best amateur moment as his victory at the Hootie at Bulls Bay in April as an N.C. State freshman.

With a 1-up victory over highly-decorated Jamie Lovemark in the opening round of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club's No. 2 course, that may have all changed.

"Pretty awesome," said Hill of the victory. "It was just the way I finished and everything. And to have all my teammates around supporting me that makes it that much more special."

Hill, 19, of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, won the first hole and held that advantage until  Lovemark, 20, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., won the par-5 10th with an eagle and then the par-4 11th to erase Hill's 2-up lead and square the match.

From there, it was nip and tuck. Lovemark birdied the par-4 13th for this first lead, only to bogey the par-4 14th to square

PINEHURST, N.C. — Based on Jordan Walor’s enthusiasm, hard to tell was that he turned in an 8-over 148 score during match play qualifying at the U.S. Amateur Championship and was exiting well before the cut score would be announced.

“Nah, I’m outta here,” said Waler, of Wake Forest.

Walor would have enjoyed sticking around a few more days, but he also had a good reason for leaving. He was headed down the road to check in at UNC-Pembroke for his freshman year.

But he was at least leaving with some great memories.

“First time trying to qualify and I got in,” said Walor, who played scholastically at Wake Forest-Rolesville High. “It was a blast. It was unbelievable.”

After an opening-round 2-over 72 on the No. 4 course Monday, Walor followed with a 6-over 76 in his first trip around No. 2.

“I really wanted to shoot even par,

PINEHURST, N.C. — Barden Berry arrived at the 108th U.S. Amateur Championship with few, if any, expectations.

A former University of North Carolina player, Berry's college eligibility is up. He has no plans to play professionally, instead looking to apply to medical school and go a different professional route.

In fact, he really had not thought about attempting to qualify for the U.S. Amateur, but did so because he thought he might get "bored" from a summer without competitive golf.

So Berry, of Kinston, goes out Monday morning and throws an opening-round 2-under 68 back in the face of the No. 2 course and at day's end was just one stroke off the lead held by Wesley Bryan and Andrew Putnam.

"It feels great," he said. "It was a fun day with my dad on the bag and my mom walking along. I hit a lot of good shots and made some putts. It was nice to have a good round on No. 2."

The round sets him up to possibly

EUGENE, ORE. — Lauren Doughtie was not in the best of moods. And rightfully so.

It was early Tuesday afternoon and she had finished her second round at the U.S. Women’s Amateur with a triple bogey seven on her final hole. The 7 rose her 36-hole match play qualifying score to 6-over 150. At the time, Doughtie was sitting precariously on the cutline.

"I was doing great until the last hole, and that may have cost me," said Doughtie, who lost her drive on the ninth, her 18th, in the tall trees guarding fairway. "I'm not a patient person and certainly won't be now after that finish. If I just make par, or even bogey, I think I'm [under the cut line], but now I have to wait. And it's not going to be fun."

As the hours passed, though, Doughtie moved safely inside the cut line and into the 64-player match play field at Eugene Country Club. The came at 8-over 152.

Doughtie, an

The 106th North and South Women’s Amateur Championship will begin on Monday at Pinehurst No. 2 and 8 courses.

A 36-hole match play qualifier will be played Monday and Tuesday, followed by six rounds of match play featuring the top 63 players from the qualifier and reigning champion Alison Walshe, who is exempt from qualifying and will be the No. 1 seed.
Walshe defeated 2006 champion Jenny Suh 3 and 2 in last year’s championship match.

Also returning to one of the most prestigious amateur championships for women is rising Auburn junior Candace Schepperle, who captured medalists honors in 2007. Other top names in the field include All-ACC golfer Jennie Lee of Duke, rising University of Alabama senior and all-SEC selection Kathleen Ekey and recent University