No. 3-Ranked Bennett Edges No. 8 Menante In U.S. Am Semifinal

Paramus, N.J. – Sam Bennett, a fifth-year senior at Texas A&M made a birdie on the 17^th hole to defeat University of North Carolina senior Dylan Menante 1 up Saturday in the first of two semifinal matches in the 122^nd United States Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club.
 
Menante, No. 8 player in the World Amateur Rankings, had tied the match with consecutive wins on the 14^th and 15^th holes before Bennett, the No. 3 ranked amateur in the world, regained the lead on the next-to-last hole.
 
Bennett never trailed in the match, taking 1 up leads on the third and sixth holes and a 2 up lead with wins on the 10^th and 12^th. Menante narrowly missed winning two holes on the front nine, once when his ball hung on the edge of the cup and another time when his putt lipped out.
 
Bennett will play Georgia Southern’s Ben Carr in Sunday’s 36-hole championship match.
 
Menante will begin his first season at UNC after playing three years at Pepperdine. He started on the Waves’ 2021 NCAA championship team and was a two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year.
 
This was the second consecutive year a Tar Heel advanced to at least the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur. Austin Greaser, a senior at UNC, was the runnerup a year ago.
 
Carolina begins its 2022-23 season Sept. 4-5 in the Fighting Irish Classic at Notre Dame.