Final Four Run

Former CSU golfer Bryce Hanstad falls after making it to semifinals of U.S. Mid-Amateur

By Gary Baines – 9/16/2022

The run by Bryce Hanstad at the U.S. Mid-Amateur certainly lasted longer than the former Colorado State University golfer expected.

That was partly due to weather issues at the championship and partly to Hanstad’s outstanding performance.

But his run came to an end on Friday morning in the semifinals at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.

Hugh Foley of Ireland defeated Hanstad in the semis, 3 and 2, in a championship that started with 264 competitors.

Hanstad, a 35-year-old resident of Edina, Minn., never led against Foley. The players tied the first hole with bogeys and the second with pars, then Foley won three straight holes (3-5) by going birdie-par-birdie.

Three times — on holes 7, 10 and 15 — Hanstad narrowed the deficit to 2 down, only have to have Foley return to 3 up in short order. The Irishman closed things out on No. 16 with a winning par. Hanstad finished 3 over par for 16 holes, while Foley was even.

“I just didn’t feel crisp today,” Hanstad said. “I don’t know if I ran out of energy or what, but not quite sharp today, which is a little disappointing. It’s been an incredible week.”

By being a semifinalist, Hanstad earned an exemption into the next two U.S. Mid-Ams.

Hanstad was a two-time All-Mountain West Conference player (2008 and ’10) while at CSU from 2006-10. Individually, he won the 2008 Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the Air Force Academy. After college, he turned pro, but regained his amateur status in 2013. 

Hanstad was playing in his second U.S. Mid-Am, 2018 being the other. This year, among the opponents he beat in match play was one of the stroke-play co-medalists, Jeff Shuman, in the round of 32. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Andrew Paysse, brother-in-law of 2022 PGA Tour Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler.

For all the results from the U.S. Mid-Amateur, CLICK HERE.