PINEHURST, N.C. – John Augenstein accomplished one of his goals Sunday.
He was named to the U.S. Walker Cup team.
That was his stated goal before the start of the week, and even though he lost, 2 and 1, to Andy Ogletree in the scheduled 36-hole final of the U.S. Amateur, Augenstein had done enough to impress the USGA committee and earn a spot on the 10-man roster that will compete against Great Britain and Ireland on Sept. 7-8 at Royal Liverpool.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, because I was told about 30 seconds after I lost the match,” Augenstein said. “That’s going to be a dream come true. It’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait.”
Ogletree was automatically added to the team after his breakout victory at Pinehurst. He admitted that making the squad wasn’t even a consideration at the start of the week.
The rest of the team was finalized after the championship match.
The USGA announced that Brandon Wu, Isaiah Salinda, Steven Fisk, John Pak and Alex Smalley will round out the squad, which hasn’t won on foreign soil since 2007. Cole Hammer, Akshay Bhatia and Stewart Hagestad had already been named to the team by virtue of their standing in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Along those left off were former Texas A&M standout Chandler Phillips and incoming Florida freshman Ricky Castillo. They were named first and second alternates, respectively, even though Phillips didn’t take the news well. On Sunday night he tweeted, “Ever(sic) 2 years someone gets boned and I just got the call letting me know I have been chosing(sic) for this award! Lol thanks!”