Rayan Ahmed is ready to give his ‘heart and soul’ at the upcoming US Amateur Championship as he is set to become the first player from the United Arab Emirates to ever compete in the event.
Ahmed, 17, has spent the last few weeks in America playing in some of golf’s most prestigious amateur events, such as the Junior PGA Championship and the US Junior Amateur Championship.
Now, he’s now set to take the next step after also qualifying for the prestigious US Amateur Championship at Hazeltine later this month.
Ahmed secured his spot in the championship – an event won three times by Tiger Woods – after coming through Final Qualifying at Columbine Country Club in Denver, Colorado.
“I reached the Columbine Country Club a few days before the final qualifying and worked on all aspects of my game, especially the short game,” Ahmed told Worldwide Golf.
“The course is a historical venue of many PGA Tour events and is a tight, tree lined track playing over 7535 yards with extremely undulating greens.
“The first adaptation for me was to adapt to the elevation of Denver. The ball was flying longer. My 7 iron would carry 200 yards. It’s not necessarily a good problem to have, and then I had to contend with the green running at 13 on the stimpmeter.
“I started the tournament knowing fully well the strength of the field, composed of top college golfers. Yet I took the confidence from my practice rounds to shoot a well worked three under 69 and win the qualifying as the medallist.
“The chance to play the famous Hazeltine as a medallist, a course we recently saw in the epic duel in Ryder Cup 2016 between Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy is truly a dream come true.
“Now I have a week to calibrate, plan and think, as I move to Chaska, Minnesota, for the grandest event of my young career; the US Amateur at Hazeltine.
“One thing is for certain, Rayan Ahmed will be teeing off as the first player from UAE in the US Amateur and he will be giving his heart and soul to perform the best.”
The US Amateur Championship is the oldest USGA Championship dating back to 1895, and the 2024 edition is set to get underway August 12.
You can follow Rayan’s progress on the USGA website throughout the week by clicking here.
