Tyler Strafaci keeps family legacy alive by winning the U.S. Amateur

Tyler Strafaci brings the U.S. Amateur trophy back to Georgia Tech

The Strafaci name is already a famous one in the annals of American amateur golf.

Frank Strafaci was a leading amateur in the first half of the 20th century. He won the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst in 1938 and 1939, and the Amateur Public Links in 1935. He finished in the top-10 at the U.S. Open in 1937 and played against Arnold Palmer when Palmer won the U.S. Amateur in 1954.

His grandson, Tyler, never met his grandfather, who died a decade before he was born. But, on Sunday at a foggy Bandon Dunes in Oregon, he continued the legacy Frank began all those decades ago by winning the biggest prize in amateur golf.

Strafaci, a senior at Georgia Tech, defeated SMU’s  Charles ‘Ollie’ Osborne 1-up in their 36-hole matchup in the final of the 120th U.S. Amateur. The 22-year-old birdied the par-5 18th after reaching the green in two shots and clinched the title when Osborne’s birdie putt to halve the hole stayed out to the right.

Strafaci shouldn’t even have been playing this week. The Davie, Florida native planned to turn pro earlier this year before the COVID-19 wiped out Georgia Tech’s season, affording him another year of eligibility. He made the most of his prolonged amateur career, winning the North and South Amateur in July, the same tournament his grandfather won more than 80 years earlier.

Frank never won the U.S. Amateur; his best result was reaching the quarter-finals in both 1947 and 1949. Nor did he ever make the U.S. Walker Cup team. Tyler now gets to do both. His grandfather isn’t around to see him play, but somehow lifting the Havemeyer Trophy on Sunday helped Strafaci feel a special connection with him.

“To win the U.S. Am is something that’s the pinnacle of amateur golf,” he said on Sunday, the gold medal around his neck. “It’s something that, as a kid, I’ve been watching this tournament every Sunday before school started and we would always sit down…and just watch history happen. And to do this and join such great USGA champions, it means a lot.”

“I feel that brings me a little closer to my grandfather. I never met him. Always wanted to meet him. It brings us closer.”

Strafaci also shares a connection with another U.S. Amateur champion. He’s roommates at Georgia Tech with last year’s winner, Andy Ogletree, and while Ogletree didn’t make it past the stroke-play portion this week, he was still cheering on his fellow Yellow Jacket from Georgia.

With the win, Strafaci earns a spot in the U.S. Open for the second time (he missed the cut at Shinnecock Hills in 2018). And he’ll get to play in The Masters next April, living in the Crow’s Nest above the Augusta National clubhouse with the other amateur qualifiers. Frank stayed there in 1950, one more connection between grandfather and grandson separated by several decades but never closer than on Sunday.