# Three Wildcats Heading to U.S. Amateur at Merion and Philadelphia Country Club **Published:** 2026-08-09T15:21:38.000Z **Source:** [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/08/09/kentucky-mens-golf-runs-three-deep-at-2026-u-s-amateur/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/three-wildcats-heading-to-u-s-amateur-at-merion-and-philadelphia-country-club Three University of Kentucky men's golfers will compete in the 126th U.S. Amateur this week at two of the nation's most prestigious courses. Gabriel Hull, Jacob Lang and Cole Stockard earned their spots in the 312-player field through qualifying rounds, according to [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/08/09/kentucky-mens-golf-runs-three-deep-at-2026-u-s-amateur/). The championship runs Aug. 10-16 at Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club in the Philadelphia area. The tournament features 36 holes of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday, with the top 64 competitors advancing to match play at Merion beginning Wednesday. Hull qualified by tying for medalist honors at final qualifying in West Palm Beach, Lang earned his berth with a 2-under round at Ohio State's Scarlet Course, and Stockard prevailed in a playoff at Rivermont Golf Club in Georgia. Hull, a recent transfer from Division II Emmanuel University, brings immediate success to the Wildcat program. He collected two wins and five top-five finishes as a freshman, earning Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year honors. Lang is a junior entering his second season of competition at the Division I level after becoming the first Kentucky golfer to compete at the NCAA National Championship since the team qualified in 2018. Stockard made an even bigger impact in his freshman year, joining an exclusive group of Kentucky golfers by winning twice—a feat not accomplished by a Wildcat freshman since J.B. Holmes in the 2001-02 season. The Dalton, Georgia native led the team with a 71.59 scoring average and posted 15 rounds under par during the 2025-26 season. This summer, he notched top-10 finishes at the Georgia Amateur Championship and Monroe Invitational. Live scoring for the stroke play rounds is available on the [USGA website](https://www.usga.org/). The match play portion will be broadcast on NBC networks beginning Wednesday. ## Sources - [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/08/09/kentucky-mens-golf-runs-three-deep-at-2026-u-s-amateur/) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from UK Athletics, enriched with 1 web search. The original source is available at https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/08/09/kentucky-mens-golf-runs-three-deep-at-2026-u-s-amateur/.