Olympia Fields hosting top golfers at U.S. Amateur this week

The best touring pros concluded their major championships on Sunday at the PGA Championship. Now the top amateurs will contest their biggest event.

The 115th U.S. Amateur begins a seven-day run on Monday at Olympia Fields Country Club. It's the oldest American golf championship, one day older than the U.S. Open.

The event has 312 starters, most of whom earned their place in the field at 97 qualifying sessions held around the country. The starters included 262 from the United States, 12 of them from Illinois. Twenty-two other countries are represented in the field.

Each starter will play 18 holes on Olympia's North and South courses during the first two days of the tournament. The South, site of the 2003 U.S. Open among other major championships, will be the site of the entire match play portion of the event.

Stroke play will be contested on Monday and Tuesday. Then the field will be cut to 64 players. They'll begin the match play portion on Wednesday with the 36-hole championship match concluding the tournament on Sunday.

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