PINEHURST, N.C. (Aug. 11, 2019) – For only the second time in Oklahoma Christian golf history, the Eagles will have a player competing in the prestigious U.S. Amateur Championship when it starts Monday.

Rising junior Andres Brictson, the reigning Heartland Conference individual champion, will tee off at 12:54 p.m. Central time off Course No. 4 at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, one of two courses on which the tournament will be contested.

Of the 7,191 entries for this year's U.S. Amateur, Brictson is among only 312 to make it to the final site. Those players will play one round each on both Course No. 4 and Pinehurst's famed Course No. 2, the renowned Donald Ross design that was restored by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in 2011. After those 36 holes of stroke play, the field will be trimmed to 64 players for match play.

The first five rounds of match play – through the semifinals – will be played on Course No. 2 from Wednesday through Saturday. The 36-hole championship match will be contested over two courses for the first time. Scheduled for next Sunday, it will open with the morning round on Course No. 4, which was recently redesigned by Gil Hanse. The afternoon round will be played on Course No. 2.

Brictson will be grouped with Tyler Wilkes, a rising high school senior from Tampa, Fla., and James Nicholas, who just finished his senior season at Yale. For Tuesday's round on Pinehurst No. 2, that trio will tee off at 7:39 a.m. Central time.

Brictson arrived at Pinehurst on Friday and spent the weekend playing practice rounds on the two courses.

"We're very excited to see Andres get the opportunity to play against the best amateurs in the world," OC coach David Lynn said. "He will represent OC very well over the next week."

Brictson, from Merida, Mexico, finished second in a sectional qualifier played last month at Club Campestre de la Ciudad de México in Mexico City, to earn his spot at Pinehurst.

He had an outstanding sophomore season this spring for the Eagles, winning twice, recording a stroke average of 72.82 over 33 rounds and earning All-Heartland Conference first-team honors while helping his team qualify for the NCAA Division II South Central-West Super Regional.

His first collegiate win came in March in the St. Edward's Invitational at Onion Creek Club's North Course in Austin, Texas. In April at the Heartland Conference Championship, Brictson shot 13-under over three rounds at Slick Rock Golf Course in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, then won a three-man playoff to earn medalist honors. Brictson played two bogey-free rounds during the conference tournament.

The U.S. Amateur has enjoyed an illustrious history of great champions, including Bob Jones, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. Last year's champion, former Oklahoma State star Viktor Hovland, just turned pro after finishing tied for 12th at the U.S. Open in June.

The only other OC player ever to qualify for the U.S. Amateur is current Korn Ferry Tour pro Rhein Gibson, who made the field in 2006. Gibson will be back on the PGA Tour during the 2019-20 season.