In many respects, it was unfortunate for the players, fans and championship that Gordon Sargent and Nick Dunlap ended up facing off on Wednesday in the first round of match play in the 123rd US Amateur. Two of the best amateurs in world — Gordon Ranked at No. 1 and Dunlap at No. 9 — ended up meeting so soon, when they were built for what would be a fantastic final, because their seedings put them there.

Sargent, the 2022 NCAA individual champion from Vanderbilt, shot two-under in stroke play to tie for 17th and get the No. 24 seed. Dunlap, a rising sophomore at Alabama and the reigning North & South champion, tied for 38th at one-under and was seeded 41st.

The seedings often are meaningless, but this time the two Alabama natives didn’t get much of a break, and in the end, it was the World No. 1 who suffered the upset at Cherry Hills Country Club outside of Denver. Sargent won the first hole and held a 1-up lead through nine, but Dunlap captured the 10th hole to tie it, took the lead with a birdie at the 11th and won the 14th en route to a 2&1 victory.

“I’m spent, man,” Dunlap, 19, said afterward. “I think this was a match that a lot of people wanted to see. Obviously he’s the No. 1 player in the world for a reason. He’s a hell of a player. Wasn’t expecting any gifts from him. Just kind of throwing punches all day long and see who could withstand them at the end.”

A good-sized crowd gathered to watch the two compete, and the players did feel like the atmosphere was like that of a final.

Moving on

The Round of 32 is set! #USAmateur pic.twitter.com/1an1lmHEdx

— USGA (@USGA) August 17, 2023

“It’s everything that you would kind of imagine. A lot of people on the first tee, entire pond was surrounded on 17. It’s just cool,” said Dunlap, who won the 2021 US Junior. “This is why I practise, to go head-to-head with somebody like Gordon. It’s an honour, and like I said, it’s why I do what I do.”

The victory continues an impressive summer for Dunlap. He won the Northeast Amateur and the next week captured one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious amateur titles in the North & South. Dunlap also qualified for the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club, where he missed the cut.

Sargent, 20 and rising junior at Vanderbilt, was having his own strong year, including posting the best amateur score in the US Open and tying for 39th. He rose to No. 1 in the world in February and during his WAGR qualifying period, Sargent has posted 21 top-10s, including four victories.

Sargent and Dunlap grew up not far from each other in Huntsville, Alabama, and competed in plenty of junior tournaments together. But in a testament to their rivalry, they have not been close off the course.

“I don’t know about him, there’s maybe a mutual respect of game between us two, growing up in the same hometown,” Dunlap said. “I think we’ve always been pushed against each other, and it wasn’t until three or four days ago where it got a little bit closer. And like I said, I’ve got a lot of respect for him and looking forward to teaming up with him in about three, four weeks.”

That would be playing for the US in the Walker Cup against Great Britain & Ireland. Both have been chosen for the competition that will be played on the Old Course at St Andrews, September 2-3. They’ll get plenty of time to bond then.

In another notable match, the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga’s Bryce Lewis, whose caddie was 2012 US Amateur champion Steven Fox, was beaten by 2&1 by the University of Florida’s Parker Bell.

The round of 32 will be played in the morning on Thursday, followed by the Round of 16 in the afternoon.

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It’s fairly unusual for an amateur to command enough hype to equal the pros, but in Sargent’s case, it’s probably justified. Using official terminology, Sargent absolutely rips the golf ball.

“Power and finesse, it’s very rare that a player has both,” Brandel Chamblee said. “It’s incredible.”

Who is Gordon Sargent?

Sargent is a sophomore at Vanderbilt University who has been, in Chamblee’s words, “dominating” at the collegiate level. In his 19 starts so far, he’s notched four wins and 17 top 10s. He won the NCAA national championship as a freshman, and now, he’s at the Masters — and is odds-on to finish as the low amateur in the field.

How far does Gordon Sargent hit the ball?

Super far. Just ask Max Homa, who played a practice round with Sargent:

“He hits it 95 miles. He was so far by us it’s crazy,” Homa says. “He’s a phenomenal golfer. Really nice kid. He doesn’t look like he’s going at it that hard. I’ve heard so many good things about his game. It was probably even more impressive to see him in person.”

Anecdotally, I can vouch. I watched him for a few holes during his other practice round, alongside Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, and he was consistently about 25 yards past them. Digging into some hard numbers, his drives on the range this week have hovered consistently in the 185 mph ball-speed range, which would be around the top five on the PGA Tour. He seems to move a little faster on the course though: During his NCAA victory, he was routinely clocked hovering in the low-to-mid 190s mph ball speed, with one drive that went close to 400 yards.

During his practice rounds, he said the longest iron he had after a driver into a par 4 was a 9-iron, and he hit a 6-iron into the lengthened 13th hole.

“I think if you’re hitting driver well, there’s no point in not hitting it,” he says.

It’ll become clearer as the week goes on, but it all equates to an average — with his driver — of something in the 350 yard range.

How does he do it? He’s an explosive athlete, and one who moves the club from wide-to-narrow in transition for maximum speed.

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Augusta National Golf Club announced that amateur Gordon Sargent and Japan Tour pro Kazuki Higa will play in this year’s tournament. Both will be making their Masters debuts.

Sargent, a Vanderbilt sophomore, is the reigning NCAA champion. He turned heads last May, not only by winning the individual title as a freshman, but by registering a staggering 194-mph ball speed off the tee on the final hole of regulation.

Sargent, 19, is the first amateur to accept a special invitation to the Masters since Aaron Baddeley in 2000. The Masters traditionally invites the reigning US Amateur champion and runner-up, along with the winners of the British Amateur, US Mid-Amateur, Asia-Pacific Amateur and Latin America Amateur. The reigning NCAA champion has not received the same treatment, but perhaps this is a sign that that might change moving forward.

Higa, 27, has six career wins on the Japan Golf Tour, including four victories in 2022 when he finished first on the tour’s Order of Merit. He is currently No. 68 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

There are now 80 golfers who have qualified and expected to compete at the 87th Masters, which is scheduled April 6-9. The field will be filled out by anyone winning a PGA Tour event before then that awards full FedEx Cup points, the top 50 in the OWGR the week before the Masters and the 2023 Latin America Amateur champion, with the event scheduled for next week.

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