WILMINGTON, North Carolina – UNCW men's golfer Gray Mitchum has earned entry into the 2025 United States Amateur Championship after qualifying for the event at the nearby Eagle Point Golf Club on Monday.
Mitchum fired a five-under par 67 score with six birdies to finish in a share of third place in the U.S. Amateur Final Qualifying Round at Eagle Point, one of 19 different final qualifying sites across the country. The rising senior was one of 14 golfers (along with two alternates) to punch their tickets to the Amateur Championship at the Olympic Club's Lake Course in San Francisco, Calif., from Aug. 11-17.
"It's an honor to qualify for the Amateur Championship," said Mitchum. "I just tried to hit as many fairways and greens as possible and let my putter go to work. I did my best to really minimize the bogeys and big numbers, birdie the par fives and the short par fours and just hone in on the controllables.
"I'm grateful to my coaches and everyone who has encouraged me to this point. I look forward to competing in California among the nation's top players.
A native of Greenville, N.C., Mitchum earned All-Coastal Athletic Association honors in May after averaging a 72.3 score across 33 rounds this season.
Mitchum, the CAA's fifth-ranked men's golfer according to the Clippd rankings at the time of awards, fashioned three top 10 finishes highlighted by a share of seventh place at the 2025 CAA Championships. Mitchum also finished top 10 at the SeaBest Intercollegiate (9th) and helped the Seahawks win the Seahawk Intercollegiate with a fourth-place individual result.
"We couldn't be more excited and proud of Gray for punching his ticket to his first U.S. Amateur. Gray is a special young man who we've enjoyed helping level up his game over the last several years to be able to play with the best in the country," said UNCW Head Coach Daniel Bowden. "Gray has already gained valuable experience this summer, being in contention to win two of the top amateur events in the southeast and shooting a course record at Pinehurst last week.
"Gray deserves this success for all the work he has put in and we can't wait to watch him make his U.S. Amateur debut soon. I'm also extremely proud to say this will be the fourth consecutive U.S. Amateur Championship with a Seahawk in the field!"
Mitchum runs UNCW's streak of U.S. Amateur qualifiers to four straight years after former CAA Golfer of the Year Walker Isley earned three straight berths from 2022-24 and rising senior James Rico qualified in 2023 and 2024.
First played in 1895, the U.S. Amateur is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States, organized by the United States Golf Association. The Amateur returns to the Olympic Club for the fourth time, having previously hosted the 1958, 1981 and 2007 events.
The Amateur champion receives a gold medal, custody of the Havemeyer Trophy for one year, as well as likely invitations to the U.S. Open, Open Championship and Masters Championship, provided the winner maintains their amateur status.
Previous Amateur Champions include Bobby Jones (1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930), Arnold Palmer (1954), Jack Nicklaus (1959, 1961), Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1994, 1995, 1996), Bryson DeChambeau (2015) and 2024 champion Jose Luis Ballester.
