ORLANDO – The latest addition to the UCF men's golf team, Luis Carrera, has qualified to this year's United States Amateur Championship after winning the 36-hole Mexico City qualifier with an 8-under 136 score.
Carrera turned in a 71(-1) first round before securing his spot at the top of the leaderboard with a 65(-7) round two on Tuesday.
The 121st U.S. Amateur Championship will be played from August 9-15 at Oakmont Country Club in Verona, Pennsylvania and will be broadcasted live on one of NBC, Golf Channel, or Peacock.
The champion will receive a gold medal, as well as exemptions from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Amateurs, the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club, the 2022 Open Championship, conducted by the R&A (must be an amateur) and a likely invitation into the 2022 Masters Tournament (must be an amateur).
Notable past U.S. Amateur champions include Jack Nicklaus (1959, 1961), Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1994, 1995, 1996), Bryson DeChambeau (2015) and more.
A Mexico City native, Carrera comes to UCF from Sam Houston State University, where he was a three-year member of the Bearkats' men's golf team. Carrera will enter the 2021-22 season with two years of eligibility remaining as he plans on taking full advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a junior at Sam Houston in 2020-21, Carrera played in eight events. His 72.54 scoring average was a career-high and second on the team. He shined in the postseason for the Bearkats, finishing T-16 in the NCAA Stillwater Regional after shooting 77-68-73=218(+2) before shooting a 4-under 284 in the NCAA National Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz., to place T-22.
Carrera currently owns a World Amateur Golf Ranking of 397 and is the No. 1 ranked player from Mexico. He became the latest addition to the UCF Men's Golf 2021 class on June 30.
The 2021 U.S. Amateur schedule of play is as follows:
Monday, Aug. 9 (18 holes, stroke play)
Tuesday, Aug. 10 (18 holes, stroke play)
Wednesday, Aug. 11 (Round of 64, match play)
Thursday, Aug. 12 (Round of 32/Round of 16 matches)
Friday, Aug. 13 (Quarterfinal matches)
Saturday, Aug. 14 (Semifinal matches)
Sunday, Aug. 15 (36-hole championship match)
Carrera Qualifies to U.S. Amateur
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