BANDON, Ore. — Tyler Strafaci and Charles Osborne advanced to the U.S. Amateur final Saturday at Bandon Dunes to earn spots next year in the Masters and U.S. Open.
Strafaci, the rising Georgia Tech senior from Davie, Florida, beat Oklahoma State’s Aman Gupta 1 up after losing a four-hole lead on the back nine. Osborne, the rising SMU junior from Reno, Nevada, topped UNC-Charlotte’s Matthew Sharpstene 4 and 2.
The winner Sunday on the seaside course will get a spot in The Open in 2021.
Strafaci is trying to become the second straight Georgia Tech player to win the Havemeyer Trophy, following Andy Ogletree. Strafaci’s grandfather, Frank Strafaci, won the 1935 U.S. Amateur Public Links.
Strafaci won the par-5 18th when Gupta ran a bogey putt well past and conceded.
Strafaci raced to a 3-up lead, winning the par-4 first with a par, the par-4 fourth with a birdie and the par-4 fifth with a par. Gupta won the par-4 eighth with a par, and Strafaci took the par-5 ninth and par-4 10th with birdies to open the 4-up lead.
Gupta won the par-5 13th with his first birdie of the day, took the par-3 15th with a double bogey after Strafaci made a triple bogey, and cut the deficit to one with a birdie win on the par-4 16th. He pulled even with a par win on the par-4 17th after Strafaci drove into a pot bunker.
Gupta, from Concord, North Carolina, got into the field as an alternate last week when second-ranked Ricky Castillo withdrew.
Osborne and Sharpstene started slowly with three straight holes won with pars, with Osborne taking the fifth, and Sharpstene the par-3 sixth and par-4 seventh for a 1-up lead. Osborne took Nos. 8 and 9 with birdies and opened a 2-up lead with a par win on the par-4 11th.
Sharpstene, who recently transferred from West Virginia to Charlotte, won the par-3 12th with a birdie. Osborne took the par-5 13th and par-4 14th with birdies and ended the match with a par win on the par-4 16th.