Willow Brook Country Club is the site of the 113th Texas Amateur, which begins on Thursday.

In its celebration of its centennial, Willow Brook Country Club is hosting the Texas Amateur Golf Tournament this week.

The 113th Texas Amateur, conducted by the Texas Golf Association since 1906, begins on Thursday and continues through Sunday.

“The TGA is thrilled to return the Texas Amateur to Willow Brook Country Club,” Chris Untiedt, TGA Senior Tournament Director, said. “To have the opportunity to continue our long-standing relationship with Willow Brook and to conduct our oldest championship at a club that has been a proud supporter of the amateur game is truly special.”

The first wave of golfers will begin play at 7:30 a.m. Thursday on hole Nos. 1 and 10 with the second wave starting at 12:30 p.m. The event is open to the public.

This will be the second Texas Amateur and ninth overall TGA championship to be contested at the East Texas club.

The last time the Texas Amateur was played at Willow Brook Country Club was in 1964. Marty Fleckman of Port Arthur won the title that year with a 2-and-1 victory in the final match against Richard Yates. It was also the last Texas Amateur conducted as a match-play championship before switching to a stroke-play format.

In the years that followed, Willow Brook has hosted two Women’s Texas Amateurs (1967, 1996), three Texas Senior Amateurs (1993, 2003 and 2013) and most recently, the 2019 Texas Shootout and 2020 Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play.

“Willow Brook has a long history of hosting prominent state championships, and we are very excited to have the opportunity to host the 113th Texas Amateur during our 100th Anniversary,” Chris Hudson, Willow Brook’s Director of Golf, said. “Willow Brook has always been a huge supporter of the TGA, and the membership and staff are very much looking forward to providing the players with a truly memorable experience.”

The TGA accepted 982 entries for this year’s tourney, three shy of the record of 985 established in 2021.

A total of 44 players were officially awarded exemptions to the championship. To determine the remaining 100 spots in the 144-player starting field, 18-hole qualifiers were held at 14 sites across the state from April 2-June 6.

Defending champion and University of Houston senior Austyn Reily of Pottsboro leads the list of amateurs entered. Last year at Midland Country Club, Reily won by a stroke over Jake Doggett of Hutto. He will look to defend his title and become the first player to win back-to-back championships in nearly 20 years (Richmond’s Ryan Baca won consecutive titles in 2002-03).

Along with Reily, Doggett returns this year. Other top finishers from last year competing include: Clayton King of Uvalde (4th), Michael Heidelbaugh of Dallas and Chris Berzina of Fort Worth (T5), and Shaheen Momin of Sugar Land (T7).

East Texas linksters competing include Tyler’s Aaron Hickman, Tyler’s Clay Hodge, Tyler’s Colton Cavender, Tyler’s Rory Smith, Longview’s Lake Juban, former Tylerite Jeffrey Juillerat of Dallas, Gun Barrel City’s Joshua German and former Tyler resident Bobby Massa of Dallas.

Among the other notable players who will be playing are a number of recent TGA statewide and regional champions — Aaron Pounds of The Woodlands (2021 Texas Junior Amateur), Jason Schultz of Allen (2021 North Texas Amateur), Padden Nelson of Houston (2021 South Texas Amateur), Garrett Leek of Brock (2021 West Texas Amateur), Gary Durbin of Houston (2019, ’21 Texas Senior Amateur), Frederick Janneck of Fort Worth (2021 Texas Mid-Amateur), Ryan O’Rear of Leander (2020 Texas Mid-Amateur), and host club member Hickman (2020 Texas Mid-Amateur Match Play).

The tourney is 72-hole individual stroke play (walking-only). All contestants play 18 holes on Thursday and Friday. After 36 holes the field will be cut to the low 54 scores and ties heading into the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.

NOTES: Nine former Texas Amateur champions have combined for 57 wins on the PGA Tour: Ben Crenshaw (1972), 19; Bruce Lietzke (1971), 13; Mark Brooks (1979, 1981), 7; Scott Verplank (1982, 1984-85), 5; Bob Estes (1988), 4; Charles Coody (1959), 3; Earl Stewart Jr. (1947), 3; Don Massengale (1958), 2; and Marty Fleckman (1964), 1.