The 123rd Amateur Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club made history. It produced the only champion not named Tiger Woods to have also won the U.S. Junior Amateur. But beyond Nick Dunlap’s victory, the tournament also established new precedents for the USGA’s oldest championship.
Traditionally a low-attendance event, the Amateur at Cherry Hills smashed records for attendance and ticket sales, as nearly 13,000 people attended, generating almost $200,000 in ticket revenue—figures that exceeded the previous year’s totals by a multiple of four. Additionally, during Amateur week, more than 2,000 kids participated in the Junior Experience at the club’s pool area, where they received golf lessons; heard about youth golf programs and careers in golf; experienced golf-themed STEM activities; and learned about scholarships and the many doors golf can open.
To help open those doors, the event awarded an unprecedented $2.35 million—generated by the contributions from 77 percent of the Cherry Hills membership and a pair of generous corporate grants and private donations—to 11 nonprofit organizations dedicated to promoting the game and all the benefits it provides. Three of them—the Evans Scholars Foundation, the Colorado First Tee chapters and the Palmer Scholarship Foundation—received $500,000 checks in a ceremony held before Saturday’s Semifinals began.
And the man presenting those checks was the event’s general chairman, Cherry Hills member Jim Hillary.
Citing the life-trajectory change that winning the Amateur had on Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and other champions, Hillary envisioned leveraging the championship to create “turning points” in not only the lives of the 312 players, but also in the lives of USGA and Cherry Hills staff members, the volunteers, the spectators, the youth, the scholars and all members of the Colorado community.
“Jim’s vision for the championship was tremendous,” USGA Championship Director Justin Armstrong said. “I can’t think of anybody better than him the role of general chair.”
Hillary worked closely with Championship Director Susie Packer. They galvanized a team of stakeholders that included volunteers from around the state and country, as well as participation from some 800 club members and family members. They worked alongside club, USGA and CGA personnel and strategic partners to bring the vision to fruition.
“Jim was a great leader because he embodied the qualities we wanted to emulate in the Amateur,” Packer explains. “He loves golf and what it can do for people; he respects Cherry Hills’ commitment to hosting national championships; and he considers philanthropy a moral imperative.”
The success of the Amateur resulted from one man’s vision, with Packer echoing what others have suggested when she says, “I really think we created a blueprint that the USGA and other host clubs will replicate.”
