BOULDER CITY, Nev. (Aug. 26, 2026)–Matt Mitchell (Medalist), Trey Sanders and Bryan Baird earned spots into the 2026 U.S. Mid-Amateur. The trio advanced in a one-day qualifier that was held Aug. 26, 2026, over Boulder Creek Golf Club’s Desert Hawk and Coyote Run nines. They each move on to the championship event which will be held Sept. 26-Oct. 1, 2026, at the Sand Valley Resort in Nekoosa, Wisconsin.–by Bill Bowman
Mitchell came out red-hot, posting a seven-under-par 29 over his first nine holes, and claimed Medalist honors by two strokes with an eight-under-par 64. This was Mitchell’s seventh win of 2026. He’s coming off high-profile wins. His latest victory was the 2026 Nevada State Match Play Championship and he also won the Championship Division in the 2026 Southern Nevada Amateur.
Also moving on to the 2026 U.S. Mid-Amateur are Sanders who came in with a six-under-par 66 and Baird with a four-under-par 68. Baird won in a playoff to earn his spot.
JJ Gresco is the first alternate and Phillip Reedy is in the second alternate spot.
Mitchell’s first nine holes saw him put an eagle, five birdies and three pars on the scorecard.
“I just tried to get off to a good start,” said Mitchell who played baseball at UNLV and is now working in the gaming industry in Las Vegas. “I had a birdie on 11 (his second hole) and then lipped out an albatross on 13 and had a tap-in eagle. I followed that up with another birdie and then birdied the last three holes on the front nine. I couldn’t have asked for a better first nine.”
He said his play off the tee was spot-on and carried the day.
“I’m driving it better than ever,” he said. “That’s always been the toughest spot for me. Driving it well lets the rest of my game come through.”
Sitting at seven-under-par at the turn, one has to wonder if that magical ‘59’ number worked its way into Mitchell’s thought process.
“That’s a good thing and a bad thing,” he said with a laugh. “I just wanted to get through the qualifier. If this is a regular multi-day tournament, I would have been thinking 59 but not in a one-day qualifier.”
He said he played his final nine holes with a one goal in mind: Advance.
“I figured that five-under would be in a playoff at worst,” he said. “And I was at seven-under with two gettable par 5s on the back nine. I don’t know if it was nerves but I played those two par 5s pretty bad. It didn’t hurt to keep making pars but not doing better on those par 5s wasn’t good.”
Now it’s on to play in the bright spotlight of the 2026 U.S. Mid-Amateur. This will be his fourth trip to a USGA championship.
“This will be my second Mid-Am,” he said. “I missed the cut two years ago. I finished 80th out of 250.”
This year the main goal is to get to match-play.
“That would be a good start,” he said. “There will be a lot of great players there but in match-play…if I get there…anything can happen.”
