2026 U.S. Amateur Local Qualifying: Huntingdon Valley

Evans, Yenser share medal

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. — Ethan Evans and Chase Yenser have insatiable appetites for competition. For these juniors, the moments that matter the most never seem to lose their luster.

| Scoring Portal |

In U.S. Amateur Local Qualifying administered by GAP at Huntingdon Valley Country Club Wednesday, both Evans and Yenser rose to the occasion. With cards of 2-under-par 68, the competitors shared medalist honors.

“[Being medalist] is awesome,” Yenser, 18, of Douglassville, Pa., said. “I was looking at the field, and there are a lot of good players. It’s a really good feeling to know that I played some of my best golf and that I can hang with anybody out there.”  

“I’ve never been a medalist in a USGA event,” Evans, 16, of Fairfax Station, Va., said. “I want to test my game against the highest levels of competition at the highest-level courses. I know that qualifying will give me that experience.” 

The 126th U.S. Amateur Championship will take place Aug. 10-16 at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. 

A total of 12 qualifying positions were available. A 5-for-4 playoff was conducted to determine the final qualifying positions. 

It was Yenser’s first loop around the testing William Flynn and Howard Toomey layout. Evans played a practice round yesterday. With tight summer tournament schedules for each player, GAP’s qualifier looked the most favorable on the calendar.

Sporty greens and undulating typography is the story at Huntingdon Valley. Only four players managed to finish in red figures.

Yenser, an incoming freshman at Baylor University, played conservatively in an unfamiliar place to get to his number. His patience prevailed. 

“I hit 16 out of 18 greens which was really efficient,” Yenser, a member at RiverCrest Golf Club & Preserve, said. “Driver was a little squirrely early, but I figured it out towards the end.”

Yenser got himself into red figures with a birdie on No. 9 (par 4, 458 yards) after a pair of three-putt bogeys on Nos. 7 (par 5, 605 yards) and 8 (par 4, 466 yards). He selected 3-wood off the tee before flighting a 9-iron from 150 yards to 10 feet. 

“It was huge to see that one go in,” Yenser said.

Even better? A bogey-free back nine enlivened by a birdie on No. 18 (par 4, 485 yards). Yenser hit a 6-iron from 190 yards to 4 feet before rolling in the shortie.

“My irons feel really good right now,” Yenser, a recent graduate of Daniel Boone Area High School said. “I hit a few really good wedge shots in there today. I definitely need to work on my putting.” 

Yenser is hot off his first appearance in the Sunnehanna Amateur, an Elite Amateur Golf Series event annually held at Sunnehanna Country Club, last week. He carded rounds of 76 and 70 to miss the cut. 

“The week was just so cool,” Yenser, said. “We’re just playing with players from all over the country.”

What’s even more impressive is his short runway to junior golf success.

“I was always a multisport athlete. Come ninth [and] tenth grade, I still played baseball but I really focused on golf,” Yenser said. “I ended up winning the [Pennsylvanina Golf Association’s Junior Boys’ Championship] and qualified for the Junior PGA [Championship] and was leading after the first two days. That really opened up the recruiting. It’s not like I’ve always been a super good junior golfer.” 

A good coach helps. Yenser is the nephew of LedgeRock Golf Club’s Director of Instruction Andy Miller. Miller is renowned in the junior golf development space, earning Best Teachers’ in Pa. recognition by Golf Digest from 2017-2022. Yenser’s brother, Colton, also plays a role. He recently joined LedgeRock’s staff as an assistant professional.  

“I had to work pretty hard to get here, but that’s going to continue too,” Yenser said. “I probably hate losing more than I love winning.”

Yenser’s hard work and winning mentality hasn’t gone unnoticed. He is a member of the inaugural Team Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania’s affiliate of the USGA State Junior Team Program. This week, the team will engage in skill-building, athlete education and development at Team PA camp at Lancaster Country Club. 

Evans, a rising junior at Trinity Christian School is on his own trajectory of junior golf stardom. Other qualifying performances include an appearance in the 2024 U.S. Junior and advancing past U.S. Am local qualifying that same year.

At Huntingdon Valley, Evans’ competitive experience brought comfort. 

“I have a lot of confidence,” Evans said. “These are some tricky pins out here, but I felt confident to fire at some of them and it worked out.”

Confidence in the face of calamity was Evans’ lesson this day. 

Starting on Huntingdon Valley’s back nine, Evans played his first eight holes in 3 under. A snafu on No. 18 (par 4, 485 yards) featured a rightward tee ball, some trouble from the trees, a bunker shot and a three-putt. His play resulted in a triple bogey seven, and erased all early progress. A disappointing three-putt bogey followed on the next, No. 1 (par 4, 385 yards). 

“I decided to put it behind me. I wanted to make another USGA Championship, so I went 3 under in my last five holes,” Evans said. “I was really proud of myself for doing that.” 

On No. 5 (par 3, 185 yards) Evans steered a 5-iron to a foot. On the next hole, No. 6 (par 4, 450 yards), his 50-degree wedge from 130 yards settled to 10 feet. A 5-iron from 211 yards to 8 feet did the trick on No. 8 (par 4, 466 yards).

“There’s no point to dwell on it,” Evans said. “Golf is a game. It’s never a perfect game, so you just gotta put it behind, know that it happened, but move forward . I use it as momentum.” 

Unlike Yenser, Evans started in the game at age 5. While living in Florida due to his parents’ military service, he fell in love with riding in the golf cart and being around the game. As he got older, and his family moved to Virginia, he began sharpening his skills and testing them against his contemporaries in competition. He says his parents instilled in him the values of discipline and dedication at a young age. 

His accolades include two individual titles in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA) State Championship (2026, 2025) as well as second place finishes in a pair of 2026 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) events.

“I like how you can go to tournaments and it’s not a guaranteed win. You have to really fight for it,” Evans, who plays at Army Navy Country Club, said. “I want to be on the PGA TOUR, so knowing that [I’m] getting the reps in right now and the experience will help me later on.”  

Both Evans and Yenser are still deciding on their U.S. Am Final Qualifying sites.

GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 140,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.