U.S. Amateur Final Qualifying: Medford Village

Fantinelli medals in U.S. Amateur Final Qualifying

MEDFORD, N.J. — Riccardo Fantinelli was supposed to start an internship at LexisNexis Monday. He needed to push it back a day.

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The reason? A chance at a national championship berth. Turned out to be a good business-on-business decision. Fantinelli carded a 5-under-par 67 to earn medalist honors in U.S. Amateur Final Qualifying administered by GAP at Medford Village Country Club (par 72, 7,241 yards).

Huntingdon Valley Country Club’s Brian Isztwan and Penn Oaks Golf Club’s Eli Shah posted respective 3-under-par 68s to advance in regulation. Country Club of Harrisburg’s Garrett Engle prevailed in a 2-for-1 playoff to seize the final qualifying position.

The 124^th U.S. Amateur will take place Aug. 12-18 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.

Any angst Fantinelli may feel about interning in the M&A department at LexisNexis never surfaced at Medford Village. The rising Princeton University junior carded five birdies against zero bogeys.  

“It was very stress free. I hit some great shots,” Fantinelli, 20, of New York, N.Y., said. “I didn’t make use of the par 5s, but I had a great wedge game and some great putts.”

With Lou Stagner, an assistant men’s golf coach at Princeton, on the bag, Fantinelli calibrated Medford Village’s tree-lined fairways and overall length with calculated precision. On No. 4 (par 3, 238 yards), he stuffed a 4-iron to 10 feet for birdie. Fantinelli sunk a 12-footer for birdie on No. 8 (par 4, 372 yards) following a stock 50-degree wedge. That same club set up birdie conversions of 25 feet and six feet, respectively, on Nos. 13 (par 4, 398 yards) and 15 (par 4, 391 yards). On the par 4, 428-yard 12^th hole, Fantinelli thumped a hybrid just shy of the right fairway bunker. He then hit a pitching wedge 148 yards to four feet for birdie.

Fantinelli earned an exemption into U.S. Amateur Final Qualifying based on WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings). He is ranked 224^th with appearances in the British Amateur, European Amateur Team Championship and Italian Open to his credit. Fantinelli also shared individual medalist honors in the Princeton Invitational earlier this year. He shot 6-under-par 65 in the event’s final round, tying a program record for lowest score in relation to par since bookkeeping began in 1993-94.

Fantinelli is a star for the Tigers. He was named PING Honorable Mention All-American as announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Fantinelli is the seventh GCAA All-American in Princeton history. He is the only Ivy Leaguer among the 64 men’s golfers named a PING All-American this season.

Oh, and Fantinelli is the 2024 Ivy League Player of the Year.

But how does a Rome, Italy native wind up in Princeton, N.J.?

“Great question. I knew I wanted to play golf in college. I’m fortunate to have gone to great schools in London. I had the option to go to Princeton, and I took it,” Fantinelli, an economics major at Princeton, said. “I thought it be a great fit. I love the coach. The campus is beautiful, even though I visited in the winter and it was covered in snow. I could tell it was the place for me. I love my teammates. Great facilities. The team is getting better and better each year.”

Ys Chi, a Princeton alum and Fantinelli’s legal guardian in the United States, followed every shot at Medford Village. Raised his clenched fists once Fantinelli secured medalist honors. Used two cellphones — yes two cellphones — to spread the news of his achievement. Chi also snapped photos Fantinelli, U.S. Amateur invitation in hand. 

“It’s pretty cool. One of my teammates, Jackson Fretty, played two years ago and said it was the experience of a lifetime,” Fantinelli said.

Before heading to Hazeltine, Fantinelli will practice “enough to be ready.”

“[The internship] is pretty flexible, from what I understand,” he said.

Case in point Monday.

Isztwan, 24, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., birdied his final two holes to claim a U.S. Amateur invitation. On No. 17 (par 4, 395 yards), he knocked a pitching wedge 127 yards to a foot. A wayward drive on No. 18 (par 4, 450 yards) put Isztwan in the righthand trees. Seeing a minimal window, he leaped through with a low 4-iron from 163 yards, which chased to the green’s front edge. Best case scenario. Isztwan just tried to get his 40-footer for birdie to the hole. Medford Village granted a 3 to the guy who grinded a round.

“I still can’t believe it. It couldn’t have gone any better,” Isztwan, who previously competed in the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur and 2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, said. “I was in the trees almost all day. That’s easy to do out here, but even on the par 3s I was in the trees sometimes. I was making up-and-downs from everywhere. It was more art than science out there today.”

Isztwan, who will start law school in the fall at Villanova University, teamed with clubmate Stewart Rickenbach in a better-ball tournament at Huntingdon Valley yesterday.

“I shot 80. It was terrible. I was lost,” he said. “I got on the range today. I was trying to find something that could possibly work. I was watching old videos of my swing. [I wanted to] manage it and get a lot of luck. I had both.”

Shah, a rising sophomore at Seton Hall University majoring in finance, is glad he left the house without his wallet. When that happened prior to U.S. Amateur Local Qualifying at The Springhaven Club, he called friend and former Penncrest High School classmate Jaden Engleman for a $20 loaner. Shah needed golf balls.  

“I drove to his house, and he asked to caddie for me [at The Springhaven]. He’s never caddied before,” Shah, 19, of Newtown Square, Pa., said. “We have a really good connection out there. He caddied again today. He’s the reason I was confident and calm. We just goof around out there. We’re not that serious.”

Shah will compete in his first U.S. Amateur.

Engle, 20, of Harrisburg, Pa., is a rising senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he is majoring in pre-law. He missed the U.S. Amateur cut a year ago at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo.   

“I didn’t play well last year, so hopefully it goes better this year,” Engle said. “I feel like I’m better prepared. I feel like my game is in a better place. I’m in a way better spot mentally than I was last year as well.”

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 340 Member Clubs and 110,000 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.