By admin 
There he was, the Mid-Am master himself, a man I’ve read about and watched on TV, but never seen before in person, grinding down the stretch, fighting for his spot at the kids’ table, just the way I like my Mid-Ams to be at the U.S. Amateur.
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Break their little hearts!
His name is Stewart Hagestad. He is 35 years old. He’s tall and engaging; a deep bronze tan contrasted by strikingly white teeth. He’s accomplished nearly everything an amateur golfer can. There’s one goal left. The odds are stacked against him. The teens and 20-somethings are against him too. But he won’t give up on this dream. Not when he’s this close.
“There’s only a handful of things I would still really like to accomplish in my amateur career,” Hagestad says. “This [winning the U.S. Amateur] is on a very short list.”
Hagestead’s dream is alive. He made a four-foot par putt on his final hole of stroke play qualifying to secure his spot in the match play bracket of the U.S. Amateur.
This is his 17th appearance in the event. He’s made it to the quarterfinals twice. This could be his best shot at getting over that hump and becoming the first Mid-Am (25-plus years old) to win the Amateur since 1993.
For those of us old heads (I’m 42) who enjoy amateur golf, rooting for Mid-Ams at the U.S. Amateur is a rite of passage. I used to root for Tiger when I was a kid. Odds are, the kids of today are rooting for Myles Russell. But as time passes, preferences change. Now it’s guys like Hagestad I pull for; those players who have jobs and lives outside of golf and still compete against the future greats of the professional game.
Hagestead currently carries the mantle for all other Mid-Ams out there. Yes, fellow Mid-Ams Evan Beck, Grady Brame Jr. and Matthew Lowe also qualified for match play, but Hagestead is the name we all recognize. He’s the one with the resume we envy.
Hagestead won the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship three times. He’s the only Mid-Am winner to make the cut at Augusta. He also made the cut at the U.S. Open before.
He’s played on the last five Walker Cup teams and likely will make the team again this year. He’s 7-1 in singles matches at the Walker Cup. He’ll be a captain one day.
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He’s played in the prestigious Crump Cup at Pine Valley and every other major amateur tournament around the country. This is his 17th U.S. Amateur appearance. He’s battle-tested.
“I’ll bring my best and they’ll bring theirs,” Hagestead says about stroke play. “Just gotta play one guy at a time. I’ve played a bunch of competitive golf. It doesn’t mean that on your best day someone can’t beat you. But at the same time, I’ll do whatever I can to try and be as prepared as I can.”
The top of the U.S. Amateur leaderboard is littered with high school and college students. Russell is 17 and he finished T5 in qualifying. Tyler Watts, 18, was second. Drake Harvey is fourth and about to start his freshman year at college. The medalist, Joshua Ryan, feels ancient at 22.
Hagestead has literally been playing in the Amateur before some of his competitors were even alive. Experience, in matches like this, matters, especially at Merion, where positioning off the tee and on approach is paramount.
“Merion could be a course for a Mid-Am to find success if they do get into match play because it’s more of a thinking course,” says Merion member and five-time U.S. Amateur competitor Michael McDermott. “It doesn’t necessarily favor just a bomber. It requires such elevated thinking to properly work your way around the golf course.”
Hagestead did that on his final hole of qualifying. His dream is alive. So is that of every Mid-Am supporting him.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as An Ode to Stewart Hagestad and the Mid-Ams at the U.S. Amateur .
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Read more An Ode to Stewart Hagestad and the Mid-Ams at the U.S. Amateur
This story was originally published August 12, 2026 at 5:34 AM.