Understanding the 2025 Ryder Cup Format
The 2025 Ryder Cup brings together teams from the United States and Europe to compete in a unique match-play golf event.
From playing Division I collegiate basketball to selling real estate in Illinois, Brandon Holtz never dreamed of winning a USGA championship. That is, until he did.
Now a spot in the 2026 U.S. Open awaits him.
The 44th USGA Mid-Amateur Golf Championship at Troon Country Club and Troon North Golf Club in Scottsdale this week brought together 264 amateur golfers, ages 25 and up, from 19 countries.
The tournament began with two days of stroke play, with the top 64 players advancing to several days of single-elimination match play, each one narrowing the field until just two players remained: Holtz and Jeg Coughlin III.
Both came into the tournament unaccustomed to playing in the Arizona heat, yet they outlasted the field, including nine Valley natives. Holtz and Coughlin faced off in the final round of the championship at Troon Country Club on Sept. 18.
Coughlin, a 28-year-old from Dublin, Ohio, briefly played professional golf in 2019 and competed in three USGA championships before his showing this week in Scottsdale. Despite his experience, he fell to Holtz in the final round of the championship.
Holtz, on the other hand, was competing in his first-ever USGA championship. Despite playing in a handful of PGA-affiliated mini-tours across his adult life, the 38-year-old from Bloomington, Illinois, never saw golf as a lifelong profession, though he always maintained the passion for the sport.
“I always played,” Holtz said. “When I graduated college, I decided, ‘what the heck,’ and gave it a shot. … When you don’t play at the collegiate level, you learn a lot … that the older you get, the wiser you get, and hopefully I can keep getting a little wiser (with) golf.”
Holtz played Division I collegiate basketball at Illinois State, and today works as a real estate agent in Bloomington.
Holtz and Coughlin teed off for the final round of the Mid-Amateur championship at 7 a.m., playing two match-play rounds of 18 holes at Troon Country Club.
Though initially blessed with temperatures in the high-70s and low-80s at the beginning of their match, the competitors and their spectators were met with something unexpected: heavy rain.
“I did not know they had weather like this (in Arizona),” Coughlin told a spectator. “This is crazy, man.”
Holtz echoed Coughlin’s surprise at the sudden change in weather, attributing some errant shots in the middle of his first round to the rain.
“I don’t mind the dry heat,” Holtz said. “It did get a little humid, more humid than I thought, and then the rain this morning totally threw me off.”
Despite the shifting weather conditions, the championship match saw approximately 80 spectators watching from the edge of the links, many of whom were close friends and family of the golfers.
“That definitely got me more grounded,” Coughlin said about having his girlfriend and mother there to support him.
Holtz also had several family members fly in to attend the championship, including his father, Jeff, who served as his caddie.
In addition to tending to his clubs and giving advice, Jeff Holtz served as a reassuring voice for his son in the midst of pressure.
“Slow down, breathe,” Holtz told his son, who missed a short putt on Troon’s hole 14. “It’ll come, man, it’ll come.”
After 34 closely fought holes of golf extending into the late afternoon, Holtz beat Coughlin 3 and 2.
When asked what the title of USGA champion meant to him, Holtz simply replied, “wild.”
Holtz’s victory in the Mid-Amateur Championship grants him an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Open, as well as a likely invitation to the Masters Tournament in April.
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