Downes Moves On

Men's golf junior advances to match play at the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship

Downes Moves OnDownes Moves On
Sam Jordan

PHILADELPHIA – Vanderbilt men’s golf junior Ryan Downes punched his ticket into match play at the 126th U.S. Amateur Championship. He tees off on Wednesday at 11:10 a.m. CT.

Downes advanced to match play at the U.S. Amateur for the second-straight season, as he carded even par in stroke play to finish tied for 23rd. The Longmeadow, Massachusetts, native will be the No. 30 seed in match play and takes on No. 35-seeded Stewart Hagestad in the Round of 64.

The junior opened stroke play by carding 1-under 69 in Round 1 at Merion Golf Club on Monday. Downes followed that performance up with a 1-over round on Tuesday at the Philadelphia Country Club to move on to match play.

NBC and Peacock will provide live coverage of the 126th U.S. Amateur. Peacock will stream live coverage Wednesday through Sunday from 2-5 p.m. CT. NBC Sports Network airs live from the U.S. Amateur Wednesday through Friday from 2-5 p.m. CT.

The semifinal matches take place on Saturday, with the finals being held on Sunday. NBC will air live from 3-5 p.m. CT, with NBC Sports Network starting the action from 2-3 p.m. CT.

Live scoring for the 126th U.S. Amateur can be found here.

Downes was one of five Commodores competing at the 126th U.S. Amateur. Senior Carlos Astiazaran and freshman Tyler Mawhinney each carded 3-over to miss the cut by a stroke. Sophomore Michael Riebe completed two rounds of stroke play at 7-over, while freshman Luke Colton finished at 12-over.

The Vanderbilt men’s golf team kicks off the 2026-27 season on Aug. 31-Sept. 1 in Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Visit Knoxville Collegiate at Fox Den Country Club. Check back with VUCommodores.com over the coming weeks for a full season preview.

For more information and exclusive content on the Vanderbilt men’s golf team, follow @VandyMGolf on Instagram and Twitter/X.