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Team-based golf isn’t as common as individual competitions, but it can be a very welcome format for people hoping to deal with a little less pressure on the course. An amateur who recently competed in a USGA tournament wasn’t able to take advantage of that edge after being forced to face off against a twosome as a single, but he rose to the occasion and made some history in the process.
I think it’s safe to assume that most golfers who’ve gotten a taste of team-based formats have been primarily exposed through the scrambles that tend to produce low scores by giving every person playing the chance to take advantage of the best shot after each and every stroke.
That approach is frequently referred to as “best ball,” although that’s actually the term for matches that traditionally involve two twosomes going head-to-head in a game where each golfer plays their own ball for the entirety of each hole before going with the best score to determine who wins it.
That format, which is interchangeable with “four ball,” served as the basis for a U.S. Amateur tournament organized by the USGA that kicked off at a couple of golf courses in New Jersey over the weekend.
More than 125 teams took part in the two-round stroke play qualifier that narrowed down the field to the 32 two-man squads who earned the right to compete in the four-ball tournament, which included the duo of Chip Brooke and Marc Dull.
Brooke and Dull won their first match by a score of 2&1 to earn a spot in the round of 16, but the latter had to face off against John Ramsey and Chadd Slutzky by himself after the former was forced to miss the showdown that unfolded on Tuesday morning thanks to his daughter’s graduation.
That obviously put Dull at a bit of a disadvantage, but he was nonetheless able to persevere to become the first solo player to triumph over a twosome in a four-ball match at a USGA tournament with another 2&1 victory.
Marc Dull’s partner had to leave to attend his daughter’s graduation. He went on to defeat their opponents by himself 🤯
He will play again this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. pic.twitter.com/Qh5fkSamKy
— USGA (@USGA) May 20, 2025
Dull came painfully close to repeating that feat when he faced off against Carson Looney and Hunter Powell on Tuesday afternoon with the chance to reunite with his partner in the semifinals, but they edged him out by breaking the tie on the 18th hole to get the 1-up win.