Austin Liu, current senior member of the Oak Park High School boys’ golf team, has been playing golf since the age of six. All those years of training led to his qualification to compete in the 118th annual U.S. Amateur Championship hosted by Pebble Beach Golf Links from Aug. 13-19.

Liu qualified for the Pebble Beach Tournament by placing second out of 79 in a local qualifier run by the Southern California Golf Association.

“Pebble Beach is one of the most well-known courses in the world, and it was definitely the best experience I have had in a tournament,” Liu wrote to the Talon. “The players that competed in the event ranged from high schoolers like myself, to Division 1 and Division 2 college athletes, to adults.”

Out of the 312 competing players, Liu tied for 64th after losing in a playoff that determined whether or not he would advance to the next round.

“It was a huge honor to know that I was one of 312 players who made it to the prestigious event in arguably the most star-studded field in all of amateur golf,” Liu wrote. “Just to be able to play in such a high-level event with players that I looked up to over the last few years was truly a life-changing experience.”

Liu began to prepare roughly one month prior to the tournament, and mainly focused on anticipating the windy conditions and narrow fairways he would be facing at Pebble Beach.

“I worked very hard during the last few weeks of summer vacation to be prepared, and I think it paid off very well,” Liu wrote. “I did a lot of work at the [driving] range with my swing coach and spent a lot of hours at the golf course each day, making sure that I would be ready for the tournament.”