Director of golf course maintenance Troy Flanagan, staff, and volunteers deliver championship conditions on two iconic courses

The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif. hosted the 125^th United States Amateur August 11-17, 2025.  Thirty-six holes of stroke play qualifying were held over the Lake and Ocean courses at Olympic with the low 64 players advancing to the match play portion of the championship on the Lake Course.  It marked the 12^th USGA championship in Olympics storied history. 

“The U.S. Amateur is the longest running USGA Championship, so the opportunity to host really means something,” said Olympic Club director of golf maintenance Troy Flanagan.  “While it’s a daunting task to produce championship conditions on two courses, it’s something that I and the staff take a lot of pride in.” 

Flanagan’s crew of 49, joined by more than 30 volunteers and USGA West Region Director Brian Whitlark, battled San Francisco’s famously fickle weather to provide a course worthy of the moment.  Greens reached speeds of 13.5 with fairways cut at .375 and the rough reaching five inches during the week of the championship.

“The biggest challenge at Olympic is the weather,” said Whitlark, who served as championship agronomist. “The fog can make maintenance difficult morning and evening, but we were fortunate to get all play in on time. The course played firm and fast.”

The Lake Course, host to five U.S. Men’s Opens (1955, 1966, 1987, 1998, 2012) and a U.S. Women’s Open (2021), recently completed a renovation.  Led by golf course architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, the renovation included greens expansion, widening of fairways, widening of approaches, addition of numerous fairway bunkers, softening of greenside bunkers, and introduced a reimagined seventh hole with a new green location for greater strategy.

 “Gil and Jim preserved the classic character while elevating it for both members and, as we saw this week, some of the best golfers in the world,” Flanagan said.

The Amateur also marked the first in a series of marquee events for Olympic: the PGA Championship in 2028, U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2030, and Ryder Cup in 2033.

“Hosting the U.S. Amateur will really assist us with these upcoming events,” said Flanagan. “We pushed the course this week and it hung in there really well.  The new Pure Distinction putting surfaces allowed us to hit and maintain our desired speeds and that was one of the biggest takeaways of the week.”

As Mason Howell closed out the final match on Sunday, the 125th U.S. Amateur at Olympic Club was more than just another championship in the club’s storied history — it was a testament to preparation, teamwork, and an unwavering standard of excellence. Under Flanagan’s leadership, the staff and volunteers delivered a stage worthy of the game’s greatest amateurs. With even larger championships on the horizon, the week served not only as a showcase of world-class golf, but as a preview of what is to come when the eyes of the golf world return to San Francisco in 2028.