U.S. Mid-Amateur quarters filled with reinstated ams, including KFT vet who just regained status

Two 37-year-olds with a combined 154 Korn Ferry Tour starts are among the five reinstated amateurs who have reached the quarterfinals of the 44th U.S. Mid-Amateur.

Justin Hueber and Christian Brand are each three victories away from berths into next year’s Masters and U.S. Open. Hueber, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, knocked off Grant Smith and Michael Buttacavoli on Tuesday at Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, and will face Brandon Holtz on Wednesday morning. Brand, of Hurricane, West Virginia, now faces defending champion Evan Beck after taking down Nahum Mendoza and Marc Dull after trailing each opponent 2 down.

Hueber turned pro out of the University of Indianapolis in 2009 and made 87 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour before last playing as a pro in 2021. Brand, who played collegiately at Marshall, turned pro in 2012 and logged 67 career Korn Ferry Tour starts. Brand’s last year as a pro was 2019.

While Brand became an amateur again last year, in time to make the Round of 16 at the 2024 U.S. Amateur, Hueber regained his amateur status so recently that he doesn’t own an official World Amateur Golf Ranking.

The other reinstated amateurs are:

• Bobby Massa, 37, last year’s runner-up to Beck, who played five years of pro golf before quitting in 2015 because of the driver yips. The performance coach from Dallas, who was reinstated as an amateur in 2019, beat Matt Liston and Ryan O’Rear on Tuesday to advance to play Christian Cavaliere, who upset three-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad in the Round of 16. Cavaliere, who owns his own soft-goods company, Tremont Sporting Co., won the Azalea Invitational and New York State Open earlier this year.

• Parker Edens, 35, who now serves as the head men’s golf coach at South Dakota State, played four seasons as a pro, including the 2017 season as a conditional KFT member, before getting into coaching in 2018. He’ll face Jeg Coughlin III after wins over Stephen Behr Jr. and Chris Kamin.

• Brandon Holtz, 38, was a basketball player for Illinois State before pursuing pro golf after graduating in 2009. He retired in 2015 and regained his amateur status last year.