By David Shefter, USGA
The number 23 is bantered around the Brame household in Hammond, La., so often that Grady Jr. almost gets tired of hearing how many USGA championships his father with the same name has played.
Going into the 11th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship this week at Desert Mountain Club, the tally was 23-3.
But as the younger Brame stood adjacent to the par-5 15th green of the Cochise Course late Wednesday afternoon alongside his partner and former Southeastern Louisiana University teammate, Lawrence Allan, a gigantic smile came across the 33-year-old’s face.
The only important number now is 1, as in USGA championships claimed.
Brame Jr. and Allan completed a remarkable run, defeating Welshmen Jonathan Bale, 38, and 23-year-old Tomi Bowen, 4 and 3, in the 18-hole championship match.
En route to the title, the Louisiana duo – Allan, 31, was born in Scotland but now resides in Hammond where he’s the men’s golf coach at his alma mater – survived three extra-hole matches, including a 22-hole marathon in the semifinals on Wednesday morning.
They also became the first Louisiana golfers to register a USGA title since David Toms’ 2018 triumph in the U.S. Senior Open. Allan becomes the fourth foreign-born golfer to get his name on the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Trophy, and the 90 holes required to win their five matches was only second behind last year’s titlists Will Hartman and Tyler Mawhinney (92).
The victory also earns the duo exemptions into the U.S. Amateur in August at Merion Golf Club and the U.S. Mid-Amateur this September at Sand Valley Resort in central Wisconsin.
“I didn't even think about that,” said Allan. “This is my first USGA event. This is … surreal. It means everything. This is the reason we practice. We want to come to the biggest events and execute when it means the most. I can't quite believe we did it, to be honest.”
Brame Jr. did have an emotional hug with his dad shortly after holing the match-clinching 6-foot birdie putt. The elder Brame was actually competing in the Senior Trans-Miss at Mission Hills Country Club, in the Coachella Valley of California, shooting an opening-round 74 before deciding to withdraw on Tuesday afternoon and make the 4-hour, 15-minute drive to Desert Mountain, arriving in time to catch most of the semifinals.
“He does like to bring it up that his [USGA] tally is 23,” said Grady Jr., with a wide smile and a huge sense of pride. “I'm currently at three. But I'm trying to go back and count the number of times that he's won a USGA event, and I don't think that he has, and so I would say that he can have his 23; I'll have my one win.”
Allan and Brame Jr. didn’t have much time between their 22-hole victory over the brother tandem of Bobby and Cody Massa, and the championship match. Forty-five minutes after getting lunch, they were back on the first tee, staring down a side that had played 32-under-par golf in their first four matches. Allan and Brame Jr. also were on fire, shooting a combined 31 under, only they had played eight more holes of match play.
Over 90 holes and five matches, Lawrence Allan (left) and Grady Brame played the equivalent of 42-under-par in winning the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Desert Mountain Club's Cochise Course. (USGA/Eakin Howard)
The two sides traded birdies over the first two holes before tying the next four holes. The par-3 seventh turned into the first hiccup for the Welshmen as they conceded their opponents’ birdie after making a double-bogey 5. It was their first blemish since the third hole of Round 2 of stroke play at Cochise, a span of 89 holes.
It was a lead Allan and Brame Jr. would not relinquish. Allan converted a 10-foot birdie on the 10th hole, and then stuffed his tee shot to 3-feet on No. 11. The birdie gave the duo a 3-up advantage. It almost went to 4-up on the par-5 12th when Allen’s second shot from 150 yards with a 50-degree wedge stopped a couple of feet from the flagstick for a conceded eagle. Bowen, however, answered from 15 feet to tie.
Bale and Bowen got some momentum with the latter’s winning 15-footer for 2 on the par-3 13th, only to have Brame Jr. answer with a 50-foot birdie on 14 to win the hole and regain the 3-up advantage.
At the par-5 15th, Bowen’s second shot landed in an awkward spot above the right-greenside bunker. Bale was above the flagstick in two, as was Allan. Both three-putted for 5. That left Brame Jr. with a 6-footer for birdie to close it out, which he did with confidence.
“It was a lot tougher this afternoon,” said Bale, a member of the Wales National Team who competed in the 2025 World Amateur Team Championship last fall in Malaysia with Bowen. “I think the greens were crispier, a bit more wind, so it's hard to hit it close to some of those pins. I think we made some early on and then, you know, the [matching] eagle [on No. 12 by Bowen] and then the birdie [on the par-3 13th] to get it back [to 2 down]. So, I would say I think we made our fair share. I think we got outplayed today. Those guys played great.”
The morning semifinals had much more drama. Bale, a 2012 Louisiana Tech graduate who resides in Jupiter, Fla., and works for a hedge fund, and Bowen, who spends time working for his father’s window-fitting company, rallied to defeat brothers Craig Long II and William Long, both from Alpharetta, Ga. A late bogey on No. 17 by the Longs tied the match, and Bale then hit a beautiful 8-iron approach from 197 yards on No. 18 to 14 feet to set up the winning birdie.
Nevertheless, it was a remarkable week for the Long duo, having gotten into the championship on May 7 when Miami (Ohio) teammates Tyler Anderson and Liam Nelson had to withdraw after the Red Hawks qualified for the NCAA regionals by winning the Mid-American Conference tournament. Craig and William were the first alternates from the Ohio qualifier last fall.
They played the equivalent of 7-under golf (with concessions), only to be upped by the 8-under performance of their opponents.
Welshmen Jonathan Bale (left) and Tomi Bowen were brilliant all week at Desert Mountain Club, only to come up short in the championship match. (USGA/Eakin Howard)
“It's kind of surreal,” said William Long, a high school junior who has committed to play at Georgia Tech in 2027. “Just to get the opportunity to play with [my older brother] is pretty crazy. Especially to make it this far is pretty cool. We played some great golf today.”
Allan delivered in the clutch in the 22-hole victory, making a 10-footer on the par-3 13th to put the side into the championship match. That match featured a combined 17 birdies and an eagle.
Golf in the Brame household has always been big, especially between dad and his eldest son. They are the only father-son duo to have won the Louisiana Amateur; Grady Sr. in 2002 and Jr. in 2014-15 during his collegiate days. The younger Brame also caddied for his dad in the 2009 U.S. Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club.
Brame Jr., however, took the game to another level, turning professional in 2015 and competing in 40 PGA Tour Canada events as well as Monday-qualifying for the 2017 Sanderson Farms event on the PGA Tour, and three Korn Ferry Tour events.
Allan also tried his hand at professional golf, playing mini-tour events in the U.S. and abroad. Both eventually came back to the amateur game; Allan in 2024 two after taking the coaching gig at Southeastern, and Brame Jr., who works in commercial insurance, last spring.
Chomping at the bit to return to amateur golf, the two signed up for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball qualifier and made the field in their first attempt.
Now they are USGA champions.
Asked if they planned on having some Louisiana cuisine to celebrate, the two affirmatively answered no.
“Beer,” Allan said with conviction
After two stroke-play rounds and five matches, an adult beverage – or two – is warranted.
What the champions receive:
- A gold medal for each player
- Custody of the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Trophy for the ensuing year
- Exemptions into the next 10 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships, provided the side remains intact
- Exemption for each player into the 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club, in Ardmore, Pa.
- Exemption into the 2026 U.S. Mid-Amateur, if age eligible, at Sand Valley Resort (Lido Course), in Nekoosa, Wis.
- Names inscribed on the 2026 USGA champions’ plaque that resides inside the USGA Museum's Hall of Champions, in Liberty Corner, N.J.
Notable
- Runners-up Jonathan Bale and Tomi Bowen earned silver medals, plus exemptions into the next three U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships. Bowen has indicated he’ll enter DP World Tour Q-School later this fall and turn professional, thus forfeiting the exemptions.
- Semifinalists Craig Long II and William Long, and Bobby Massa and Cody Massa each received bronze medals and exemptions into the next two U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships.
- The next three U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships will be contested at Erin Hills (2027), in Erin, Wis.; Chambers Bay (2028), in University Place, Wash.; and Metedeconk Golf Club (2028), in Jackson, N.J.
- Registration for the 12th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Erin Hills (May 22-26) has opened. To be eligible, each member of a side must have a Handicap that does not exceed 2.4.
- Tomi Bowen has a busy next few weeks in terms of elite golf competitions. After flying home to Wales on Thursday, he has the St. Andrews Trophy, The Amateur Championship and European Amateur. Jonathan Bale will continue his summer golf journey at next month’s Northeast Amateur, the European Team Championships, the Southern Amateur and the Western Amateur. He’ll also look to qualify for the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club. He likely will be exempt into the U.S. Mid-Amateur through his high World Amateur Golf Ranking® (308).
- Three Arizonans handled the officiating duties for the championship match. Jerry Glover, who lives across the street from Desert Mountain, served as the referee, with Sean Mulvenon and Desert Mountain member Rich Grant acting as the forward observers.
- Grady Brame Jr. and Lawrence Allan were involved in three of the seven extra-hole matches this week. That was one behind the record established in 2021 at Chambers Bay.
- Will Hartman, the 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion (with Tyler Mawhinney), shared medalist honors in the NCAA Athens (Ga.) Regional. The Vanderbilt freshman and former U.S. National Junior Team member posted 14-under 199 to Malan Potgieter of Louisiana.
- Lawrence Allan is the first Scottish-born golfer to win a USGA championship since Colin Montgomerie in the 2014 U.S. Senior Open at Oak Tree National, in Edmond, Okla. The last Scottish-born amateur to claim a USGA title was Richie Ramsay in the 2006 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National G.C., in Chaska, Minn.
Quotable
“He said regardless of how he was playing, his mind was elsewhere. It didn't matter if he shot 62 or 72 or 82, he was probably heading in this direction. And I think he's a nutcase for doing that. Oh, it means the world to have him watching. It always makes it a little bit more special. I'm hoping it was definitely worth the drive.” – Grady Brame Jr. on his father withdrawing from the Senior Trans-Miss in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and driving 4-plus hours to Desert Mountain
“I've continued to say this, the trust makes it really easy. There is always going to be ups and downs in this tournament, and if you have a partner that you just wholeheartedly trust, if you're being an anchor during the round that he's going to pick you up, it makes it a lot easier, and allows to you stay more even keeled through the ups and the downs.” – Grady Brame Jr. on his partnership with Lawrence Allan
“It's a success. Obviously, this is disappointing not to have won, but I think someone said yesterday 2,500 entries and we're the last two teams standing. Get to a final of a USGA event, I think it's pretty successful” – runner-up Jonathan Bale
“I mean, the results state their own case. I've just got to go out the next six weeks, two months, and just perform and that will do any talking.” – Tomi Bowen on trying to make the 2026 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup Team
“The one thing that I remember learning … is a lot of golf is just not about the swing at all. I feel like I've learned that like five times over. Like really, like the margins out here are [so slim that you] can you hit the right number, and then it bounces to the pin. Or can you pick the right cut off the tee? Or can you just hit the fairway? Like however you can. Like the 8th fairway, I was like 1 for 6 [hitting it this week, but that's what I learned.” – Craig Long II on what he learned about his game this week
“It will be fun. I've been playing golf with William since I was 11 years old. To do it at the highest level is one of the greatest joys of my life probably.” – Craig Long II on the two-year exemption they earned for being semifinalists
David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.