Over the course of his young life, Braedon Wear has learned to take nothing for granted. He has worked too hard and overcome too many setbacks to allow any margin for complacency.

The product of Alcoa High School and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was dealt a challenging hand since his premature birth. Wear’s arrival seven weeks early led to a condition where the cartilage around his joints failed to completely form, resulting in grafting of cartilage from a cadaver into his knees while in high school.

But Wear’s discomfort continued through college, temporarily calmed by gel injections to cushion his knees and periodic arthroscopic surgeries to clean up loose fragments as he overcame his trials to continue to serve as a key member of the Mocs lineup.

With knees befitting someone much older, the 25-year-old Maryville native has come to understand that each round of golf these days is a gift. That is why he is filled with gratitude more than nervousness as he embarks on his first USGA event starting Saturday as he travels to Nekoosa, Wisconsin to compete in the 45^th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.

Wear is one of seven golfers with ties to Tennessee who will take on the challenging Lido course at Sand Valley Resort starting with two days of stroke-play qualifying over the weekend. Wear, who qualified in his first year of eligibility by winning co-medalist honors at an Arkansas qualifier with a round of 69, is taking on this opportunity with the same grit that has characterized his career.

“My health issues are something that I’ve had to deal with all of my life,” Wear said. “Over time, I’ve been able to find what helps me prepare and get ready best to both be tournament ready from a golf and body standpoint. But as I get older, the toll on my body playing and walking a golf course gets more difficult. It’s definitely something I’ve thought about heading into this week. It’s difficult to predict how well my body will handle the amount of load being put on it especially playing less tournament golf in the past two years.”

As an All-Southern Conference performer at Chattanooga where he competed in the NCAA Championships his sophomore season in 2023, Wear is undaunted by being in the spotlight of a USGA event for the first time.

“We played a lot of very high-level events at UTC, and it will be nice to draw on that experience playing against both the competition and setups we did in college,” Wear said. “I will say that, other than the NCAA championships, this is probably the most exciting event for me. Having the opportunity to play for both a Masters and U.S. Open bid is something I’m looking forward to. USGA events are the pinnacle of golf and to be able to go out there and compete is something I’ve wanted since I started playing competitive golf.”

The U.S. Mid-Amateur will also be the maiden appearance in a USGA tournament for Knoxville’s Cody Johnson, who earned his way by finishing as co-medalist in the qualifier held at Vanderbilt Legends Club.

Johnson was an All-American at Walters State Community College where he helped win a national championship in 2014. He finished his collegiate career at Lincoln Memorial where he was part of a conference championship in 2016.

“My goal is to make it into match play, but I wouldn’t be playing if I didn’t think I could win,” Johnson said.

He enters this week’s tournament having won his second Knox County Amateur earlier this summer along with the Willow Creek Invitational.

This will be Jason Millard’s fifth USGA championship appearance, having played in a pair of U.S. Amateurs and the U.S. Public Links once. The Murfreesboro native lost in the Round of 64 earlier this year with partner Lucas Armstrong in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, but this will be his first national individual event since regaining his amateur status after competing on the Korn Ferry Tour following his collegiate career at Middle Tennessee State.

“I don’t really have any expectations for the week,” Millard said. “I haven’t played my own ball much this year because I’ve been playing a bunch of two-mans. If I had one goal, it would be to make match play and see how it goes from there.”

Steve McDonald of Signal Mountain will be making his second trip to the U.S. Mid-Amateur after emerging from a recent golf sabbatical to focus on raising his family.

McDonald traveled to Sioux Falls, S.D., to find a weekend qualifier that fit within his schedule, finishing third to garner the final spot awarded. He has competed in a handful of local events around Chattanooga but is thrilled to be returning to the national stage.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime thrill when I made it in ’17, and to be able to do it again is such a blessing,” McDonald said. “I’m excited for it, and I really have no expectation other than to have fun with a good friend of mine who’s coming up to Wisconsin to caddie for me.”

The 44-year-old McDonald worked for ten years for the Tennessee Golf Foundation before serving as an Adidas golf rep for several years. He recently returned to the golf industry working for Trackman covering all of the colleges in the southeast.

“I haven't played much lately, but I love the game,” McDonald said. “I just started working for Trackman about a month ago, so I have a huge passion for the game and I'm glad to get back into the golf business.”

Also representing the Volunteer State is Toby Briggs, 26, of Franklin, who shot 70 and earned last of three spots at the Arkansas qualifier after emerging from three-way playoff. The native of England played collegiately at University of San Francisco where he was West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year in 2018. The former No. 1 ranked player in the World Junior Golf Rankings works at Troubadour Golf and Field Club as a Member Liaison.

Former MTSU star and McMinnville native Brett Patterson – who is now an accounting professor at Ole Miss – earned an exemption by virtue of his Top 40 ranking on the points list, while former Tennessee Vol Mike Sposa of Spartanburg, S.C. claimed his spot by recently capturing the U.S. Senior Amateur championship.

For tee times and live scoring, go to US Mid-Amateur.

Ingram Repping Tennessee at U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur

Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame member Sarah Ingram will be the lone representative from the Volunteer State competing in the 63^rd U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur that also starts on Saturday with the first day of stroke play qualifying at Portland Golf Club in Oregon.

The three-time champion of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and five-time Curtis Cup participant – three times as a player, and twice as Captain – also has a Tennessee Women’s Amateur (1991) and Women’s Senior Amateur (2020) on her resume along with a pair of Maryland State Women’s Amateur crowns.

Ingram, 60, begins her opening round at 4:05 EDT on Saturday, followed by the second round of stroke play on Sunday morning at 11:35 EDT. The top 64 after Sunday’s play will advance to match play which begins on Monday.

Tennessee Junior Cup Staged This Weekend

The Tennessee Junior Cup hosted by Scott Stallings and Friends, a Ryder Cup styled event featuring 10 boys and four girls on teams representing East and West Tennessee, will take place this weekend at The Grove in College Grove.

Saturday will feature Foursomes matches in the morning followed by Four-Ball matches in the afternoon, with Singles matches taking place on Sunday.

Representing Team East are Boys – Walker Webb (Brentwood); Jayden Foster (Kingsport); Braxton Head (Murfreesboro); Pierce Grant (Lookout Mountain); Alex Miller (Tullahoma); Sam Otwell (Signal Mountain); Jake Eickhoff (Arrington); Brayden Bennett (College Grove), and Raymond ReBell (Maryville); Girls – Charlee Spearman (Chattanooga); Chloe Boyd (Liberty); Addisyn Newman (Knoxville), and Annabelle Walton (Brentwood).

Chas Narramore is serving as Head Captain, with Jake Hall and Blakesly Brock as Vice Captains.

Comprising the Team West are Boys – Hudson Odom (Franklin); Tripp Goodrich (Brentwood); Carson Andreoni (Jackson); Stephen Garland (Nashville); Ben Blackburn (Franklin); Grey Anderson (Thompson’s Station); George Laskaris (Brentwood); Casen Justice (Jackson); Thomas McGugin (Nashville); Dan McGugin (Nashville); Girls – Poppy Pewitt (Dickson); Eliya Brandes (Nashville); Catherine Bowie (Memphis); Marleigh Chicantek (Medina).

Team West Co-Head Captains are Jon Yarbrough and Mike Flanagan along with Vice Captain Hanley Long.

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com