Andy

Ogletree

Ogletree attended the Georgia Institute of Technology from 2016 and in his senior year at college won the 2019 Monroe Invitational Championship for amateur golfers before landing the US Amateur at Pinehurst.

It was a gruelling format with 312 golfers teeing off at the start of the event. After several days of stroke play and match play just two remained: Ogletree and John Augenstein.

Over a 36-hole Sunday of match play golf, Ogletree had a poor start and trailed by four holes after five played.

A birdie on 18 ensured that lead was reduced to two holes and another birdie at the first as the afternoon round got underway left him just one short.

Although Augenstein rallied to hold a two-hole lead again twice more through the second round, they tackled the 17th with Ogletree protecting a one-hole advantage.

While his approach to the par-3 was to fly the ball 12 feet from the hole then putt to within two or three, Augenstein’s attacking policy saw him land his drive 20 feet adrift.

He then blasted putts way beyond the hole twice forcing him to concede which confirmed Ogletree as the winner of the coveted Havemeyer Trophy by 2 and 1.

As 2019 US Amateur champion, Andy Ogletree qualified for a place at the delayed 2020 Masters.

The Augusta Major was delayed due to the Covid pandemic and when it got underway in November 2020 there were no spectators allowed.

It was a daunting enough challenge simply making his debut at a Major, but Ogletree found himself teeing off in the first and second round with his boyhood idol Tiger Woods and British Open champion Shane Lowry.

“I got off to a pretty rough start, I was definitely nervous, intimidated, all the things,” Ogletree told Fairway To Heaven.

“I was four over through five to start the tournament. I started on the back nine and it was the November Masters, no fans, just me and Tiger and we tee-off down 10, we both hit the fairway.

“He’s walking over towards me, and I can see he’s gonna say something to me.

“We had just had a rain delay that morning and he was like ‘man, wouldn’t it be fun to just get a running start and slide down this hill?’

“I was like, ‘what?!’… I just started laughing."

There were also friendly words of advice from Woods’ long-term caddie.

“Joe LaCava was on the bag for him and he was pretty helpful as well, just kind of telling us what to do, when to talk and stuff like that.

“I settled in, played some good golf, made the cut and ended up getting low amateur that week.”

Ogletree’s consistent golf saw him shoot 73-70-71-72 to end the tournament 2-under at T34 and collect the Low Amateur Silver Cup.

It was perhaps the perfect way to sign off as an amateur and step up into the world of professional golf.

Ogletree finished his amateur career fourth in the world amateur golf ranking.

He made his professional debut at the delayed Mayakoba Golf Classic in December 2020 at future LIV venue, El Camaleon Golf Club.

It was a modest start, placing T46, but in the first quarter of 2021 he failed to make the cut in all three tournaments played.

Playing in pain with a torn labrum in the hip was to blame for his struggle and after surgery and a long lay-off, Ogletree had to completely change his swing.

“I had to get a lot stronger, learn the new move and motion and trust it,” he told bunkered.co.uk.

“I would get my hands really high at the top position and then lean back and throw my left hip out of the way,” Ogletree said.

“I have a very hyper-mobile body so that’s always been tough for me, trying to tighten everything up.

“My left hip would just fling out of position and eventually that tore my labrum.

“I played in some pain for a long time and realised I couldn’t play against the best players in the world like this.

“Coming back from injury I changed my golf swing. I was trying to get less side bend and more rotation.

“Trying to take pressure off my back – all the longevity goals.

“But it took me a while to trust that, to learn the new move and to trust that I wasn’t going to have pain after playing in pain for so long.”

Ogletree took part in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational event in London in June 2022.

Although he only held conditional status for the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA were clamping down on players moving to LIV at the time and suspended him from all of their events until the following year.

Through playing LIV London though, Ogletree was granted Asian Tour status and in November 2022 he earned his first win as a pro at the International Series Egypt.

That crucial victory opened the door to Asian Tour qualification for two more seasons and Ogletree blitzed through 2023 securing wins in Qatar and England.

With four additional top-10 finishes through the season, Ogletree topped the International Series Order of Merit after earning $1,101,828 in prize money.

That also provided the golden ticket to the 2024 LIV Golf League as well as a starting berth in the Majors.

“To have access to Major championships was awesome for me,” Ogletree told LIV Golf’s Spencer Robinson.

“I’m forever grateful for what the Asian Tour has done for me – for helping me being able to build my game and have somewhere to play.

“I think you’re going to see a lot more guys taking that pathway as it offers access to major championships and LIV Golf.

“The Asian Tour is a great tour to play on. I’m definitely encouraging all my buddies to go there to play."

Ogletree is hugely appreciative of the way HyFlyers captain Phil Mickelson guided him through his first full season with LIV Golf.

“He’s really taken me under his wing,” Ogletree told Fairway To Heaven.

“We talk a lot, we talk about a lot of different stuff - not just golf.

“He’s been such a great mentor and anything that he says is very easy to believe because he says everything with so much confidence and conviction.

“I feel like he really thinks through stuff before he speaks and I just respect him a lot.

“Any time that he comes to me with that much confidence and belief in what he’s thinking, you know, it’s easy for me to have the same confidence and it’s a domino effect through our team for sure.”

When it comes to hiring a reliable bag man, Ogletree doesn’t have to look much further than Georgia Tech alumni.

Carrying his golf bag and offering advice during the 2019 US Amateur win and debut at The Masters was Devin Stanton.

Baseball was Stanton’s sport at Georgia Tech from 2011 to 2015 but having spent some time as a strength and conditioning coach as well as being a professional caddie, he joined the Georgia Tech golf staff as assistant coach in July 2019.

A month later he was by Ogletree’s side for the US Amateur win at Pinehurst.

“I was making sure that he was eating and drinking. I packed the bag with snacks,” Stanton said.

After Ogletree signed up for LIV Golf in 2023, another Georgia Tech graduate and golf teammate - Michael Pisciotta - donned the bag.

Pisciotta was caddie when Ogletree won his third Asian Tour event, the International Series England in August 2023 and through last season with LIV.

Andy Ogletree started life as a golf professional with Titleist equipment and wearing Peter Millar clothing.

Speaking on the Peter Millar YouTube channel, he gave some insight into what goes into planning his golf bag.

A surprise inclusion was a well-worn training aid.

“I use my putting stick,” he said.

“I’ve probably had it for six or seven years in my bag, it goes everywhere.

“It’s kind of the first thing I do every day when I get to the putting green, I pull it out, hit a few putts to start the day and that’s always been my routine at least since I got to college.”

As for favorite golf clubs in his bag, Ogletree revealed that he has a high turnover of 59-degree wedges as that suits his game.

“I go through a lot of wedges,” he said.

“I get a new 59-degree perhaps once a month. With all my other wedges I like the grooves to get some wear and tear on them so that I don’t spin the ball that much.

“But around the greens with my 59-degree I love to have a lot of spin.

“It gives me a lot more options. I’m not really hitting a lot of full shots with my 59-degree, it’s a lot of half shots and chip shots.”

In December 2024 Ogletree posted a picture on Instagram (@andyogletree) of himself and girlfriend Allie Lourie holidaying in New York.

In the replies Allie announced: “We’re engaged!”

Ogletree and future wife Allie live in Buckhead, Atlanta.