Just getting to the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship is tough enough.

Winning it is reaching the pinnacle of success in the sport.

Two members of St. Jude Golf Club in Chicora - Nathan Smith of Brookville and Sean Knapp of Oakmont - will compete in the week-long event beginning Monday at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore.

Both have been there before with moderate success. Smith reached the round of 16 in match play in 2000. Knapp reached the final eight in 1998.

"I look at this as three separate tournaments," Knapp, 43, said. "First, you have to qualify for it. Secondly, you have to get into match play. Finally, you have to win it.

"It's different. There's nothing else like it. It's the most challenging event in golf."

The United States Golf Association accepted 7,320 entries for this year's U.S. Amateur. The event is open to anyone with a USGA handicap not exceeding 2.4.

Sectional qualifying was conducted in 36-hole tournaments at 98 sites throughout the country. Knapp qualified by finishing second out of 70 golfers in a qualifier at Buffalo Valley. The top three finishers qualified from that sectional.

Smith, 26, qualified via exemption, since he won the U.S. Mid-Amateur two years ago. He missed last year's event while recovering from shoulder surgery.

"It's neat to just be a part of this," Smith said. "This tournament has so much history. I feel privileged to be able to play in it so many times."

The U.S. Amateur is the oldest golf championship in this country. It began in 1895 and is one day older than the U.S. Open.

This is Smith's fifth U.S. Amateur since 1999. Knapp is playing in his 11th since 1988. Knapp had to qualify every year except one.

"It's an achievement just getting this far," he said.

Bennett Smith of Pittsburgh, grandson of Vernon Wise of Butler, also qualified for the U.S. Amateur this summer.

The U.S. Amateur format is unique in that it uses 36 holes of stroke play Monday and Tuesday to reduce a 364-golfer field to 64.

Stroke play is held at the Merion Golf Club one day and Philadelphia Country Club the next.

The remaining 64 golfers go into match play beginning Wednesday. Two rounds of match play continue Thursday, followed by single-rounds of match play Friday through Sunday to determine the winner.

"The match play is golf's version of March Madness," Smith said.

"No matter how well you play, you need some breaks to win," Knapp said. "You could have a great round during match play, but you may be headed home anyway if the other guy did better."

Smith said the idea of playing championship-caliber golf every day for a week is tough enough without the intangibles that enter the mix.

"Maybe you get a bad tee time, you're playing in hotter weather, you have one bad hole … Any of that stuff can knock you out of it," he said. "Luck really comes into play during match play, if you get that far.

"While luck is a factor, all of the great players manage to win this event somehow. It can define you as a player."

Bobby Jones won it five times over a seven-year stretch from 1924 to 1930. His 1930 victory rounded out the Grand Slam that year.

Tiger Woods won a record three consecutive U.S. Amateurs from 1994 to 1996. He was 18 when he won the 1994 event, becoming the youngest golfer to ever win a U.S. Amateur.

Gene Littler, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Mark O'Meara, Hal Sutton and Phil Mickelson have also won the Havemeyer Cup, which goes to the U.S. Amateur champion.

Knapp is vice president of financial sales for Fuhrer Inc.

"It's hard getting ready for this tournament because I have my job to take care of, my travel itinerary, trying to get practice time in … There just isn't enough time for all that," Knapp said.

"I try to do most of my golf preparation on-site. Practice rounds are on Saturday and Sunday and I try to take care of the golf end of things then."

Smith and Knapp have both enjoyed prestigious tournament wins within the past year. Smith won the Frank Fuhrer Invitational Aug. 3 at the Pittsburgh Field Club.

Knapp won the state Mid-Amateur at Philadelphia Country Club last year.

"I've had some good stretches of play this summer," Smith said. "I've been in the top five here and there, but I don't look at golf that way. I look at wins."

Knapp does the same.

"Honestly, I've had a disappointing season," he said. "But in one respect, I've qualified for two USGA events and that's pretty special. I've done well at the Philadelphia Country Club, so that could help me."

Knapp qualified for the Mid-Amateur - slated in September in Chattanooga, Tenn. - by winning a recent qualifier at Deer Run.

"If I can put together two great USGA performances, this disappointing season could become pretty good, pretty quick," Knapp admitted.