When Brad Benjamin defeated No. 1 overall seed Nick Taylor 7 and 6 in the 36-hole match-play final of the 84th U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship Saturday afternoon, months of preparation and a week of hard work came to an end.

As for Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, the entire week was a complete success.

“The tournament went very, very well. I am just very fortunate to have great committee and great committee chairs as well as volunteers,” said OU director of golf Rodney Young. “Our volunteer base of 330 people was tremendous, and when they got done with their shift they would ask, ‘What else can I do?’ We have very good support and the staff did a great job. At the end of the day, the USGA was happy as could be, and wanted us to apply for another event.”

Along with the tremendous showing Jimmie Austin had in front of a national audience, a couple Oklahoma players showed they were among the best amateur golfers in the world.

Oklahoma assistant coach Philip Bryan took a ride down fairy tale lane as he advanced all the way to the semi-finals, losing 3 and 2 to Taylor, a University of Washington senior.

After concluding the 36-hole stroke play qualifying, Bryan finished tied for 23rd place at 4-over-par (75-71).

Bryan then defeated Braxton Marquez in the opening round of the match play format.

His round of 32 matched him against the No. 5 seeded Gene Webster Jr., of San Bernardino, Calif. Webster came into the match as one of the hotter players in the tournament after carding a 4-under 67 on the last day of qualifying.

Disposing Webster 3 and 2, Bryan was then set-up with a sweet 16 match-up with Cameron Peck. The local favorite continued his roll on a course that he claims to have played 300 to 400 times.

Sliding by Peck 2 and 1, the Oklahoma native then met Sam Lyons in his Friday morning quarterfinal match.

After seeing Lyons fight back from a 3-down deficit winning holes No. 13, No. 14 and No. 15, Bryan birdied the 584 yard, par-5 18th to win the match 1-up and rocket him into a semi-final match with Nick Taylor.

The Bryan-Taylor match-up was perhaps the most followed throughout the week as the hopes of the OU community watched on.

At the end of the day, Taylor, who was the low amateur at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, was too much. Taylor defeated Bryan 3 and 2.

Bryan would take home semi-finalist honors and earned himself an automatic exemption into next year’s tournament.

On the other side of the bracket, junior-to-be Liam Logan cleared the way for a run of his own.

Logan tied for 32nd-place (73-74) at +5 after the two stroke play qualifying rounds would need extra holes in his opening round match with Anders Alberston, of Woodstock, Ga.

Alberston, the youngest player left in the field of 156 after the cut, pushed Logan to the brink, yet never over the edge.

Bryan defeated Albertson 1-up after 20 holes, only to be defeated by the tournament’s No. 3 overall seed Jace Long in the round of 32.

Despite the Sooners walking away without the tournament title, the impression left on the golfers by the Norman community is what most will remember.

“One of the neatest things about it was the common comments was what made this different from all other [USGA events] was the community,” Young said. “They loved the college town and they loved the community support.”

Young also added that the success of the 84th U.S. Publinx could be a stepping stone for Jimmie Austin to host other big events.

“We don’t want to over do it, but we want to have one big event or semi-large event every year,” Young said. “It keeps us on our toes and keeps us making ourselves better. It’s great for the community as well, as it would really help the golf team with recruiting.”

Tournaments that could be on the horizon for Jimmie Austin include the Junior Boys and/or Girls USGA Championships, a men’s NCAA regional or even possibly an NCAA National Championship, Young said.

Jimmie Austin is set to host the 2010 Big 12 Women’s Championship next April.