VARIOUS LOCATIONS, United States (June 8,
2015) -
- The "Road to Chambers Bay" is
complete, after a long, arduous day of
Sectional
Qualifying
on Monday. We talk mostly about the thrill of
victory
below, but there are certainly many more
stories of
""the agony of defeat" that will only be told to
friends
and family.
Following are amateur results from Monday's
big
day, where a total of 15 amateurs punched
their
tickets for Chambers Bay.
Big Canyon C.C. and Newport Beach C.C.,
Newport
Beach, Calif. (112 players for 6 spots)
results
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Jake
Knapp
|
Beau
Hossler |
Brian
Campbell |
Wow -
Jake Knapp can take it low in
qualifiers! He made 8 birdies and a bogey at
Newport Beach Country Club in his morning
round to
sit on top of the leaderboard at 7-under. At the
more
challenging Big Canyon CC, Knapp posted 72 for
a 7-
under 136 total which gives him a sure spot in
the
U.S. Open at T2 with pro Jared Becher of Reno.
(Another pro, Kevin Lucas of Folsom, CA is at 9-
under and will take medalist honors.)
Beau Hossler was right
behind
him after posting a 65 in the morning, also at
Newport Beach CC. He posted a solid 71 in the
afternoon to earn his second appearance in a
U.S.
Open. At The Olympic Club in 2012, Hossler
charmed
galleries as a High School golfer who easily
made
the cut and could have been low amateur if not
for a
few mistakes in the final round. Brian Campbell shot 69-68 to
grab
the final amateur spot. Campbell, from Irvine, is
a
member of the University of Illinois Golf Team
and
will join teammate Nick Hardy at the Open.
Patrick Grimes of Palo Alto got to 7-under,
with
5 birdies in his first thirteen holes at Newport
Beach
CC this afternoon, but went 3-over for his final
four
holes to fall below the cut level. A good showing
for
Grimes, but he will leave empty-handed. results
The Bear's Club, Jupiter, Fla. (70 players for
4
spots) results
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Sam
Horsfield
|
Jack
Maguire |
Florida State Golfer
Jack Maguire
(4-
under 140) tied former World No. 1 Luke Donald
and
Andrew Pope for the top position at 140,
meaning
there was just one spot left to playoff for.
Sam Horsfield and Cristobal
Del
Solar (also an amateur) went head to head for
the
final spot at Chambers Bay after both players
posted
141. Amazingly, Horsfield still had this golden
opportunity despite a triple-bogey in the morning
on
the par 4 11th and a double at the par 3 7th in
the
afternoon. Horsfield, 18, drained a 20-footer on
the
second playoff hole, the par-4 first, to defeat
Florida
State golfer Cristobal Del Solar and earn the
fourth
and final spot. Del Solar had to settle for the
first
alternate position.
If you've never
heard of Horsfield, AmateurGolf.com has a
prediction: you soon will.
The Englishman, who now lives in Florida is a
near
lock for the GB&I Walker Cup squad. About a
year ago he was asked to start listing his
"hometown" in England as opposed to
Orlando, as he was winning major tournaments
like
the New Year's Invitational. So if you look at
the
2015 results of that tournament you would
have
seen
"Sam Horsfield, England" as opposed the
prior year when it said "Sam Horsfield,
Orlando, FL." results
Hawks Ridge G.C., Ball Ground, Ga.
(42 players for 3 spots) results
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Lee
McCoy
|
Matthew
NeSmith
|
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Matthew NeSmith waited the
entire
day to make his first bogey, and when he did
(on his
34th hole) he took two in a row. Bad news? Not
really. Prior to that he had recorded and eagle,
16
birdies and no bogeys to stand alone atop the
leaderboard at 18-under par. And after those
two
bogeys, NeSmith (pronounced
"KneeSmith") put up a birdie at No. 18 to
get a USGA medal, at 17-under par.
Lee McCoy went bogey free all day (when
was
the last time any of us did that for 18 holes, let
alone 36?) to post 13-under and grab the second
spot. results
Woodmont C.C. (North Course),
Rockville,
Md. (56 players for 3 spots)
re
sults
 |
Denny
McCarthy
|
Denny McCarthy tied for
medalist with Billy Hurley III at 6-under on the
heals
of a solid 68 in the afternoon, which tied the
second
round low. It's no surprise to those of us at
AmateurGolf.com, who have watched McCarthy
advance to
the semi-finals of the 2014 U.S. Amateur.
While
one
more match win would have given him a spot
in the
2015 Masters, he at least got the consolation
prize
of
not having to grind through U.S. Open local
qualifying.
He's taken advantage of it at sectional today, to
say
the least.
A "nice try" to Isaiah Logue of
Pennsylvania. He posted 143 to miss a final-spot
playoff by a single shot. Zach Seabolt of South
Carolina's
Winthrop University was also in the field; he
fired 69
for his first 18, and got to 5-under on the day
through 28 holes. But he had a disastrous finish,
with
three bogeys and a double in his final five holes
to
shoot 77 and finish well down the leaderboard.
They
don't call it the "Golf's Longest Day" for
nothing. re
sults
Old Oaks C.C./Century C.C., Purchase, N.Y.
(71
players for 4 spots) results
AFTERNOON UPDATE: It
was
a no-go for the amateurs in New York. Two-time
Open winner Lee Janzen took the top spot, and
the
other three spots were taken by Jamie
Lovemark,
Pat Wilson, and Rich Berberian, Jr. (Berberian,
of
Derry, N.H. will ensure that at least one player
from
the "Live Free or Die" state of New
Hampshire is in the field.) A "way to go"
to Vinay Ramesh of Newton Pennsylvania, an
amateur golfer who birdied his last hole to have
a
chance for a playoff, but found himself in a three
way tie for 5th at 141. Another shot back was
amateur Zach Zaback of Farmington, CT.
Brookside Golf & C.C./The Lakes Golf &
C.C.,
Columbus, Ohio (120 players for 15 spots)
results
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Bryson
Dechambeau |
The Columbus field features veteran PGA Tour
players Steve Stricker, Vijay Singh, Davis Love
III
and a couple of upstart 21-year-olds Justin
Thomas
and Daniel Berger. As for the amateurs playing
Columbus? At least two of them were already
in
town at the Memorial receiving awards from
the
man, Jack Nicklaus himself. Up against all of
those
top guns is Bryson Dechambeau, the NCAA
champion
who plays with constant length irons, a Ben
Hogan
cap, and a green-reading technique he
developed
himself.
His name?
It's Bryson DeChambeau,
and
he doesn't only think different, he thinks big.
Dechambeau is "in the house" at 11-
under par, ahead of Tour players with millions of
dollars in earnings. He posted 66 in the morning
and
is 5-under 67 in the afternoon round. And get
this.
On his first 18, he birdied four-in-a-row and
three-in-
a-row. How did he start his second 18? With
four-
straight birdies! Max Rotluff is 10th, and 2014
qualifier Maverick McNealy and early favorite
Hunter
Stewart finished a disappointing T35 at 141. The
lowest amateur besides Dechambeau (which
shows
how awesome his play was) was another
Californian,
Corey Pereira of Cameron Park. (70-70=140) results
Springfield C.C., Springfield, Ohio
(67 players for 4 spots) results
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Nick
Hardy
|
We knew it wouldn't be a good idea to bet
against
Nick Hardy. He just finished
his
freshman year at Illinois, and showed the kind
of
grit
and determination at the NCAA Championship
that
are required to make a U.S. Open. He finished
T38
in
the stroke play portion of the NCAA, but prior
to
that
he was co-winner of the individual medal at the
Big
Ten Championship (with Iowa's Carson
Schaake) at
Victoria National Golf Club in Indiana.
He's played on
television, and knows the kind of pressure he's
about
to face on "Golf's Longest Day."
Coming down the stretch he proved that he
wanted
that coveted spot in the field. A double bogey
on No.
18 in the morning didn't help (lunch might not
have
tasted so good) but five birdies and a single
bogey in
the afternoon at Springfield Country Club did the
trick. At 6-under 134, Hardy has grabbed one of
the
four available spots. His team may not have
gotten
the job done at the NCAAs, but this must feel
pretty
good. results
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Davis Riley
|
Germantown C.C./Ridgeway C.C., Memphis,
Tenn. (121 Players for 10 Spots) results
The Memphis qualifier is one of the best
places
to watch pro golfers up close (well, actually the
one
in Columbus isn't bad either). That's because it's
Fedex St. Jude Classic week, and many PGA
Tour
players not otherwise exempt for the Open
choose to
play here before beginning their practice
regimen at
TPC Southwind. Last year I had the pleasure
(except
for the hauling the bag part) of caddying for
Harris
English in a Tuesday practice round at the Fedex
St.
Jude, and I attended the Monday sectional at
Colonial
the day before.
Only Davis Riley had a legitimate chance to
get
in as the afternoon sun started to set, with
favorites
(among amateurs) Robbie Shelton and Austin
Connelly outside of the top 30. Coming down the
stretch, Riley went to work, recording birdies on
two
of his last five holes for an afternoon 67 on top
of his
morning 69 to finish at 6-under, tied for 8th with
two
time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen and Andres
Romero. The best part? There were exactly 10
spots
available, so no playoff was required.
We're also happy to see that
AmateurGolf.com
alum Brandon Hagy has punched his ticket into
the
field at Chambers Bay, posting 65-69 (T3 at 8-
under)
to make his wait by the scoreboard a much
more
relaxing one.results
Northwood Club, Dallas, Texas (78 players
for 6
spots) results
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Cole
Hammer
|
Matt
Mabrey |
Kyle
Jones |
Cole Hammer of Houston, Matt Mabrey of Little
Rock,
Kyle Jones of Snowflake,
Arizona
are all in the top-6 in Dallas. Hammer posted
132,
while Mabrey and Jones had to sweat it out right
until the end as they were tied for the last spot
at
134.
Hammer, 15, wowed spectators and officials
by
posting 8-under 132. His 36 hole day was
highlighted
by a morning round of 64, the lowest of any
player
all day. Hammer is an incoming sophomore at
the
Kincaid School in Houston and will likely be the
youngest player at Chambers Bay. You can't
make
this stuff up!
The Texas field that included several PGA
Tour
past winners (Steve Marino, Rod Pampling,
Matthew
Goggin) and ANY golfer who gets to this level in
Texas knows how to play afternoon winds, and
how
to post a number. Look out Jordan Spieth - here
comes "The Hammer" and he's already
committed to attend University of Texas,
starting --
believe it -- in 2018! results
Tumble Creek Club, Cle Elum, Wash. (50
players
for 3 spots) results
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Cheng-Tsung
Pan
|
We really wanted to see Cheng-Tsung Pan make
it
into the Open, particularly at Chambers Bay in
Washington where he played his college golf.
Pressure? You betcha. Pan made an ace in his
first
round, on the 7th hole, but had no time to
celebrate.
Outside of the top 3 all day, he finished like
someone
who has been there before (he has, in 2013) by
making birdies on 3 of his last 4 holes to finish
as
(likely) medalist at 138.
SEE YOU AT CHAMBERS BAY ...
We wish all players in the U.S. Open
Sectional
Qualifying the best of luck. Fans can use the
live
leaderboard links next to each location to view
scoring from each location. But the best way to
view
it is in person. If you have the time, I
encourage
you
to visit the "location near your" and
watch some of the best players that aren't
exempt
for the U.S. Open try to earn their way to
Chambers
Bay. Because it won't just be amateurs vying
for
spots, former U.S. Open winners like Retief
Goosen
(yup he has to qualify) and Fred Couples will
be out
there trying to qualify for another U.S. Open.