2019 U.S. Open local qualifying roundup
U.S. Open qualifying is underway, as golfers from across the country and across the world try to punch their ticket to the 119th U.S. Open Championship in June at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links.
A total of 8,602 professional and amateur golfers are competing for 500 spots across 112 local qualifying sites. Successful qualifiers move on to one of 12 sectional qualifying sites--ten in the U.S., one in England and one in Japan.
Amateur highlights from local qualifying include:
May 13
Chase Carlson, a redshirt junior at Colorado Christian, and Wisconsin sophomore
Griffin Barela were two of the three co-medalists at Walnut Creek Golf Preserve in Westminster, Colo., with rounds of 70.
Minnesota sophomore
Evan Long, advanced with 70 from The Club at Nevillewood (Pa.).
Add another high schooler to the list: Texas Tech commit
Garrett Martin medaled at the Club at Comanche Trache in Kerrville, Texas.
Utah junior
Mitchell Schow was the sole amateur to advance from Riverside Country Club in Provo, Utah.
All five men who qualified at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Ontario were Canadian. Chase Komaromi and Cougar Collins were also amateurs.
Ohio sophomore Zach Crawford advanced with 70 from Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club in Powell, Ohio. Ohio-based high school junior Drew Salyers also got through.
Three amateurs advanced from Paiute Golf Resort’s Sun Mountain Course in Las Vegas: Brandon Smith, Brett Kanda and Brandom Bauman.
Hans Reimers and Harrison Moir earned co-medalist honors each carding 4-under 66. Reimers, a professional from Phoenix, Ariz., tallied an event-high seven birdies, while Moir, an amateur from Tigard, was even par through the first nine before dropping birdies on his final three holes to close the round at 4-under par.
New Mexico State senior Davis Chung was co-medalist at Painted Dunes Golf Club in El Paso, Texas.
Only Pete Kuhl, a Wisconsin junior, represented the amateurs in getting out of the qualifier at Illini Country Club in Springfield, Ill.
Mid-amateur Derek Busby, runner-up at this year’s Gasparilla Invitational and winner of the 2017 Crane Cup, was medalist at Money Hill Golf Club in Abita Springs, La.
Three amateurs advanced from Maketewah Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio: Chris Burger, Alex Rodger and Hayden Zimmerer.
Only two of the eight to advance from TPC at Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas were amateurs: Drew Lilly of St. Louis, Mo., and Eric Gibbs of Ruston, La.
Chase Cutshall, a Florida Tech freshman, had a 71 at Shingle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., and advanced after winning a playoff for the final spot.
John Sawin, vice president at Pebble Beach, is one step closer to playing a U.S. Open at his place of business. Sawin began his new job last year, and attempted to qualify for the U.S. Amateur despite being the chairman of the event. He did not qualify, but co-medaling at his U.S. Open local qualifier at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., is a good sign that the cards may fall into place this time around. In addition to Sawin, amateurs Mark Manwaring and Michael Ryder also advanced at Pasatiempo.
High school junior Kolbe Irei, of Honolulu, Hawaii, won a playoff for the second and final spot at Waialae Country Club in his hometown.
Alex Goff, a Kentucky freshman, was co-medalist at Pinewild Country Club’s Magnolia Course in Pinehurst, N.C., with a 69.
|
|
Luke Long
| John Sawin
|
Texas commit Travis Vick, Houston junior Luke Long and high-school junior Jacob Borrow all advanced out of Westwood Golf club in Houston, Texas.
Charlie Kennerly, a redshirt sophomore at Wake Forest whose father Ken is the executive director of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic, was the sole amateur qualifier at Willoughby Golf Club in Stuart, Fla.
Canadian amateur Patrick Forbes qualified with a 73 at the Country Club of Scranton in Clarks Summit, Pa.
Grand Valley State senior Bryce Messner qualified out of Catawba Island Club in Port Clinton, Ohio, and will join teammate Alex Scott in U.S. Open sectionals. Canadian amateur Brendan Seys also qualified.
Add Henry May to the list of high schoolers who made it through local qualifying. A 69 at Chaska (Minn.) Town Course got the high school senior through.
Amateurs swept the top three spots at Colleton River Club in Bluffton, S.C.: Christian Baliker and Ethan Cairns co-medaled with 71 and Drew Weary had 72.
South Florida sophomore Erik Souchak had 70 to advance at Sara Bay Country Club in Sarasota, Fla.
It’s a rare feat (maybe an unheard-of feat?) when a member of the media gets through local qualifying. Fox personality Shane Bacon did it at Phoenix (Ariz.) Country Club, taking the last of five available spots with a 68. Bacon plays left-handed, and has much experience in all arenas of golf. He is a self-described “failed mini tour player” and also spent time as a caddie at St. Andrews. Fellow amateur Tyler Kertson was co-medalist in Phoenix.
May 9
Drew Miller, the Ole Miss commit who won the Jones Cup Junior last December, led all qualifiers at Jackson (Tenn.) Country Club with a 67 despite an on-again, off-again day of weather. Amateurs Isaiah Jackson and Cooper Sears also qualified with rounds of 68 and 69, respectively. Sears, a Middle Tennessee sophomore, made birdie on the second playoff hole to get through.
Austin Fox of Folsom, Calif., and Daulet Tuleubayev of Kazakhstan were part of a three-way tie for medalist honors at Granite Bay (Calif.) Golf Club, where five spots were on the line. Fox is a sophomore at Pacific University and Tuleubayev is a freshman at Stanford who won the Kazakhstan Amateur at the age of 12.
Jimmy Delp, an accomplished Virginia-based mid-amateur, and Mark Lawrence, a senior on the Virginia Tech roster, shared medalist honors at the Federal Club in Glen Allen, Va. Both had 68. Other amateurs to qualify from the site include Nicholas Weiss, Alexandre Fuchs and Walker Cress.
At Cypress Run Golf Club in Tarpon Springs, Fla., Ryoto Furuya from Tampa, Fla., and Khavish Varadan from Malaysia were the only amateurs to qualify.
Charlie Reiter is a freshman at USC, but he already has a PGA Tour start to his credit. He became the first amateur in the history of the CareerBuilder Challenge’s (now the Desert Classic) to receive a sponsor exemption when he played the 2018 event, but missed the cut. He’ll have a shot at making another pro start after co-medaling at the local qualifier at Bermuda Dunes Country Club in Bermuda, Calif. Reiter had 67. Dylan Menante, a Pepperdine signee, was one shot back with 68 and also qualified.
Two more Florida-based collegians punched their ticket to U.S. Open sectionals at the qualifier at LPGA International Golf Club in Daytona Beach, Fla. North Florida’s Jordan Batchelor and Florida’s Gordon Neale are both in.
Three amateurs advanced from Columbia (S.C.) Country Club: Keller Harper – medalist with a 66 – plus Caleb Proveaux and Max Theodorakis.
Austin Greaser led qualifiers at Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Ky., with a 67 for medalist honors. Greaser is a Vandalia, Ohio-based high school senior headed to the University of North Carolina next fall. Trevor Johnson, a Louisville junior, was close behind with a 68, and Evan Davis, a Belmont sophomore, was also on that number. The fourth and final amateur to get through was Indiana University’s Ethan Shepherd with 69. His younger sister is two-time USGA champion (and incoming Duke freshman) Erica Shepherd.
Boston College’s Matthew Naumec was the sole amateur to advance through qualifying at Pinehills Golf Club’s Nicklaus Course in Plymouth, Mass.
J.R. Warthen was co-medalist at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc, Calif., with a 68. Interestingly, the former San Diego State player was medalist in both his U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier and his U.S. Amateur qualifier in 2018. Warthen is a reinstated amateur. California-based collegians Jack Avrit, a Santa Clara sophomore, and Joshua McCarthy, who plays for Pepperdine, also advanced with rounds of 70.
Mississippi State’s standout freshman Ford Clegg medaled in his home state at RTJ Golf Trail at Silver Lakes in Glenco, Ala. Also in: Chattanooga’s Lake Johnson and Alabama’s Wilson Furr.
Eight men got through the qualifier at Whitewater Creek Country Club in Fayetteville, Ga., and half were amateurs. Georgia Tech signee Andy Mao was medalist with 67. Austin Fulton of Villa Rica, Ga., Stephen Shephard of Niceville, Fla., and Lindsey Cordell of Rome, Ga., rounded out the amateur contingent.
Soon-to-be 16-year-old Luke Sample of New York, N.Y., fired 6-under 65, at Hollow Brook Golf Club in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., leading six qualifiers at the site. Sample played his first seven holes in even par before reeling off six birdies in a seven-hole stretch. He will turn 16 later this month. Florida State freshman Parker Reddig qualified with 67 and 18-year-old Jack Wall, a South Carolina commit, got through with 68. Wall nearly made it through sectional qualifying a year ago.
Ronald Robertson of Hatfield, Pa., was the sole amateur to get through the qualifier at Medford Village (N.J.) Country Club.
May 8
Arizona State junior Blake Wagoner is through U.S. Open local qualifying after a 67 at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz. He was the only amateur among five qualifiers from that site.
|
|
Blake Wagoner
| Garett Reband
|
Another Oklahoma State player has gotten through local qualifying. Junior Garett Reband co-medalied with fellow amateur Rob Laird (a former collegian at Tulsa who now competes as a mid-amateur) with a 70 at Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma City, Okla. In the past week, Sooners Blaine Hale and Riley Casey have also gotten through. Cody Burrows, a senior at Oral Roberts who won the Summit League individual title last month, also got through.
Two amateurs were among the three to advance from Wichita (Kan.) Country Clubwith rounds of 68: Kevin Ward of Prairie Village, Kan., and Fisher Vollendorf of Fayetteville, Ark.
Conditions were miserable at Wild Rock Golf Club in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, but Marquette’s Austin Kendziorski of Germantown, Wis., fired a 70 to take medalist honors by three shots. Fellow Wisconsin-based amateurs Mike Mueller and Ryonen Faris also advanced with rounds of 74 and 75, respectively.
With a round of 70 at Rockaway Hunting Club in Lawrence, N.Y., amateur Billy Whalen took one of seven available qualifying spots. Whalen played collegiately for Arizona then Vanderbilt from 2003 to 2008, and frequented the amateur circuit during that time.
So far, Robert Keilch is one of the best stories out of U.S. Open local qualifying. The 16-year-old Newport Beach, Calif., native had a course-record 61 at Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine, Calif., to win medalist honors by six shots. Keilch told Golf Digest he hit all 14 fairways in his round and also putted well. He had nine birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in his round. Amateurs Clayton Seeber and Samuel Kim also advanced from Oak Creek.
Andrew Kozan, a West Palm Beach, Fla., native who is a sophomore at Auburn, survived local qualifying in his hometown. Kozan made it through with a 70 at Banyan Cay Resort & Golf Club.
The top three men at the Holston Hills Country Club qualifier in Knoxville, Tenn., were amateurs. Vanderbilt standout William Gordon medaled with 65, followed by the University of Tennessee’s own Hunter Wolcott, a redshirt sophomore, with 66. Keith Guest, the Athens, Ga., resident who famously proposed to his then-girlfriend Laura Beth Branan at the 2012 Masters, also had 66 to advance.
Long Beach State senior Hunter Epson was the sole amateur to advance from the qualifier at Ironwood Country Club’s South Course in Palm Desert, Calif.
Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C., hosted a local qualifier, and while four collegians were among those to advance, only one was from Duke. That would be Chandler Eaton, who had a 70 and had to play off for his spot. The three others who advanced include North Carolina’s Ryan Gerard, North Carolina-Greensboro’s Nick Lyerly, Davidson’s Jack Lang.
Florida freshman Eugene Hong and Brendan Valdes, a 16-year-old who plays for Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, took two of the four spots at Orange Tree Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.
Canadian Chris Crisologo, winner of the South American Amateur this winter, had a 65 at Gamble Sands in Brewster, Wash., to medal by three shots at his local qualifier. Remarkably, it could have been lower but for a double-bogey at the par-4 18th. Craig Crawford of Stanwood, Wash., and Daniel Whitaker of Ellensburg, Wash., also qualified.
BYU’s Carson Lundell medaled at the Riverton (Wyo.) Country Club qualifier, but he was the only amateur to advance.
Andrew Hess, a sophomore at Utah State, had a 69 to earn the second of two spots at Timberstone Golf Club in Boise, Idaho.
May 7
Denmark’s Rasumus Lind, who transferred from Lindsey Wilson College to the University of Toledo for this season, was co-medalist at Beechmont Country Club in Cleveland, Ohio. Skyler Fox, a 16-year-old from Beaver Falls, Pa., also advanced with 70 and amateurs Maxwell Modlovan and Nate Thompson were also on that number.
|
|
Gabe Lench
| David Morgan
|
An overwhelming number of amateurs advanced through the qualifier at Worthington Manor in Urbana, Md., in fact, seven of the eight spots went to amateurs. That list included Ervin Chang, Gabriel Lench, George Duangmanee, William Peel IV, David Morgan, Nick Sorkin and Thomas Walsh.
Jared Nelson was the No. 1 recruit from the state of Vermont, and the Siena College freshman validated that distinction by co-medaling at the local qualifier at Berkshire Hills Country Club in Pittsfield, Mass., with a 69.
Six players advanced from the local qualifier at Gold Mountain Golf Course’s Olympic Course in Bremerton, Wash., (site of the 2011 U.S. Junior Amateur), and two of them were amateurs. Spencer Tibbits, an Oregon State sophomore, had five birdies on the day, as well as an eagle on the par-5 11th for a bogey-free round of 65 that clinched medalist honors. Daniel Campbell took the sixth and final spot with a 71. He is a senior at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, where he won the individual title in the 2017 Canadian Collegiate National Golf Championships.
At Morris Park Country Club in South Bend, Ind., Notre Dame senior had a 70 to advance with one of four available spots. Mitchell Davis, a freshman at Indiana, also advanced with a 71.
|
|
Roy Cootes
| Derek Hitchner
|
Four of five players who advanced from the Industry Hills (Calif.) Golf Club qualifier were amateurs. That included medalist Andrew Spilman, a senior at UC Riverside. Pepperdine teammates Roy Cootes (a senior) and Derek Hitchner (a freshman) also advanced, along with Hope International University senior Erick Liscio.
Jason Molner, a Lewiston, Id., based amateur, took the second of two qualifying spots at Green Meadow Country Club in Missoula, Mont.
Denver freshman was co-medalist at the qualifier at Collindale Golf Club in Fort Collins, Colo., with a 69. Dylan Wonnacott, a former college golfer at Fort Hays State who won the 2017 Longmont (Colo.) City Tournament, and John Murdock, a senior at Wyoming, also qualified.
San Diego native Kaiwen Liu, a sophomore at Cal, led the amateur charge at Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton, Calif, with 69. Another Pac-12 golfer also advanced from Ruby Hills with 69 and that was Washington sophomore Noah Woolsey. Ryan Meyer, a junior golfer from Oakdale, Calif., took the final spot with a 70.
Canadian amateurs Shawn Sehra and Luc Warnock co-medaled with rounds of 70 at Knollwood Country Club in West Bloomfield, Mich., while Coalter Smith, an incoming Wisconsin freshman, got through with a 71.
May 6
Two Michigan-based amateurs advanced through the qualifier at Muskegon (Mich.) Country Club on May 6, including Grand Valley State junior Alex Scott of Traverse City and Michigan State senior Donnie Trosper of Canton.
The sole amateur to make it through at the Genoa (Nev.) Lakes Golf Club was Dustin Hall from Sparks, Nev. Stephen Osborne, a junior at the University of Nevada, was an alternate, however.
In a blast from the amateur past, former Duke golfer Yaroslav Merkulov had a 71 a Deerfield Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., to advance with one of two spots. Merkulov competed frequently on the amateur circuit, with a trip to the Western Amateur quarterfinals in 2010 being among the highlights.
Frank Lindwall, a sophomore at Iowa State, was the only amateur to advance through the qualifier at Davenport Country Club in Pleasant Valley, Iowa. He had a 70 to finish second.
North Dakota State junior Andrew Israelson earned co-medalist honors at StoneRidge Golf Club in Stillwater, Minn., alongside professional Ross Miller. Both men shot 69. Israelson qualified for the U.S. Amateur in 2017. Jesse Polk, a fellow amateur from Minnesota, also qualified with a 71. Polk played collegiately for St. Mary’s Minnesota, graduating in 2007. The mid-amateur teamed with Sammy Schmitz, winner of the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur, to win the International Four-Ball in 2016. Collegians Frankie Capan (Alabama) and Tommy Vining (South Dakota) are the first and second alternates out of Stillwater, respectively.
Brandon Bueno carried the amateur torch by advancing out of the qualifier at Indian Ridge Country Club’s Grove Course in Palm Desert, Calif. The Malibu native is a junior on the UC Santa Barbara roster.
Penn State junior Ryan Davis put up a 69 at Alpine Country Club in Demarest, N.J., to advance with one of six qualifying spots. German amateur Florian Schroedl also advanced with a 71. Thomas McCarthy, a former Yale golfer who has remained amateur, also had 71 but fell in a playoff and had to settle for status as an alternate.
|
|
Ben Wong
| Blaine Hale
|
Four of six qualifiers out of Coyote Ridge Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas were amateurs, including Josh Gliege of Meridian Idaho, Blaine Hale of Dallas, Thomas Allkins of Canada and Shuai Ming (Ben) Wong of China. Hale is a senior at the University of Oklahoma and 19-year-old Wong is a USGA champion after having partnered with Frankie Capan to win the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. He is also a freshman at SMU.
Christopher Ferris, junior at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, was the medalist at Fox Run Golf Club in St. Louis, Mo., with a 70. Crimson Callahan also qualified, a day after winning the Old Warson Cup, also in St. Louis.
Five of five spots went to amateurs at Makefield Highlands Golf Club in Yardley, Pa. Ryan Dornes of Lancaster, Pa., was the medalist with a 68 followed by Carey Bina of Villanova, Pa., Christopher Ault of Yardley, Zachary Bardin of Elkton, Md., and Jeremy Wall of Brielle, N.J. Bina, a former NCCGA club golfer, was runner-up at the Dixie Amateur to end 2018.
Georgia Tech junior Tyler Strafaci was co-medalist at the qualifier at Lago Mar Country Club in Plantation, Fla., with a round of 66. Strafaci is a relative local there, having grown up in Davie, Fla. Chris Nido, a sophomore at the University of Florida who hails from Puerto Rico, also qualified with 67.
|
|
Tyler Strafaci
| Chris Nido
|
Of the four qualifiers out of Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Middlefield, Conn., only Jimmy Hervol is an amateur. Hervol is a senior co-captain for the UConn men’s golf team.
Tyler Cooke, a Warwick, R.I., native who played golf and hockey for UConn, had a 70 at Ledgemont Country Club in Seekonk, Mass., to advance with one of four qualifying spots. Cooke, who plays out of Wannamoisett Country Club, won the John Burke Memorial in October.
A pair of North Florida teammates advanced through the local qualifier at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Philip Knowles of Bradenton, Fla., and Travis Trace of Jacksonville, Fla., are both seniors on the Osprey team. Knowles medaled with 67 while Trace had a 69 and won a playoff for the fifth and final spot.
Matt Echelmeier, a senior at the University of Missouri, co-medaled at the qualifier at the Golf Club of Creekmoor in Raymore, Mo., taking one of three available spots. Kyle Long, head golf coach at Shorter University in Rome, Ga., took the last of three qualifying spots.
Four of the five available spots at Sunnyside Country Club in Fresno, Calif., went to amateurs: Connor Golembeski of Redmond, Wash., Jamie Cheatham of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Alex Lee of Sacramento, Calif., and Israel Garcia of Dinuba, Calif.
May 2
With rounds of 68 and 69, respectively, at Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix, Md., amateurs Christopher Zhang and Austin Barbin advanced through local qualifying. Zhang, of Blacksburg, Va., competes mostly on the American Junior Golf Association circuit, and Barbin, of Elkton, Md., is also a junior golfer.
At Sewailo Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz., Briggs Duce, a junior on the Arizona men’s golf team, had a 66 to finish second among four qualifiers. Another amateur, Drew Kittleson, also qualified at Sewailo. Kittleson was runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Amateur, and qualified for the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach last summer as a reinstated amateur. He failed to advance through a 24-for-1 playoff to match play.
Shiryu (Leo) Oyo of San Diego had a 66 to tie for medalist honors at the Grand Golf Club in San Diego.
|
|
Riley Casey
| Garrett Rank
|
The medalist at Amarillo (Texas) Country Club was Oklahoma junior Riley Casey with a 64. Andy Lopez, freshman at Stephen F. Austin, also qualified with a 66.
Canadian Garrett Rank, an NHL hockey referee who also happens to be one of the top mid-amateurs in the game, qualified at Mission Inn Resort and Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., with a 3-under 69. Rank was one of two amateurs to get through the Mission Inn qualifier. The second was Canon Claycomb, one of the top junior golfers in the country who calls Orlando home and plays and practices out of Lake Nona Golf & Country Club. He had younger brother Cooper on the bag.
Four men moved on from the Country Club of York (Pa.) qualifier and two of them were amateurs: Garrett Engle of Harrisburg, Pa., and Connor Flach of Ellicott City, Md.
Pepperdine freshman Joe Highsmith was the sole amateur to advance out of the qualifier at Andalusia Country Club in La Quinta, Calif. He had a 69 to take one of five spots.
May 1
Butte Creek Golf & Country Club in Chico, Calif., was overrun with amateur qualifiers. Noah Norton, a Chico native and Georgia Tech standout, medaled with a 67. It left him two shots ahead of Nicklaus Rivera and Michael Slesinski and three ahead of Robert Bucey, who won the California Amateur in 2018 and the NCGA Mid-Amateur in 2017.
|
|
Noah Norton
| Robert Bucey
|
Three of five qualifiers at River Landing in Wallace, N.C., were amateurs: Morgan Deneen, Harrison Rhoades and Wes Artac.
Varun Chopra was the medalist – and the only player to break 70 with his 4-under 68 – at Cog Hills Golf & Country Club’s Dubsdread Course in Lemont, Ill. Chopra is a sophomore at the University of Illinois. David Perkins, a junior at Illinois State, advanced with a 72 and Mac McClear, an Illinois native who will play for Iowa, took the final spot with a 73.
The sole amateur qualifier at the Country Club of Winter Haven (Fla.) was Albin Bergstrom, a University of South Florida freshman from Sweden. Bergstrom was recently named the American Conference freshman of the year.
Jeff Doty, a redshirt freshman at the University of Kansas, was medalist at the Highland Golf & Country Club in Indianapolis, Ind., with his 65. Two other amateurs – Brett Seward and Michael Cascino – had rounds of 68 to also advance.
April 30
With rounds of 70 and 71, respectively, amateurs Sean Carlon and Greg Condon took the top two spots out of the qualifier at the UNM Championship Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M. Carlon is an Albuquerque native who plays for New Mexico. He logged top-3 finishes at the Gobbler Amateur and Saguaro Amateur in the college offseason. Condon, meanwhile, is the Monte Vista, Colo., native who medaled in U.S. Senior Amateur stroke play last fall.
Amateurs took four of five available spots at Hot Springs (Ark.) Country Club’s Arlington Course. Medalist Mitchell Ford, a Henderson State sophomore, led that contingent. At 4-under 68, he was one ahead of Austin Gean and Andre Jacobs. Perhaps the most recognizable amateur to advance, however, was Arkansas junior Mason Overstreet winner of the 2017 Patriot All-America tournament.
April 29
|
|
Bryson Nimmer
| Stephen Behr
|
At Marietta (Ga.) Country Club, eight spots were available in sectionals and six of them went to amateurs. Among the notable players to advance were Clemson’s present and past. Senior Bryson Nimmer advanced as co-medalist with a 6-under 66 and former Tiger Stephen Behr, who was medalist last fall in his U.S. Mid-Amateur debut, earned a pass with his 68.
Dixie Amateur winner Jonathan Keppler, a redshirt sophomore at Florida State who calls Marietta home, also was among the top 10 with a 68 of his own. The remaining amateurs who qualified include Maximilian Herrmann, Spencer Ralston and David Li.
Texas freshman Pierceson Coody was co-medalist at the Hills Country Club’s Signature Course in his adopted college hometown of Austin, Texas. Coody, who joined the Longhorn roster this year along with his twin Parker Coody, won the South Beach International Amateur to end 2018. The only other amateur to get through local qualifying in Austin was Creighton Honeck, an Austin local, was one half of the winning Trans-Miss Four-Ball team last fall.
ABOUT THE
U.S. Open Local Qualifying
18-hole stroke play qualifier open to male amateurs
with a handicap of 0.4 and below. Players who
advance
will get to choose their top three sectional qualifying
sites. The number of qualifying spots will depend on
the size of the field.
View Complete Tournament Information