When Brendan Peel, from Columbia Country Club, turned in a 1-under-par 71 in the third group off the first tee in the morning, he had no idea he would still be at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the round.
This was the fourth and final session of the Maryland State Golf Association Amateur/Open qualifying at Queenstown Harbor Golf Links on the Eastern Shore, May 24, and while Peel was joined later by three other amateurs, it remained the low score for the 6,853-yard, par 72 course.
Peel, Will Koras, Hayfields CC, and Ryan Crabtree, from Fountain Head CC, filled the top three spots for both the Amateur and the Open, while Nick Infanti, from Blue Mash Golf Course, entered only the Amateur.
With the amateurs playing for 23 places and the Open players for 18, exactly 23 amateurs at 75 and better advanced, while 19 players at 74 and better made it to the Open.
Peel had one birdie on the front and matched par on the back for 35-36–71; Infanti had four birdies, three bogeys, and played the last eight holes -2, while Koras started bogey-bogey, then played the last 16 holes -3. Crabtree, the only one of the co-leaders to play in the afternoon and start from No. 10, had three birdies, two bogeys in his first six holes, then settled down, eventually putting up a bogey at the first and a birdie at the last, bookends for seven straight pars.
There were three low pros at 72 — Hunter Brown, Andy Kelley, and Chris Wellde.
A total of 112 players returned a score on a cool and breezy, overcast day.
The Amateur is scheduled for June 8-11 at Columbia CC, while the Open is listed for July 10-12 at Woodholme CC in suburban Baltimore.
Reported by John Stewart
