Connor Flach, from Ellicott City, registered 31-35–66 for the low score in qualifying for the Amateur and Open Championships of the Maryland State Golf Association on a mild, sunny day at Andrews Air Force Base, May 20.
Flach led a field of 34 amateurs at 75 and better and 31 Open players at 74 and better for their respective Championships, while Ki Moon, from Waverly Woods GC, was the low pro with 70. The Amateur will be June 11-14 at Manor CC in Rockville, and the Open will be July 13-15 at Columbia CC in Chevy Chase.
An overnight flooding problem in the eighth fairway forced tournament officials to shorten the 428-yard par 4 to a 175-yard par 3, resulting in a par of 35-36–71 over a course of 6,464 yards.
Flach, 19, a Loyola University Maryland junior and low scorer in his team’s NCAA regional appearance last weekend in Chapel Hill, N.C., started on the back nine and reeled off eight straight pars before knocking in a 10-foot birdie putt at 18. It marked the beginning of a torrid streak, as he birdied the first from 15 feet; eagled the par-4 second from 62 yards, and birdied the third from four feet. He bogeyed the fourth, but steadied with four pars and a two-putt birdie at the 475-yard ninth. He cited better course management as a key to an improved game.
Mason Short, from La Plata, and Tucker Sampson, from Chevy Chase, shared second with 67’s. Short, 19, a West Virginia senior, was in a group that reached the ninth green in two shots and he went on to total 15 greens and have 32-35 for his round. He declared the college game has enabled him to play smarter than in the past and, as he said, “I had no trouble.”
Sampson, who plays from Caves Valley and was making his first competitive appearance in seven months, turned even, birdied 1 and 2, and eagled 9 with a 6-iron to 25 feet for 31-36.
There were six players at 69: Errol Clarke, Patrick Moriarty, Jr.; Jimmy Grem; Ryan McCarthy; Lucas Farmer, and Corey Carrick. Moriarty and Carrick had five birdies; Moriarty and Clarke began at No. 10 and birdied No. 9; McCarthy and Farmer had all pars on the back nine, Grem showed the most improvement among the contenders, as he followed a 2-over 38 on the back with a 4-under 31 on the front.
Reported by John Stewart
