Brad Miller, taking a break from the eGolf Gateway Tour, presented himself with an early birthday present when he shot a 4-under-par 67 at Hillendale Country Club to earn low qualifying honors at the Maryland State Golf Association Amateur/Open qualifying session on May 12.
Miller, who is from Timonium, and turns 25 Saturday, finished two strokes ahead of professional Billy Hoffman and amateur Charlie Briggs, VI, who were followed by pro Hugo Mazzalupi at 70. They were the only golfers to break par on a mild, sunny, breezy day. The Baltimore County course was played at 6,712 yards.
Briggs, 18, whose father, Charles, V, is the current Head Professional and General Manager at the Burning Tree Club, started on the back, turned with two birdies, and then posted a birdie and a bogey on the front-nine. The 69 was the low score among those trying to qualify for the Amateur. The Heights School senior is headed for St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA, in the fall.
At the finish, 27 players advanced to the Amateur, to be played June 11-14 at Manor Country Club, and 22 moved on to the Maryland Open, set for July 13-15 at Columbia Country Club.
Miller’s tour of 34-33 which began at hole 10, included two birdies on the back and he was -5 through 14 holes. Two bogeys marred his card, but he ended with a par at the ninth. His patience and confidence showed up in this round, just as they had in top-10 finishes (one a playoff loss) on tour his last two events. Miller is a veteran of the Canadian Tour and Web.com Tour, as well as the eGolf Gateway since he graduated from the University of Richmond three years ago. He has ten tour tournaments ahead of him this summer.
Hoffman, an assistant professional at Westwood CC in Vienna, Va., started at hole 1 and went on to put up nines of 35-34.
The younger Briggs was trailed by another teenager, Bennett Buch, from Cattail Creek CC. Bennett matched par of 71, and was tied at that number by Jared Hoffman, also from Cattail Creek, and Daniel Bengtson, Burning Tree. Also at 71 was Briggs’ father, who highlighted his round of 38-33 with two eagles. Briggs, V, eagled the 561-yard 18th with a 3-wood shot to six feet, and later, at the 493-yard eighth with a 7-iron shot to four feet. Those two putts were his shortest of a round that also produced three birdies on the back, while his second eagle saved the round, as he was 4-over for the side at that point. He closed with a par.
Jacob Hormes had his first hole-in-one on the fifteenth hole
Jacob Hormes, 19, a Towson University sophomore, recorded the first hole-in-one of his career on the 172-yard 15th with an 8-iron.
Gregory Bowman, a Hayfields Country Club professional, also had an eagle at the eighth where he holed a wedge shot from 78 yards. He had just birdied the par-3 seventh and the two holes boosted him to an in-coming 38, for an 18-hole total of 78.
This was the second of four Amateur/Open qualifiers, with one scheduled for May 13 at P.B. Dye GC in Ijamsville, and the last on May 20 at The Courses at Andrews, Andrews Air Force Base.
-Reported by John Stewart from Hillendale Country Club
