Pikesville, Md. — 117 golfers competed Monday in a U.S. Amateur Local Qualifier hosted at Woodholme Country Club to move on to Final Qualifying. This is the first year of the two-stage qualifying format for this USGA Championship.
With 13 qualifying spots and two alternate spots up for grabs, the morning wave teed off on a brisk, cool morning. The day started out calm, but that soon changed as the winds picked up. A steady breeze of 20 MPH with gusts reaching 30 MPH made it difficult for the morning wave to score well.
Colin Summers from Westfield, N.J. seemed to not be bothered by the morning winds. He began his round at 8:30 AM, and after he got through his front nine holes, he was already 1-under-par. After he made the turn to the back nine, he rattled off three birdies and six pars to shoot an impressive 4-under-par round of 67. At the end of the morning wave, he had the lead, but by the end of the day, he was the medalist.
Mike O’Neil of Baltimore, Md. finished just one shot behind Summers as he shot a 3-under-par round of 68. He started his round on No. 10 at 1:10 PM, and he did not take his foot off the gas pedal. He made four birdies and five pars to shoot an impressive bogey-free 32 in his first nine holes. After making the turn to No. 1, O’Neil struggled with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3, but he bounced back with birdies on Nos. 6 and 8. He bogeyed No. 9 to miss out on tying Summers for the lead.
Thomas Christensen of Coral Springs, Fla. finished in solo third place after firing a 2-under-par round of 69. He was in the second-to-last group to go off No. 10 in the afternoon wave, but he did not let the all-morning wait affect his performance. He had quite a colorful scorecard with seven birdies, three bogeys, and one double bogey, but it got the job done.
Six players tied for fourth place as they all shot 1-under-par rounds of 70. Joe Scheffres (North Potomac, Md.) and William Celiberti (Ridgewood, N.J.) were the two players from the morning wave. Bennet Espenshade (Baltimore, Md.), Rylan Shim (Centreville, Va.), Ryan Mcgarry (Eldersburg, Md.), and John Broderick (Wellesley, Mass.) were the four players from the afternoon wave.
Ross Funderburke from Roanoke, Va. and Bryce Corbett from Gainesville, Va. grabbed the tenth and eleventh guaranteed spots by shooting even-par rounds of 71.
By the time everyone finished their rounds in the evening, there was a four-way tie at 1-over-par, and there were two guaranteed spots and two alternate spots to be played for. Colin Coogan (New Rochelle, N.Y.), Ryan Hart (Gainesville, Fla.), Zack Miller (Towson, Md.), and Jack Pogorelc (Bethesda, Md.) shot rounds of 72. With plenty of daylight left, the four players headed to the first tee. After all of them got their tee shots into play and their balls eventually on the green, there were three players with birdie opportunities and one player with a putt for par. Miller and Pogorelc both had lengthy birdie putts, and they ended up lagging them close and tapping in for par. Coogan had an eight-foot par putt that he ended up missing, and that took him out of the picture. Coogan had the Second Alternate spot. Hart had a five-foot birdie putt that he cashed in to earn one of the two remaining guaranteed spots.
After tying No. 1 with pars, Miller and Pogorelc headed to No. 17, a lengthy par 3 playing over 220 yards. Miller was the first to play, and he ended up hitting a nice high cut that got a nice bounce forward, and he was left with 15 feet for birdie. Pogorelc, with the pressure to match Miller, pulled his tee shot left into No. 16’s fairway. From there, his chip shot took a firm first bounce and rolled over the green into the fringe. Pogorelc chose to putt it from off the green, and he just narrowly missed his par attempt. Miller hit his birdie putt just a foot past the hole and tapped in for the second guaranteed spot in the Sectional Qualifier. Pogorelc was given the First Alternate spot.
The Maryland State Golf Association would like to thank Woodholme Country Club for hosting this U.S. Amateur Local Qualifier.
