Bremerton, Wash. – Mitch Cohlmia, 21, of Tulsa, Okla., and Justin Metzger, 21, of Knoxville, Tenn., each shot 7-under-par 137s to share stroke-play medalist honors after Tuesday’s second round at the 81st U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, being played at the par-72, 7,061-yard Gold Mountain Golf Club.
Cohlmia, the first-round leader, followed up his opening 67 with a 3-under 70. He started with two bogeys in his first three holes Tuesday but came back with four birdies over the rest of his round, punctuated with one at the par-4, 324-yard 18th hole when he hit his approach shot from 120 yards to three feet.
The key to success for Cohlmia has been avoiding big mistakes.
“I didn’t short-side myself nearly at all this week, at least so far, which makes it easy to get up and down,” said Cohlmia. “Not a lot of pressure putts. It seemed like if I missed the green, it was a pretty easy chip – I chipped it to a couple feet and made it.”
Matching Cohlmia at 137 was Metzger, who had a somewhat wild second round, with an eagle, six birdies and four bogeys en route to a 4-under 68. The highlight came on the par-5, 563-yard sixth hole, when he chipped in from 25 yards off the green for eagle.
This is the second Amateur Public Links for Metzger, who lost in the second round a year ago. While he relishes his status as medalist, he knows it isn’t crucial.
“Last year Clay (Ogden) won and he was the 63rd seed so it doesn’t really matter,” said Metzger, who won the Tennessee State Open in May. “You might have a slight intimidation factor if you’re playing someone who’s higher seeded than you and they’re playing well that week. But it really doesn’t matter in match play because you can run into anybody who can throw up a string of birdies and then there you go.”
Ogden, 21, the defending champion from West Point, Utah, had four birdies and a double bogey en route to a 2-under 70. He easily advanced to match play, unlike the 2005 championship, where he was in the playoff and was the second-to-last player to advance.
Martin Ureta, 20, of Chile, the 2005 APL runner-up, had a chance to grab a share of medalist honors after an eagle on the par-5, 513-yard 14th hole put him within a stroke of the lead. On the 18th, his 35-foot downhill putt stopped within two inches of the hole.
“I would have loved to win it but I’m in a good position for match play,” said Ureta, who finished with his second consecutive 3-under 69. “I putted very well and that’s good for match play on this golf course.”
J.C. Horne, 18, of Daytona Beach, Fla., finished two strokes back after posting a 1-under 71, and John Cassidy, 24, of Yelm, Wash., finished three back after posting back-to-back 2-under 70s.
Among those also advancing to match play were 2001 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Henry Liaw, 20, of Rowland Heights, Calif., 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur winner Sihwan Kim, 17, of Buena Park, Calif., and 2005 USA Walker Cupper Anthony Kim, 21, of Traverse City, Mich.
The first round of match play for the 2006 APL will be played Wednesday. The second and third rounds are scheduled for Thursday and the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be played Friday. The championship concludes with Saturday’s 36-hole final match.
The U.S. Amateur Public Links is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
Story written by Beth Murrison of USGA Media Relations. E-mail her with questions or comments at bmurrison@usga.org.
Bremerton, Wash. – Results after the second round of stroke play Tuesday at the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at the 7,061-yard, par-72 Gold Mountain Golf Club (* = in playoff, with playoff scores):
Justin Metzger, Knoxville, Tenn., 69-68--137
Mitch Cohlmia, Tulsa, Okla., 67-70--137
Martin Ureta, Chile, 69-69--138
J.C. Horne, Daytona Beach, Fla., 68-71--139
John Cassidy, Yelm, Wash., 70-70--140
Lindsay Renolds, Canada, 70-71--141
Scotty Jones, East Palestine, Ohio, 70-71--141
Brian Carroll, Crystal Lake, Ill., 73-69--142
Derek Berg, Duvall, Wash., 74-68--142
Jeff Daniels, Harrisburg, Pa., 73-69--142
Zack Byrd, Calabash, N.C., 73-69--142
Anthony Kim, Traverse City, Mich., 71-72--143
Ben Fox, Studio City, Calif., 68-75--143
Brodie Flanders, Canada, 74-69--143
Clay Ogden, West Point, Utah, 73-70--143
Derek Fathauer, Jensen Beach, Fla., 70-73--143
Tze Huang Choo, Singapore, 72-71--143
Henry Liaw, Rowland Hts, Calif., 73-71--144
Matt Harmon, Grand Rapids, Mich., 77-67--144
Raymond Sheedy, Keymar, Md., 71-73--144
Rory Hie, Los Angeles, Calif., 74-70--144
Sihwan Kim, Buena Park, Calif., 71-73--144
Adam Wynia, Sioux Falls, S.D., 71-74--145
Brent Paladino, Kensington, Conn., 73-72--145
Cory Segall, La Jolla, Calif., 72-73--145
Matt Savage, Louisville, Ky., 75-70--145
Brad Hastings, Easton, Md., 74-72--146
Charles Soule, Longmont, Colo., 74-72--146
Derek Busby, Ruston, La., 74-72--146
Jerre Maynor Jr, Nashville, Tenn., 75-71--146
Kevin Foley, Somerville, N.J., 74-72--146
Kevin Larsen, Santa Barbara, Calif., 74-72--146
Tadd Fujikawa, Honolulu, Hawaii, 75-71--146
Zachary Sebert, Columbus, Ohio, 71-75--146
Chad Cooper, Lafayette, Ind., 76-71--147
Daniel Im, Fullerton, Calif., 72-75--147
Derrick Whiting, Alexandria, Minn., 72-75--147
Kane Hanson, Detroit Lakes, Minn., 75-72--147
Kyle Ritchie, Corning, Iowa, 73-74--147
Tarik Can, Augusta, Ga., 75-72--147
Tim Feenstra, Lynden, Wash., 74-73--147
William Mitchell, Roswell, Ga., 72-75--147
Andrew Yun, Tacoma, Wash., 74-74--148
Billy Horschel, Grant, Fla., 72-76--148
Casey Watabu, Kapaa, Hawaii, 72-76--148
James Hockman, Norfolk, Va., 75-73--148
Jesse Schutte, Florence, Ore., 71-77--148
Keegan Bradley, Jackson, Wyo., 73-75--148
Michael Barbosa, St Petersburg, Fla., 75-73--148
Sean Maekawa, Paauilo, Hawaii, 72-76--148
Terrence Miskell, New Braunfels, Texas, 73-75--148
Cole Moreland, Austin, Texas, 76-73--149
Derek Tolan, Highlands Ranch, Colo., 78-71--149
Jesse Massie, Louisville, Ky., 77-72--149
Josh Wilks, Tucson, Ariz., 72-77--149
Lucas Lee, Brazil, 73-76--149
*Ryan Keeney, Redmond, Wash., 77-73--150 (3)
*Jay Lindell, Lakewood, N.Y., 76-74--150 (4)
*Hernan Borja, Kingwood, Texas, 74-76--150 (4)
*Brandon Pike, Huntington, Ind., 74-76--150 (4)
*Brad Marek, Arlington Heights, Ill., 75-75--150 (5)
*Joseph Prince, Chula Vista, Calif., 80-70--150 (5)
*Kevin Wentworth, Arnold, Calif., 76-74--150 (5)
*Jeff Berkshire, Phoenix, Ariz., 77-73--150 (5)
Failed to Qualify
*Nicholas Van Vuuren, South Africa, 71-79--150 (6)
*Tyler Trout, Leawood, Kan., 70-80--150 (7)
Adam Rainaud, S Hadley, Mass., 76-75--151
James Vargas, Miami, Fla., 75-76--151
John Streibich, Cincinnati, Ohio, 75-76--151
Jonathan Pauli, St Johns, Mich., 75-76--151
Nick Geyer, Malibu, Calif., 76-75--151
Nick Kwaterski, Baileys Harbor, Wis., 74-77--151
Robert Reed, Claremont, N.H., 74-77--151
Tye Alexander, Los Angeles, Calif., 77-74--151
Andy Mack, Itasca, Ill., 76-76--152
Bryan Haase, Interlochen, Mich., 75-77--152
David Johnson, Melbourne, Fla., 72-80--152
Federico Cabrera, Argentina, 79-73--152
Jay Poletiek, Portland, Ore., 79-73--152
Mark Sommerfeld, Canada, 75-77--152
Rodney Hamblin Jr, Saint Paul, Minn., 77-75--152
Brian Davidson, Baldwin, Ga., 76-77--153
Chip Knuckey, Springfield, Ohio, 78-75--153
Greg Buckway, West Jordan, Utah, 78-75--153
Jack Newman, Des Moines, Iowa, 79-74--153
Mark Harrell, Hazlehurst, Ga., 78-75--153
Roy Holdeman, El Paso, Texas, 76-77--153
Seth Hirschhorn, Willingboro, N.J., 77-76--153
Tyler Neal, Tucson, Ariz., 77-76--153
Daniel Manselle, O'Fallon, Mo., 78-76--154
Jonathan Lenz, San Antonio, Texas, 78-76--154
Matt Brantingham, Richmond, Va., 74-80--154
Matt Miller, Bloomington, Ill., 79-75--154
Matthew Berzovich, Longwood, Fla., 80-74--154
Michael Koreski, Parkersburg, W.Va., 76-78--154
Nick Travers, Boise, Idaho, 74-80--154
Nicklaus Newcomb, Benton, Ky., 77-77--154
Phillip Bryan, Mustang, Okla., 76-78--154
Raul Cortes, Mexico, 77-77--154
Travis Meyer, River Falls, Wis., 76-78--154
Andy Choi, Orlando, Fla., 78-77--155
Conor O'Brien, Weatogue, Conn., 77-78--155
David Palm, Jacksonville, Fla., 74-81--155
John Finnin, Crete, Ill., 79-76--155
Matt Spicer, Keller, Texas, 75-80--155
Steve White, Jackson, Wyo., 80-75--155
Zeke Reyna, Weslaco, Texas, 76-79--155
Dayton Rose, Oklahoma City, Okla., 77-79--156
Micah Burke, Los Angeles, Calif., 79-77--156
Nathan Wine, Ft Wayne, Ind., 82-74--156
Nicholas Park, Ithaca, N.Y., 79-77--156
Robb Bierbaum, Albuquerque, N.M., 82-74--156
Scott Hess, Santa Rosa, Calif., 84-72--156
Vance Welch, Cross Creek, Md., 79-77--156
D J Lewin, Hollywood, Fla., 77-80--157
Daniel Arvanitis, Manchester, N.H., 78-79--157
Michael Bielawski, West Allis, Wis., 82-75--157
Nathan Stamey, Canton, N.C., 81-76--157
Nicholas Sheedy, Burlington, Iowa, 83-74--157
Anthony Martire, Absecon, N.J., 79-79--158
Chan Kim, Honolulu, Hawaii, 81-77--158
Jacob Scott, Strongsville, Ohio, 80-78--158
Jeffrey Franks, Steamboat Springs, Colo., 81-77--158
Matt Briggs, San Antonio, Texas, 81-77--158
Raymond Wooten, Clemson, S.C., 73-85--158
Ron Mangold, Pocahontas, Ark., 81-77--158
Sumeet Arora, Woodridge, Ill., 82-76--158
Andrew Sledge, Houma, La., 79-80--159
Danny Brown, Buffalo Grove, Ill., 82-77--159
Dennis Kwon, Rockville, Md., 77-82--159
Eric Daniel, Dorchester, Mass., 79-80--159
Mark Wentz, Milwaukee, Wis., 78-81--159
Adam Frey, Cypress, Calif., 81-79--160
Herbie Aikens, Pembroke, Mass., 77-83--160
Michael King, Livonia, Mich., 78-82--160
Peter Krsnich, Wichita, Kan., 85-75--160
Billy Thompson, Great Falls, Mont., 80-81--161
Brandon Kaiser, Anchorage, Alaska, 83-78--161
Ricky Montanez, Helendale, Calif., 78-83--161
Bobby Fox, Chester, Conn., 79-84--163
Bradley Leeper, Chapel Hill, N.C., 81-82--163
David Dankmyer, Gibsonia, Pa., 83-80--163
Garrett Medeiros, Rumford, R.I., 78-85--163
Kevin Shimomura, Lahaina, Hawaii, 80-83--163
Scott Turner, Palm City, Fla., 79-84--163
Brad Dearsman, Clyde, Ohio, 84-80--164
Kevin Horan, Marina Del Rey, Calif., 87-77--164
Lee Sakugawa, Wailuku, Hawaii, 82-82--164
Keegan Fennessy, Minot, Maine, 84-81--165
Rocky Manning, Greensboro, N.C., 86-79--165
Paul Atchison, Augusta, Ga., 82-85--167
Brian Bergstol, Mount Bethel, Pa., 89-79--168
Devin Schreiner, Durango, Colo., 82-86--168
Kurt Valley, Bay City, Mich., 93-79--172
Rick Burwig, Portland, Ore., 86-87--173