COMPLETE: 13 Amateurs advance at U.S. Open Final Qualifying

June 7, 2023 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

It was a HUGE day for the amateurs, and we've got all of the amateur highlights from each of the 10 qualifying sites

It’s known as the “Golf's Longest Day”, where hundreds of amateurs will compete alongside professionals for 36 holes across various sites in their quest to earn a spot in the U.S. Open to be played at Los Angeles Country Club, June 15-18.

Competitors range Jaden Soong, a seventh-grader at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Feliz, Calif. to 15-year-olds Cameron Kuchar and Smith Summerlin to 59-year-old Davis Love III. Michael Block, fresh off his top-20 finish at the PGA Championship, will be competing alongside his 18-year-old son, Dylan, at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles.

Here's a running blog from the 10 locations around the U.S. and Canada featuring amateurs advancing to The Open. So far, the results are very favorable, meaning we'll have lots of players to cheer for in Los Angeles.

Perhaps the biggest story? Stanford Men's Golf will be able to have a team tournament at Los Angeles Country Club, as four Cardinal players have advanced from Golf's Longest Day to the U.S. Open.

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Lambton Golf & Country Club; Toronto, Ontario

No amateurs advanced at this site, conveniently located for this week's RBC Canadian Open. Notable players to miss the cut of 7-under included long-time leading amateur Ludvig Aberg of Sweden (5-under) and the darling of the PGA Championship, Michael Block, who shot 4-under. Both players are competing in the Canadian Open.

Live Scoring

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Pine Tree Golf Club; Boynton Beach, Fla. -- Craig Dolch reporting on-site

Brendan Valdes

Talk about finishing strong. After suffering a double-bogey on the 14th hole of his second round, Brendan Valdes of Orlando (Auburn University) came back strong. Birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 got him back to 3-under on the day at the challenging Pine Tree layout in Florida, avoiding a three-way playoff for the final spot. Read Craig Dolch's story from Pine Tree here>

Live Scoring

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Hawks Ridge Golf Club; Ball Ground, Ga.

Gordon Sargent

Long-hitting Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt fired rounds of 64 and 67 to claim medalist honors at 13-under par as he took advantage of his length with two eagles and five birdies on the first 18 holes. Not letting up in the afternoon, Sargent added seven more birdies. Jackson Buchanan of the University of Illinois wishes he had made one more birdie, as he had to settle for second alternate position at 9-under.

Live Scoring

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Woodmont C.C. (North Course); Rockville, Md. -- Garrett Johnston reporting on-site

With Karl Vilips of Australia and Stanford, and Isaac Simmons of Virginia tying for medalist honors (and grabbing the first two of four spots), the "am vibes" were running high in Maryland, where Garrett Johnston was on-site reporting for AmateurGolf.com. Read Garrett's story here>

Michael Brennan and George Duangmanee would play off for the other two spots, against pros Ben Kohles and Sebastian Munoz. Brennan, of Wake Forest, advanced, and a celebration ensued. Check it out below.

Live Scoring

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Canoe Brook Country Club; Summit, N.J.

Former Boston College golfer ('20) Christian Cavaliere of Katonah, New York has played in three of the last four U.S. Amateurs. But today, he punched his biggest USGA ticket ever, earning a spot in the field in New Jersey at 6-under par for the 36 holes of competition. Cavaliere shot 67 (-4) on Canoe Brook's north course and a 69 (-2) on the south. Stanford's Michael Thorbjornsen (of Wellesley, Mass.) was the medalist at 11-under.

Live Scoring

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Lakes Golf & Country Club/Brookside Golf & C.C.; Columbus, Ohio

Nick Dunlap

Every site is a numbers game. What you shoot, vs. the strength of the field and number of spots available. Some amateurs opt for the "Tour stop" locations, liking the number of spots on offer. That strategy worked out well today at the Lakes and Brookside in Ohio, where Nick Dunlap of University of Alabama and David Nyfjall of Sweden (Northwestern U.) tied at 8-under, grabbing the last two spots "on the number." In Dunlap's case, a timely birdie on his 36th hole did the trick. That's the way to respond to pressure!

Live Scoring

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Springfield C.C.; Springfield, Ohio

A player we expected to do well did not disappoint at the second Ohio qualifier. Maxwell Moldovan blistered the first 18 with a 65, and came back solid with 68 to post 7-under on the day. That put him in a 3-for-2 playoff with Alex Schaake and Dylan Wu, which turned out to be an epic struggle.

Wu took the first spot with a birdie on the first playoff hole. That left Schaake and Moldovan, who had to get up and down to move the playoff to a second hole. Both players parred the next two holes, with each getting up and down on the fourth extra hole. Then, both players stuffed it inside 8 feet and matched birdies to send it to a sixth extra hole. After matching pars, each player again hit it tight for birdie on the eighth extra hole. They again matched pars on the ninth extra hole and headed to the par-5 17th as daylight was running out. There, on the 46th hole of the day, Schaake converted a short birdie putt and took the final spot, with the fighter Moldovan having to settle for first alternate. We sure hope he gets in.

Live Scoring

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Old Chatham Golf Club; Durham, N.C.

Live Scoring

Low scores by the pros made for a tough day for amateurs at this site, where even fan favorite Harold Varner III failed to advance. The best performance came from Dylan Menante of Carlsbad, California (and University of North Carolina) who posted 5-under. After a near miss last year at the California location, Menante will need to wait at least another year to play his first Open.

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Hillcrest Country Club; Los Angeles, Calif. -- Laz Versalles reporting on-site

This was another great qualifier for amateurs, as they took two of the five available spots and have a chance at a third Tuesday morning. UCLA sophomore Omar Morales was the medalist with two straight 6-under 65s. Former Walker Cupper Barclay Brown, who is finishing his senior year at Stanford, was next at 10 under. But the round of the day was turned in by Arizona State's Preston Summerhays. After shooting a pedestrian even-par 71 in the morning, he torched Hillcrest CC with a 9-under 62 that included 7 birdies and an eagle on his final hole of the day. That got him to 9 under which got him into a 3-for-2 playoff Tuesday morning. Read Laz Versalles' story from Hillcrest here>

Live Scoring

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Tacoma Country & Golf Club; Lakewood, Wash.

The Pacific Northwest qualifier is always the smallest of Golf's Longest Day, with only two qualifying spots on offer. Stanford sophomore Alexander Yang grabbed one of them, closing fast with five birdies on his final nine which got him to 3-under 139 which got him co-medalist honors. In so doing he became the fourth Stanford Cardinal player to advance to the U.S. Open today.

Live Scoring

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Qualifiers

Monday, May 22

Ibaraki Golf Club (West Course); Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

Qualifiers: 1. Gunn Charoenkul (Thailand) 67-63-130; 2. Ryutaro Nagano (Japan) 66-67-133; 3. Ryo Ishikawa (Japan) 64-72-136.

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Northwood Club and Bent Tree Country Club; Dallas, Texas
There were 120 golfers vying for eight spots at Northwood Club and Bent Tree Country Club where Carson Young took medalist honors with a 16-under score of 135 (63-62). Among the qualifiers was 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who fired back-to-back rounds of 66 to claim one of the eight available spots.

Qualifiers: 1. Carson Young (Anderson, S.C.) 63-62-135; 2. Austin Eckroat (Edmond, Okla.) 64-66-130; 3. Brent Grant (Honolulu, Haw.) 66-65-131; t-4. Paul Haley (Dallas, Texas) 63-69-132; Sergio Garcia (Spain) 66-66-132; Roger Sloan (Canada) 67-65-132; t-7. Jacob Solomon (Auburn, Ala.) 66-67-133; Hank Lebioda (Orlando, Fla.) 68-65-133. • • • • •

Tuesday, May 16

Walton Heath GC (Old Course); Walton on the Hill, Surrey, England
After a three-year hiatus, U.S. Open Final Qualifying returned to Walton Heath Golf Club. An 84-player field teed it up at the Surrey-based venue for the 36-hole qualifying event, navigating two rounds over both the Old and New Course on a day of endurance. Among those involved were past Ryder Cup players, multiple DP World Tour winners, rising stars and several amateurs.

Qualifiers: 1. Deon Germishuys (South Africa) 66-68-134; 2. David Horsey (England) 70-65-135; t-3. Wilco Nienabar (South Africa) 69-66-135; Ross Fisher (England) 65-70-135; t-5. Matthieu Pavon (France) 68-68-136; Jens Dantorp (Finland) 68-68-136; Alejandro Del Ray (Spain) 68-68-136.

Results: U.S. Open Final Qualifying

Place	Player	Location	Pts
Medalist	Gordon Sargent	Mountain Brook, AL	500
Medalist	Karl Vilips	, Australia	500
Medalist	Isaac Simmons	Huddleston, VA	500
Medalist	Michael Thorbjornsen	Wellesley, MA	500
Medalist	Omar Morales	, Mexico	500

View full results for U.S. Open Final Qualifying

About the U.S. Open Final Qualifying

COMPLETE: 13 Amateurs advance at U.S. Open Final Qualifying

Final qualifying for the U.S. Open Championship. Played at various sites across the U.S. on the Monday a week and half before the U.S. Open. There is also a qualifier in Japan and in England. 36 holes of stroke play at each site.