SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Oct. 2, 2008) - Third time was a charm for Hank McCusker, as the Mendocino local fired a 4-under-par 68 at Harding Park in San Francisco to qualify for the Stocker Cup Invitational Golf Tournament in amateurgolf.com's Open Qualifier. It was his first successful attempt in three tries to be a part of the field that will compete Oct. 16-19 at The Preserve Golf Club in Carmel.
He will be joined by Stephen Molinelli of Burlingame, who has been an invited member of the Stocker Cup in the early years of the tourney. He carded a 1-under 71.
"I just had a smooth, solid round, one bogey and the rest was smooth sailing," said McCusker. "The greens were good, the putts did what they were supposed to do. I've played this event enough times to know that you don't have to overpower the course, it's enough to just keep it in play, and that's what I did today."
On a temporary green on No. 7, McCusker drove his ball to within seven feet and nearly missed eagle.
Molinelli, a longtime Olympic Club member and supporter of the First Tee Program at Harding Park, missed a tap-in par on the 18th hole, but fortunately it made no difference as he finished two strokes clear of the field.
In the race for the first alternate spot, Garth Watrous had reason to be leery of the 18th hole (site of a 3-for-1 playoff). After all, he was just minutes removed from double bogeying the hole
He played it safe on the dangerous, force-carry dogleg left drive by putting his 4-wood tee shot in the middle of the fairway. From there he knocked the approach on the green and two-putted for a par that gave him the nod over Milas Russell and Jose Sanchez.
Full results from the 6,845-yard, par-72 Harding Park Golf Course follow:
| Pos. | Name | Hometown | Score |
| Medalist | Hank McCusker | Mendocino, CA | 68 |
| 2nd Qualifier | Stephen Molinelli | Burlingame, CA | 71 |
| 1st Alternate | Garth Watrous | Watsonville | 73 |
| Did not qualify | |||
| Milas Russell | San Diego, CA | 73 | |
| Jose Sanchez | Pacific Grove, CA | 73 | |
| Harold Chuhlantseff | Fresno, CA | 75 | |
| Bruce Hanavan | San Francisco, CA | 75 | |
| Kitt Flood | San Francisco, CA | 77 | |
| Chris Hyland | San Francisco, CA | 77 | |
| Mark Flynn | Menlo Park, CA | 78 | |
| Robert Goodwin | Atherton, CA | 78 | |
| Jeff R Johnson | Rancho Cordova, CA | 78 | |
| Kevin Alexander | Napa, CA | 79 | |
| Neil Summers | Livermore, CA | 79 | |
| Mark Baxter | Monterey, CA | 80 | |
| Dean Clapp | Aurora, CO | 80 | |
| Paul Rice | Redlands, CA | 80 | |
| Andrew Overton | Livermore, CA | 82 | |
| Samuel Petke | San Francisco, CA | 82 | |
| Steve Argo | Los Gatos, CA | 83 | |
| Logan Woodruff | Oakland, CA | 85 | |
| Jim Bray | San Ramon, CA | 93 | |
| Buck Branson | San Francisco, CA | WD | |
| Bob Burnett | Piedmont, CA | WD | |
| Keith Fletcher | Merced, CA | WD | |
| Stan Morrison | San Francisco, CA | WD | |
| Mike Murphy | Oakland, CA | WD | |
| Michael Pitt, Jr | Rancho Santa Fe, CA | WD | |
| Jim Schorr | San Francisco, CA | WD | |
| David Scott | Redwood City, CA | WD |