6 are Moving on to U.S. Open Final Qualifying
Madison, IL - The U.S. Open Local Qualifier at Gateway National Golf Links was a hard fought battle. Players were faced with rainy conditions, including a brief in place delay to help water drain from the course in the afternoon. 120 golfers - both professional and amateurs - signed-up to take their shot at earning one of the 6 qualifying spots to move on to the final qualifier. Play kicked off at 7:00am.
Steven Locke of Cleveland, TN began his day at 10:50am and opened with a bang. Locke eagled the first hole, and continued on to finish the front nine at four-under par. He had a hiccup on Hole 16 with a double-bogey, but was able to close out his round with a birdie on 18 to end the day at four-under (-4) par. This would give Locke the low round of the day to top the leaderboard. Jin Chung of Norcross, GA was in the second group of the day and was the first leader in the clubhouse. Chung posted a bogey-free front nine at four-under par. One bogey on the back, dropped him back to three-under (-3) par, which is where he would end the day. Harper Ackermann, an amateur from Webster Groves, MO, followed behind Chung in the third group of the day. With a back and forth battle on the front for Ackermann, he was even par at the turn. Three birdies in the first four holes of the back nine, pulled him towards the top of the leaderboard. After a bogey on 17, Ackermann found a birdie on the closing hole to finish the day three-under (-3) par. Dylan Meyer of Evansville, IN was in the 8:20am starting time. Meyer also made the turn at even par. He then birdied the first three holes on the back nine, followed by going bogey-free the rest of the day. Meyer became the third person to post a three-under (-3) par round for the day. Following their rounds, Chung, Ackermann, Meyer, and Locke all had to sit and wait to see if anyone else would be able to match or better their scores.
As the day went on, quite a few players would get to one or two under par, but none would get to three-under par. This would mean that Steven Locke would be the qualifying medalist and four-under par. Also securing their place in final qualifying at three-under par are Jin Chung, Harper Ackermann(a), and Dylan Meyer. For local golfer, Ackermann, this was a special success as he had just graduated high school the day before from Christian Brothers College High School.
Five players, however, would end the day tied at two-under (-2) par. With just two spots left, these five golfers had to go into a playoff. All five teed off at 9:20am or before, so they had been waiting all day to see where they would land. As the daylight was dwindling amongst the cloudy skies, they set off to determine who would get the final two spots and who would be the alternates. On the first playoff hole, Joey Mayo of Paducah, KY made birdie to claim one of the qualifying spots. Unfortunately for amateur Sean Minor of Columbia, MO, he would make bogey on this hole to be knocked out of the running. The remaining three golfers would go on to play two more holes. On the final hole, amateur Dabbi Sigurbrandsson of Iceland would make a birdie to capture the final qualifying spot. Meanwhile, amateur Anson Munzlinger of Columbia, MO made a par to earn the first alternate position, and amateur Justin Bryant of St. Louis, MO made a bogey to end in the second alternate position.
The six qualifying golfers will move on to one of the Final Qualifying sites across the country, where they will play 36 holes of golf in one day in an attempt to get into the U.S. Open field. Making it through the St. Louis Local Qualifier are Steven Locke as the low scoring medalist, Jin Chung, Harper Ackermann(a), Dylan Meyer, Joey May, and Dabbi Sigurbrandsson(a). In the case that an alternate is called upon to fill an open spot, Anson Munzlinger(a) followed by Justin Bryant(a) will be the alternates.