Meyer Cards 69 to Medal at U.S. Open Local Qualifier; 4 others Advance

USGA

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org

  EDINA, Minn. – While the conditions won’t exactly be the same when the 115th U.S. Open at Chambers Bay gets underway in June, players were certainly put to the test Monday during the 2015 U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Edina Country Club.

A cool and misty day greeted players as five golfers looked to move on to the next stage of qualifying from a field of 80 participants.

Minnesota Gopher Grady Meyer overcame a slow start Monday to card a 3-under par 69 to earn medalist honors in his first attempt to qualify.

“I really stayed patient out there, I knew I had two downhill par-5s and I wanted to take advantage of those,” Meyer said after his round. “I hit the ball better than I have been and my putter felt good; chipping was really good. If I did miss greens I was up and down so it was solid all the way around.”

Meyer, Fargo, N.D., bogeyed the opening hole to quickly drop to 1-over before rolling in five consecutive pars. Another bogey at the par-3 seventh put Meyer at 2-over on the day but he would answer on the following hole by taking advantage of the par-5 8th, making eagle to draw even.

Meyer cruised on the final nine holes as he added three more red numbers to his scorecard to shoot 69 and claim the low round of the day.

“I like this course a lot—we play here as a team quite a bit. It’s not too tight and I like the collection areas around the greens and the tight lies, I think it helps my chipping and it fits my eye. I haven’t been playing real well so today was a new day, like always, and I tried to relax. I had a good mindset and stayed pretty calm,” he said.

Qualifying for the championship last season at Pinehurst, former Gopher Donald Constable was back in the field and put himself one step closer to returning to this year’s event after carding a 2-under par 70 despite the testy conditions.

“I hit some good shots, made a couple of mistakes but I was happy overall,” Constable said. “There were some pins you could attack and when the wind died down you could control the wedges a little easier. A low number isn’t going to be there in these conditions, so a 69 is a great score today. I think I made it through with a 70 last year.

“I drove the ball pretty well for the most part and kept it in the fairway. In some spots the grass was pretty long and wet and hard to control, especially where the pins were, you definitely needed to be in the right spots. I putted pretty well today too—I liked the way I rolled it.”

Constable bogeyed the sixth before making a pair of birdies to make the turn at 1-under and followed suit on the final nine with a bogey at the 10th, responding with birdies at the 11th and 13th to finish his day with a 70.

Constable, Deephaven, Minn., carded an 81 during the first round of the U.S. Open a year ago but rebounded well with a 3-over par 73 during the second to miss the cut by nine strokes but said the experience only grew his confidence.

“The local qualifiers are always the hardest—I’d much rather play 36 every day. If you can get through this, I feel more comfortable and having been there last year and gone through it, I know I can do it,” Constable said.

Brent Snyder, a professional from Hudson, Wisc., claimed a qualifying spot Monday after carding a 2-under par 70.

Coming off back-to-back successful seasons in the Minnesota Section of the PGA, Snyder has one win already under his belt this season. He notched three wins a year ago and after five wins in 2013, he was named Minnesota Section Player of the Year.

Snyder’s only blemish Monday was a bogey on his opening hole as he bounced back with back-to-back-birdies to get to 1-under. After six consecutive pars, Snyder rolled in another birdie and would finish his day with a string of eight pars to shoot 70.

“Today was solid. I made a bogey from the middle of the fairway on 10, about 120 yards in, but hit it close on 11 to make a nice two and got a quick birdie on 12 as well. Then I parred it to death with one bogey and three birdies,” Snyder said. “It’s really tricky around the greens. The greens I did miss, you’ve got to open [the club] up a little with these tucked pins, but I was able to get some good up and downs.”

Also qualifying was professional Jay Jurecic, Crystal Falls, Mich., who carded a 2-under par 70 as well as 2014 Minnesota State Open Champion, Trent Peterson, who needed five playoff holes to edge Sam Foust and earn the final spot as both players carded rounds of 71 during regulation.

Peterson, Eagan, Minn., carded two birdies with two bogeys on the front nine to make the turn at even par before two bogeys, a birdie and an eagle put him into a tie for the final spot with the Edina High School standout.

Both players made par on the first four playoff holes before both found trouble off the tee on the fifth playoff hole. Foust’s pitch slid past the hole and he was unable to roll in his par putt.

Peterson lofted his second from the sand to four feet and gave a fist pump as he watched his par putt drop to eliminate Foust.

The 2015 U.S. Open will be played June 18-21 at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. 


For complete tournament results go to: www.mngolf.org/Tournament/US_Open_Local_Qualifying_