Zach Herr was a dominant scholastic golfer at Council Rock
North. He won two District One titles and was a perennial contender at the PIAA
Tournament while putting together an impressive junior resume.
His sister Erica was a year behind him and was even more
dominant among the girls, winning back-to-back PIAA Class AAA individual titles
and finishing third as a senior. She just completed her sophomore season on a
Wake Forest team that is on the rise. The last of the Herrs, Madelein, won a
District One Class AAA individual title as a senior at Council Rock North last
fall. Madelein also teamed with her pal, Radnor’s Brynn Walker, to reach the
semifinals of the inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship last
spring. Team WalkHerr is gearing up for another run at this year’s Four-Ball beginning next Saturday at Streamsong in Florida.
So whatever happened to Zach Herr, you might be wondering.
Well, he’s a junior at Vanderbilt and the Commodores, No. 9 in the latest Golfstat rankings, are seeded second and
are the host team for an NCAA regional that tees off Monday at the Vanderbilt
Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn. But if the Vandy lineup for the Southeast
Conference Championship is any indication, Herr will not be in it.
But rest assured, Zach Herr has not forgotten how to play
the game.
He teed it up in a local U.S. Open qualifier at Butler
Country Club in western Pennsylvania Friday and fired a 2-under 68 to capture
medalist honors.
Couldn’t tell from the results list if he started on the front
or the back, but he had birdies at eight, 15, 16 and 18 to offset bogeys at six
and nine to edge Penn State senior JD Dornes by a shot.
Herr, competing as an individual, actually finished in a tie
for 24th on the same Vanderbilt Legends Club course where Monday's regional will be staged when the
Commodores hosted and won the Mason Rudolph Championship in early April. Such
is the depth of talent on the Vanderbilt roster, though, that Herr’s 8-over 221
total only tied him for the sixth-best score among the Commodores.
There is no indication on the Vandy website as to the lineup
the Commodores will use Monday, but it seems unlikely Herr will be included. He
will, however, be making plans for a U.S. Open sectional qualifier, a 36-hole
test June 6, “Golf’s Longest Day.” He will be seeking a coveted ticket for a
return trip to western Pennsylvania for the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country
Club, which hosts our national championship for the eighth time from June 16 to
19.
Not sure if it factored into Herr’s decision as to where to
play his local Open qualifier, but Butler has been good luck for the Herrs.
Erica, in the summer before her senior year at Council Rock North, traveled to
Butler, where she qualified for the 2013 U.S. Women’s Open at Sebonack Golf
Club on Long Island.
Dornes, meanwhile, celebrated his graduation from Penn State
with his runnerup finish at Butler. The former Manheim Township star will be in
the Penn State lineup when the Nittany Lions, ranked 33rd, tee it up
Monday in an NCAA regional at Blackwolf Run’s Meadow Valleys Course in Kohler,
Wis.
Dornes was sitting alone in second place in the individual
standings in the Big Ten Championship at Victoria National Golf Club in
Newburgh, Ind. before faltering a little with a final-round 78 that left him in
a tie for 20th, but it was a strong showing nonetheless.
Dornes’ Penn State teammate, sophomore Cole Miller, snagged
a spot in the U.S. Open sectionals in a playoff at the local qualifier at
Moselem Springs Golf Club a day earlier.
Rob McClellan, the head pro at Butler Country Club, took a
break from his duties in the pro shop to grab third in the qualifier with an
even-par 70. Hey, nothing wrong with a little home-course advantage.
Two fledgling pros, former Georgia Tech standout Bo Andrews
of Raleigh, N.C. and former University of Hartford standout Danny Yustin of
East Amherst, N.Y. got the last two berths after each carded a 1-over 71.
Parker McLachlin, a PGA Tour member and former UCLA standout out of Scottsdale,
Ariz., was the odd man out in a three-way playoff for the final two berths.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a player who didn’t make
the cut. Bob Ford, the legendary head pro at Oakmont, carded a 4-over 74 at age
62ish. Ford will step down as the director of golf at Oakmont following this
year’s Open, a position he has held since 1979. He is very simply one of the
all-time great club pros in this country.
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