Ron Robinson was one of the top scholastic players in
District One at North Penn and among a strong group of players competing in the
Golf Association of Philadelphia’s top junior events a couple of summers ago.
The 20-year-old Hatfield resident has continued to improve
his game at Monmouth and was coming off a strong sophomore season when he teed
it up in a GAP-administered U.S. Open local qualifier Thursday at Medford
Village Country Club in Medford, N.J.
Robinson got his summer off to a good start as he grabbed
one of the four tickets to sectional qualifying June 3, “golf’s longest day,” a
36-hole test, when he carded a solid 1-under 71 over the 7,100-yard, par-72
Medford Village layout. Robinson is just two good rounds at a sectional
qualifier away from a trip to next month’s U.S. Open at the Pebble Beach Golf
Links.
“The first thing I looked at this year was the U.S. Open
qualifiers and figured out which I wanted to play,” Robinson told the GAP
website. “It’s a pretty big deal, getting through to sectionals. It’s the
biggest stage, the U.S. Open.”
Robinson capped his GAP junior career with a victory in the
2017 Jock Mackenzie Memorial, one of GAP’s junior major championships. The
victory also helped him nail down a second consecutive Harry Hammond Award,
which is the junior equivalent of the amateur Silver Cross, combining scores
from the GAP Junior Boys’ Championship qualifier, the 36-hole Christman Cup and
the Jock Mackenzie.
He finished off a solid sophomore season at Monmouth by
finishing among the group tied for 23rd at 16-over 232 in the MAAC
Championship last month at Disney’s Magnolia Course in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Robinson gained a lot of momentum in his round when he
chipped in for birdie at the tough 232-yard, par-3 11th. He had two
other birdies on his card.
Robinson was the only amateur to advance out of the
qualifier as he was joined by three professional golfers, including the
co-medalists, Kevin Foley, a former Penn State standout out of Somerville,
N.J., and Brett Jones of Basking Ridge, N.J., both of whom carded a solid
3-under 69.
David Sanders, a Laurel Creek Country Club member who is
playing professionally out of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., finished third with a
2-under 70.
As usual, the journey for a professional golfer can take any
number of paths.
The 31-year-old Foley claimed a Web.com Tour victory in 2013
and earned his PGA Tour card for 2014. Knee surgery following that year on the
big stage has slowed his progress, but he did make it to the 2016 U.S. Open at
the historic Oakmont Country Club in western Pennsylvania out of sectional qualifying.
Foley made about 38 yards – yes, yards – worth of birdie
putts in the last six holes of his 69. He dropped a 10-footer for birdie at the
13th hole, a 30-footer at the 14th, a 45-foot bomb at the
16th and another 30-footer at the 17th.
The 43-year-old Jones, a native of Australia, has played in
the PGA Professional Championship eight times in the last 10 years, qualifying
for the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits out of the National Club
Pro. He had an efficient round that included birdies at the fifth, 14th
and 16th holes with nary a bogey on the card.
Sanders, who will play the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada this
summer, advanced out of local qualifying for the ninth time in 16 tries, but
has never made it to the U.S. Open.
The first alternate was reigning Philadelphia Section PGA
OMEGA Player of the Year Billy Stewart, an assistant pro at The Ace Club who
matched par with a 72. Stewart had a big summer in 2018, winning the
Philadelphia Open at St. Davids Golf Club and the Philadelphia PGA Professional
Championship at Concord Country Club.
The second alternate was Louis Kelly, a professional out of
Sewell, N.J. who has been a member at Philmont Country Club.
Brian Gaffney, the head pro at Essex Fells Country Club in
New Jersey, lost out in a 3-for-2 playoff for alternate positioning as he
matched the 72s posted by Stewart and Kelly.
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