Jackson just a shot out of the lead after opening round of qualifying for match play in U.S. Amateur

   A pretty good summer got a little better for Palmer Jackson, who became Franklin Regional’s first state golf champion when he captured the PIAA Class AAA Championship last fall as a senior.

   Jackson, who will start his college career at Notre Dame later this month, fired a sparkling 4-under-par 66 at the Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s No. 4 Course Monday in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C. and is tied for second after the opening round of qualifying for match play in the U.S. Amateur.

   Jackson, who plays out of Greensburg’s Hannastown Golf Club, reached the round of 16 in the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, stunning defending champion Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Mass. in the second round. Thorbjornsen, by the way, carded a solid 1-under 69 at Pinehurst No. 4 Monday.

   Jackson then finished in a tie for seventh in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at the Keney Park Golf Course in Windsor, Conn. with four rounds in the 60s and a 15-under 265 total.

   But making match play in the U.S. Amateur at one of America’s iconic golf locales, now that might top both of those accomplishments.

   Pinehurst No. 2 is considered a Donald Ross masterpiece, but he was also the original designer of Pinehurst No. 4, although Gil Hanse recently did his renovation magic on the No. 4 Course. Of the 27 scores under par in Monday’s opening round, only four of them were recorded on Pinehurst No. 2.

   Jackson will take on the tougher No. 2 Course in Tuesday’s second round, but his performance Monday gives him a little cushion as the tries to land among the top 64 finishers who will compete in match play beginning Wednesday morning.

   Jackson had seven birdies to offset three bogeys. He ripped off three straight birdies on his way to the clubhouse at the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th holes to surge up the leaderboard.

   Brandon Wu of Scarsdale, N.Y., who led Stanford to the national championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. last spring, got hot over the same stretch of holes on Pinehurst No. 4 to grab the lead after Monday’s opening round with a 5-under 65.

   Wu traveled Sunday and Monday to get to the Pinehurst Resort after teaming up with Stewart Hagestad, winner of the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Stonewall, to lift the United States to the gold medal in the Pan-American Games in Lima, Peru. Hagestad posted a 3-over 73 at Pinehurst No. 2 Monday and is in the group tied for 102^nd.

   Wu, who played four rounds in the U.S. Open at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, could be forgiven if he was a little tired after all that travel. He was even-par after 13 holes and then suddenly went off, making birdies at the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th holes and an eagle at the 17^th hole.

   That little 5-under burst over a four-hole stretch enabled him to finish at 5-under and a shot in front of Jackson and Arizona junior Trevor Werbylo of Tucson, Ariz. Werbylo finished in a tie for second in the individual chase at the Louisville Regional last spring.

   Four players were another shot behind Jackson and Werbylo in a tie for fourth, led by Brad Dalke of Norman, Okla., who lost in the final of the 2016 U.S. Amateur at the Oakland Hills Country Club.  Dalke wrapped up a tremendous college career in the spring. He led the Sooners to a national championship in 2017 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.

   Joining Dalke in the group tied for fourth were Jacob Solomon of Auburn, Ala., who wrapped up a solid college career at Auburn in the spring, Australian Blake Windred and Scotland’s Sandy Scott, a senior at Texas Tech who reached the quarterfinals of The Amateur Championship at Portmarnock Golf Club in Ireland earlier this summer.

   All of the players in the top seven played at Pinehurst No. 4 Monday.

   A teammate of Wu’s at Stanford, sophomore Nate Menon, the 2015 PIAA Class AA champion as a junior at Wyomissing, was tied for 102^nd after carding a 3-over 73 at Pinehurst No. 4. Menon is coming off a tie for second in the Pennsylvania Amateur Championship two weeks ago at another Donald Ross gem, Aronimink Golf Club.

   Menon was the co-medalist in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Bidermann Golf Club.

   Roland Massimino, who finished in a tie for second in the 2014 PIAA Class AA Championship as a senior at New Hope-Solebury, opened with a 4-over 74 at the tougher Pinehurst No. 2 and is in the group tied for 132^nd.

   Massimino wrapped up a solid college career at Kansas State in the spring. Pretty neat feature on the USGA website authored by freelance writer Stuart Hall on how Massimino is still inspired by his late grandfather, the late, great Rollie Massimino, the legendary coach of Villanova’s epic 1985 NCAA basketball championship team.

   Also in that group at 4-over was Wake Forest senior Kyle Sterbinsky, the Yardley native who attended The Peddie School. Sterbinsky, the medalist in a GAP-administered qualifier at Cedarbrook Country Club, carded his 74 at Pinehurst No. 4.

   Drexel senior Connor Schmidt, who starred scholastically at Peters Township, carded a 6-over 76 at Pinehurst No. 2 and was in the group tied for 179^th. Schmidt finished in a tie for fourth at Aronimink in defense of the Pennsylvania Amateur title he won in 2018 at Sunnehanna Country Club near Johnstown.

   Temple junior Dawson Anders, who also emerged from the qualifier at Cedarbrook, and Michael Cook, who used up his golf eligibility this spring at Drexel and who shared medalist honors with Menon in the qualifier at Bidermann, each landed in the group tied for 204^th at 7-over 77.

   Anders, a scholastic standout at Souderton and the winner of the 2017 GAP Junior Boys’ Championship, and Cook, who starred scholastically at Conestoga, both played Pinehurst No. 4 Monday.

   Carson Bacha, the Class AAA East Regional champion as a junior at Central York, struggled to an 85 at Pinehurst No. 2 and was among the group tied for 300^th. Bacha plans to join the Auburn program in the summer of 2020.