Sheehan, Gross get off to solid starts as U.S. Amateur tees off

    Patrick Sheehan’s U.S. Amateur debut a year ago at Oakmont Country Club had to be a bit of a disappointment.

   The Penn State senior put himself in too big a hole to dig out of with an opening round of 9-over-par 79 at the Henry Fownes classic, site of nine U.S. Open Championships, and failed to earn a spot in the match-play bracket.

   Monday in the opening round of qualifying for match play in the 122^nd U.S. Amateur at Arcola Country Club in Paramus, N.J., Sheehan came on strong on the front nine, his second nine of the day, to post a solid 1-under 69 that left him in a large group tied for eighth place.

   Sheehan’s rally on the outgoing nine at Arcola, the par-70 alternate qualifying site, left him in a solid position to earn a spot in the match-play bracket. Sheehan will get a shot at the par-71 Ridgewood Country Club layout in Tuesday’s second round of qualifying.

   The top 64 finishers following two rounds of stroke play will advance to match play, which gets under way Wednesday. Match play will be contested at Ridgewood. The famed architect A.W. Tillinghast designed 27 holes in central New Jersey and the USGA picked and chose the 18 it wanted for this week’s championship.

   Sheehan was the District One Class AAA champion as a senior at Central Bucks East in 2018. The appearance of the coronavirus on the scene in early 2020 slowed his progress at Penn State, but he’s been coming on strong since college golf resumed in the Big Ten early in 2021.

   Sheehan represented Penn State in the NCAA’s Columbus Regional in the spring, finishing in a tie for 37^th place at The Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course.

   Sheehan, playing out of Talamore Country Club, started slowly Monday, making bogeys at the 12^th, 13^th and 15^th holes after starting off the 10^th tee at Arcola. Sheehan birdied the first hole, but fell back to 3-over again with a bogey at two.

   But then Sheehan made back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth holes and went back-to-back again at seven and eight to turn his round around and get it in red figures after the opening round.

   Downingtown West junior Nick Gross, making his U.S. Amateur debut, also staged a rally on his second nine of the day, the incoming nine at Ridgewood, as he grinded out a 1-over 72 at the par-71 layout that landed him among the group tied for 32^nd place, very much in the hunt for a spot in the match-play bracket.

   Gross, the reigning PIAA Class AAA champion, has been on quite a roll in the last month. He qualified for match play in the U.S. Junior Amateur at the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon last month before falling in the second round and finished alone in third place a couple of weeks ago in the Boys Junior PGA Championship at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Palos Park, Ill.

   Oh yeah, and he’s still eight days shy of his 16^th birthday, the second youngest player in the field.

   Gross, playing out of Kennett Square Golf & Country Club, came out of the gate at Ridgewood with bogeys at the fourth and eighth holes and a double bogey at 10. If you thought he was going to fold up his tent, you haven’t been paying attention. Gross ripped off birdies at the 11^th, 12^th and 14^th holes and then grinded out four pars to get it in at 1-over.

   Gross wasn’t the only Pennsylvania scholastic champion at 1-over as Notre Dame senior Palmer Jackson, who captured the PIAA Class AAA crown as a senior at Franklin Regional in 2018, matched Gross’ 1-over 72 at Ridgewood in Monday’s opening round.

   Jackson, No. 41 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), made a fairly remarkable run to the quarterfinals of the 2019 U.S. Amateur at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina before he ever hit a shot for the Fighting Irish.

   Stanford junior Michael Thorbjornsen, winner of the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur at another classic New Jersey layout, Baltusrol Golf Club, headed a group of five players tied for first place at 3-under, all of them carding a 68 at Ridgewood. Thorbjornsen, who is No. 6 in the WAGR, is a Wellesley, Mass. native.

   Joining Thorbjornsen at 3-under were Chris Francoeur of Amesbury, Mass., Luke Gutschewski of Elkhorn, Neb., Hazen Newman of Las Vegas, Nev. and Campbell Kremer of Louisville, Ky.

   Francoeur used his fifth year of college eligibility at Louisville in the wraparound 2021-2022 season after being a four-year standout at Rhode Island. Gutschewski is a sophomore at Iowa State. Newman is a senior at Big 12 power Oklahoma State. Kremer is a junior at Kentucky.

   Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach, Calif., who won the first of his two U.S. Mid-Amateur crowns at Stonewall six years ago, was tied for sixth place at 2-under after carding a 69 at Ridgewood. Hagestad is No. 9 in the WAGR. Georgia Tech junior Christo Lamprecht of South Africa and No. 42 in the WAGR, joined Hagestad at 2-under with the day’s best round at Arcola, a 68.

   Drexel men’s golf coach Ben Feld had a birdie-birdie finish at Arcola to remain in with a shot at making the match-play bracket with a 4-over 74 at Arcola. Feld, representing Green Valley Country Club, is playing in his first USGA championship.

   Jimmy Ellis, one of western Pennsylvania’s top mid-ams from Venetia, stayed in the hunt for a match-play berth as he recorded a 4-over 74 at Arcola. Ellis captured the 2020 Pennsylvania Open at Oakmont.

   Another former state champion, Carson Bacha, who captured the 2019 PIAA Class AAA crown as a senior at Central York, matched the 4-over 74s posted by Feld and Ellis at Arcola.

   Bacha capped a really strong sophomore season at Auburn by finishing in a tie for 20^th place in the individual standings in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. as the Tigers came up just short of earning a spot among the eight teams that battled it out for the NCAA crown in match play.

   Dougie Ergood Jr. of Mount Laurel, N.J. registered a 5-over 76 at Ridgewood and has some work to do to earn a spot in the match-play bracket. Ergood might have the option to play another season at North Carolina. He was a senior for the Tar Heels in the 2021-’22 season.

   R.J. Wren, a product of Twin Valley and Delaware (and a former Stonewall looper), was at 6-over after a 76 at Arcola.

   David Kim, one of District One’s top players during his scholastic career at Upper Dublin and a former La Salle standout, was at 7-over with a 77 at Arcola. Wren and Kim both emerged from the Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Applebrook Golf Club.

   Connor McGrath, a fifth-year player at Temple, and Saucon Valley Country Club mid-am Matt Mattare both landed at 8-over, McGrath with a 79 at Ridgewood and Mattare with a 78 at Arcola. McGrath, who plays out of Huntingdon Valley Country Club, and Mattare, along with Feld, punched their tickets to the U.S. Amateur at the GAP-administered qualifier at Rolling Green Golf Club.

   Sheehan’s old Penn State roommate, Ben Smith, who starred scholastically at West Perry, posted a 9-over 80 at Ridgewood.