Braden Shattuck, the Daily
Times Player of the Year as a senior at Sun Valley, took the first step
toward a spot in the U.S. Open for the second time in three years, but there’s
something different this time around.
Shattuck was still an amateur when he earned a trip to
sectional qualifying two years ago and offered up the enticing possibility of a
Delco player playing in a U.S. Open in Delco as that was the year that the
national championship was staged in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township
at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course.
But two years after he left Delaware after an outstanding
freshman season with the Blue Hens, Shattuck will be heading to sectional U.S.
Open qualifying as a professional. The National Open will be held June 18 to 21
at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.
Shattuck fired a 3-under 69 at Trump National Golf Club in
Pine Hill, N.J. Monday to finish in a tie for second in a local U.S. Open
qualifier and, more importantly, earn one of the five coveted tickets to golf’s
longest day, the 36 holes of sectional qualifying all around the country.
Scott McNeil, a 29-year-old Philadelphia amateur who plays
out of Bala Golf Club, earned medalist honors with a 4-under 68. Adam Webb of
Ridgeway, Va., matched Shattuck’s 69 and a couple of Delaware professionals,
Chris Gray of Newark, Del., and Chris Tobiason Jr. of Wilmington, Del. fired
71s to grab the last two tickets to sectional qualifying. Tobiason advanced to
the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club out of sectional qualifying.
Shattuck has been biding his time, competing in amateur
events the last two summers, while helping out around Mike Moses’ pro shop at
Concord Country Club. He had a couple of strong showings in some Golf
Association of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania events last summer.
He is playing on the eGolf Tour and will try to get into a
Web.com event through qualifiers when he can. Shattuck didn’t make it to Merion
in 2013, but he’ll get another shot at the biggest event in golf when he tees
it up in a sectional qualifier at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.
Shattuck started on the back nine at Trump National Monday
and caught fire in the late stages of his round. He hit a sand wedge to a foot
on the fourth hole, chipped in from just over the green for a birdie at the
sixth, dropped in a 25-foot birdie putt
on the par-5 seventh, and had a two-putt birdie from the back fringe at the
ninth.
“I’m still going through some swing changes, but it’s coming
around,” Shattuck told the GAP website. “It’ll get better the more tournaments
I play in.”
Haverford School junior Max Siegfried gave it quite a run
Monday, carding a 1-over 73 to finish a shot behind the two alternates. Radnor
All-Delco Carey Bina, Episcopal Academy senior Trey Croney and Mark Hill of
Media, who advanced out local qualifying last summer, were all at 2-over 74. I
talked to Bina last summer following his freshman year at Wake Forest. He said
he was trying to make the team as a walk-on, which is tough to do at a
high-powered ACC school, but he’s obviously still playing well.
Aronimink Golf Club’s Joseph Fabrizio Jr. was at 75. The
group at 76 included Anthony List of Havertown and former Llanerch Country Club
member and Malvern Prep standout Billy Stewart.
Rolling Green Golf Club’s Matthew Bastian carded a 77 and
the group at 79 included Overbrook Golf Club veteran Chris Lange, Conrad Von
Borsig, the Daily Times Player of the
Year at Strath Haven in 2004-05, and former Garnet Valley standout Jacob
Pilarski.
Davis a winner at Buena Vista
Junior golfers dodged some off-and-on rain showers Saturday
in a Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour stop at Buena Vista Country Club in
Buena, N.J. Saturday and Newtown Square’s Matthew
Davis fired a 4-over 76 to take top honors in the 13-to-15 division.
Davis toured the back nine at the 6,443-yard, par-72 Buena
Vista layout in 2-under par.
Also in Davis’ division, Case Hummer of Glen Mills finished
fourth with an 80, Oliver Forssell of Villanova finished in a tie for 12th
with an 85, Frank Rauscher of Wayne finished in a tie for 16th with
an 88 and Joseph Morganti of Havertown was 20th with a 91.
Jake Fitts of Warrington won the 16-to-18 division with a
3-over 75. Radnor sophomore Jacob Liberman finished in a tie for eighth with an
86.
Kelsey Patterson of Allentown won the girls 16-to-18
division with an 89. Maggie Cass, a junior on the powerhouse Notre Dame team that
just completed its remarkable sixth straight perfect run through the Inter-Ac
League Monday, finished third with a 94.
Casey Oppenheimer of Conshohocken won the 13-to-15 division
with an 88. Lauren Butscher of Wallingford was fourth with a 109.
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