The local contingent at the U.S. Amateur struggled over the
two courses at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. and failed
to make the cut for match play.
Kyle Sterbinsky, the medalist at the Golf Association of
Philadelphia supervised qualifier at White Manor Country Club and Aronimink
Golf Club, bounced back from an opening-round 77 Monday at the 7,334-yard,
par-70 South Course, with an even-par 70 at the 6,849-yard, par-70 North Course
for a 147 total.
The cut fell at 2-over 142 and 23 players will go at it for
the final eight spots in match play Wednesday morning at the North Course with
match play among the 64 survivors set to tee off at the South Course, which has
hosted six U.S. Open Championships. Both courses are Donald Ross designs.
Sterbinsky, a Peddie School product who plays out of
Huntingdon Valley Country Club, had an outstanding freshman season at Wake
Forest.
Aronimink’s Michael Davis, a junior at Princeton, had a
second-round 74 at the South Course after a 76 at the North Monday for a 150
total.
Spring Mill Country Club’s Christopher Crawford, who earned
a berth in the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club earlier this summer, had a 77
at the North Tuesday after an opening-round 78 at the South for a 155 total.
Crawford completed the finest career in the history of the Drexel program in
the spring.
One player who came out of the White Manor/Aronimink
qualifier did make match play. Matt Oshrine, a senior at Duke from Baltimore,
fired a 2-under 68 at the South Tuesday to go with his 71 at the North for a
1-under 139 total.
Henry Shimp, a prized incoming freshman at Stanford from
Charlotte, N.C., arrived at Oakland Hills via the White Manor/Aronimink
qualifier. He had a 74 at the North Tuesday after an opening-round 75 at the
South for a 149 total.
The last of the five players who made it out of the White
Manor/Aronimink qualifier, recent Flagler College graduate Michael Boss of
Lewiston, N.Y., added a 78 at the South Tuesday to an opening-round 77 at the
North for a 155 total.
Pittsburgh's Nathan Smith, who will arrive at Stonewall next month
looking for his fifth U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, missed the playoff for
match play by a shot. Smith had a 2-over 72 at the South after a 71 at the
North for a 3-over 143 total.
Also at 143 was Penn State sophomore Ryan Dornes, a former
Manheim Township standout. Dornes also had a 72 at the South Tuesday after
opening with a 71 at the North.
Dornes was joined by three other Nittany Lions in the field.
He was joined at 143 by Geoff Vartelas, a spring graduate out of Cromwell,
Conn. Vartelas got off to a great start with a 2-under 68 at the South Course
Monday, but fell back with a 75 Tuesday at the North.
Chris Houston, like Vartelas a spring graduate at Penn
State, had a 71 at the North Tuesday after opening with a 75 at the South for a
146 total. Houston is from Gilford, N.H.
J.D. Hughes, a sophomore from Carlisle, had a 76 at the
North Tuesday after a solid opening-round 72 at the South for a 148 total.
Hughes transferred into the Penn State program and had to sit out the 2015-’16
season.
Medalist honors went to Alex Smalley, a sophomore at Duke
from Chapel Hill, N.C. Smalley, a left-hander, fired a 2-under 68 at the South Course Tuesday
after an outstanding 5-under 65 at the North Course for a 7-under 133 total. The 133
total is tied for the second lowest ever in U.S. Amateur qualifying.
Dawson Armstrong, a junior at Lipscomb from Brentwood,
Tenn., had opened with a 6-under 64 at the North Course Monday and matched par with
a 70 at the South Tuesday to finish in a tie for second, a shot behind Smalley
at 6-under 134.
He was joined at that figure by Texas senior Gavin Hall of
Pittsford, N.Y. Hall had a 5-under 65 at the North Monday and a 1-under 69 at
the South.
Also on the USGA front, LedgeRock Golf Club’s Chip Lutz, the
reigning U.S. Senior Amateur champion, finished up at the rain-delayed U.S.
Senior Open at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio Monday with an even-par
70.
Lutz, the only amateur to make the cut, finished in a tie
for 37th at 10-over 290, 13 shots behind the champion Gene Sauers,
who finished at 3-under 277 on a Scioto layout that proved to be a tough test
for the best senior golfers on the planet.
Lutz’s game will be in fine form when he tees it up in the
U.S. Mid-Amateur next month at Stonewall. His showing at the U.S. Senior Open
comes on the heels of his third win in The Seniors Amateur Championship at
Fomby Golf Club in England.
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