Carey Bina, a PIAA qualifier in 2011 as a junior at Radnor
High, wants to play professional golf.
That’s what the 23-year-old told the Golf Association of
Philadelphia website after a breathtaking run of six birdies on the front nine
of a GAP-administered U.S. Open qualifier at Makefield Highlands Golf Club in
Yardley Monday earned him a trip to “golf’s longest day,” a U.S. Open sectional
qualifier June 3.
Bina had expressed similar sentiments the last time I came
upon his name when he led the Dixie Amateur in Coral Springs, Fla. for three
rounds in January before coming up a shot short of a playoff for the title.
Even with an undergraduate degree from Elon in his back
pocket, the pro golf itch just won’t go away for Bina. So, he’s planning to
scratch it.
“This is likely to be my last summer as an amateur,” Bina
told the GAP website after firing a 1-under 70 over the 6,982-yard, par-71
Makefield Highlands layout to finish a shot behind Bent Creek Country Club
amateur Ryan Dornes, who wrapped up his college career at Penn State a couple
of weeks ago, for medalist honors. “I’m almost 90 percent clear that I will be
turning professional in the fall.
“I haven’t played in the U.S. Amateur yet. Golf, for me, is
not about money, or even a career. I just know that I’ve chosen a career
because I want to play golf.”
Bina put his talent on display on Makefield Highland’s front
nine, with the notable exception of a double bogey at third hole.
He hit a 7-iron from 184 yards away to 12 feet and made
birdie at the first hole. After making the double bogey, though, he really got
going. He hit a 54-degree wedge from 116 yards away to five feet at the fourth
and made that putt, dropped his 58-degree wedge to four feet at the fifth and
holed the birdie try, bombed a 6-iron from 196 yards away at the sixth and
drained a 20-footer for birdie, blasted a 9-iron from 160 yards away at the
seventh to 22 feet and watched that putt fall in the hole and then dropped a
15-footer for birdie at the ninth.
If Bina does turn pro, trust me, it is a decision that is
well thought out. In the post I did on the Dixie Amateur, I mentioned how analytical
Bina was on the golf course, even as a high school kid.
He understands how difficult the path he is heading down is. He’s too smart
not to. It sounded like he was doing whatever the gig economy could offer him
in the winter in Florida as he sought opportunities to compete on the golf
course. The GAP website said he’s caddying at Philadelphia Cricket Club these
days. He’s probably good at that, too.
He also is two good rounds of golf away from playing in the
U.S. Open at the Pebble Beach Golf Links. It would be a heck of a story if he
gets there.
I’m sure Dornes, the runnerup in the 2014 PIAA Class AAA
Championship as a senior at Manheim Township, was disappointed that the 2-over
72 he shot at the Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course in the final round of the Big Ten Championship
a couple of weeks ago turned out to be final round of his Penn State career.
I thought the Nittany Lions had a decent shot at earning an
at-large bid to an NCAA regional, but the call never came. Their 10th-place
finish at the Cricket Club on a weekend that featured a spectacularly windy
Saturday, might have sealed their fate.
The 22-year-old Dornes started on the back nine at Makefield
Highlands and turned a so-so round into the qualifying medal by finishing with
four straight birdies at the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth holes that gave
him a 3-under 68.
Dornes, who will finish up the credits he needs to complete
his undergraduate degree in business this summer, plans to tee it up in the
sectional qualifier at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.
LuLu Country Club’s Christopher Ault, one of the
mid-amateurs on the GAP scene, and Zachary Barbin, a sophomore at Liberty
playing out of Loch Nairn Golf Club, each matched par with a 71 to grab two
more of the tickets to sectional qualifying.
The 32-year-old Ault was one of the four local players who
earned a spot in match play when the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship was played
at Stonewall in 2016.
Barbin has had a hard time cracking a talented lineup for a
Liberty team that is No. 22 in the latest Golfstat
rankings and is seeded fourth in the NCAA Athens Regional, which tees off
Monday at University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga.
Zachary Barbin will be joined in the sectional qualifier at
Woodmont by his brother Austin, who advanced out of a local qualifier at Hillendale
Country Club near Baltimore.
The final ticket to sectional qualifying out of the
Makefield Highlands qualifier went to reigning BMW Philadelphia Amateur
champion Jeremy Wall, who plays out of the Manasquan River Club at the Jersey
Shore.
Wall put a quick end to a five-for-one playoff that included
younger brother Ethan Wall by burying a 55-foot birdie putt on the first hole
of the playoff. Jeremy Wall got into the playoff by posting a 1-over 72.
The first alternate slot went to another amateur, Nathan
Bazant, who just completed his junior year at Rider. Mark Miller, a
professional from Philadelphia, was the second alternate.
Ethan Wall and Griffin Smith, a teammate of Bazant’s at
Rider and a former Council Rock South standout, were the other two players
involved in the playoff. Smith just completed his sophomore season at Rider.
Heading up the near-miss category were two other collegians,
Peter Bradbeer, who just completed a solid junior season at Bucknell, and Lukas
Clark, who just wrapped up his sophomore season at Penn State. Both players
carded a 2-over 73 to miss being part of the playoff by a shot.
Bradbeer, a Friends’ Central product, won the 2017 Patterson
Cup, a GAP major championship, at Wilmington Country Club’s South Course. Clark
starred scholastically at Council Rock South.
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