Goetz leads Pennsylvania contingent in opening round of qualifying for U.S. Amateur with 64 at Longue Vue

    There was a considerable Pennsylvania contingent teeing off in the opening round of the U.S. Amateur Championship on one of the Commonwealth’s most renowned courses, the Henry Fownes classic at Oakmont Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh.

   But most of the fireworks in Monday’s opening round of qualifying for match play came at the alternate qualifying site, the nearby Longue Vue Club. Leading the Pennsylvania contingent was Greensburg’s Mark Goetz, who will take a fifth year at West Virginia after nearly advancing to the NCAA Championship as an individual for the Mountaineers in the spring.

   Goetz, a Kiski Prep product, fired a sparkling 6-under-par 64 at Longue Vue that left him among a trio of players tied for second place, a shot behind Clemson senior Jacob Bridgeman of Inman, S.C., whose 7-under 63 also came at Longue Vue. Bridgeman is No. 27 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   Goetz, who plays out of Hannastown Golf Club, looked like he might be in a playoff for the Pennsylvania Amateur crown a couple of weeks ago at the Commonwealth’s other historic layout, Merion Golf Club’s East Course, after he carded a 1-under 69 in the final round to finish with a 1-over 211 total. That was before John Peters of Carlisle made a dramatic eagle, holing out from 193 yards away with an 8-iron on Merion’s classic finishing hole, to pull the rug out from under Goetz.

   Goetz got his round going at Longue Vue Monday with an eagle at the par-5 fourth hole. He added birdies at the eighth, 11^th, 15^th and 16^th holes with nary a bogey on the scorecard.

   But Goetz faces a considerable hurdle in that his second round will be played at Oakmont, home to nine U.S. Opens, more than any other course.

   All of the top finishers played at Longue Vue Monday. Only one player, Vanderbilt sophomore Cole Sherwood of Austin, Texas, managed to break par at the treacherous Oakmont. His 1-under 69 left him in a tie for 33^rd place.

   The point is that nobody who put together a nice round at Longue Vue Monday is guaranteed of anything with Oakmont still to play. In some ways, it might be an advantage to have played Oakmont first. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. And it’s nothing against Longue Vue. Oakmont might be the toughest golf course in America. It’s just a hard golf course.

   The top 64 finishers following Tuesday’s second round of qualifying will advance to match play, which gets under way Wednesday. All off the matches will be played at Oakmont.

   Not sure anyone would have guessed that the best round turned in by a southeastern Pennsylvania player would be the even-par 70 that Lukas Clark, who starred scholastically at Council Rock South, posted at Longue Vue.

   Clark, who emerged from a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Hartefeld National Golf Club, did nothing but get better during his four years at Penn State. I’ve been hearing that Clark will take the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of the coronavirus pandemic at Toledo.

   Clark’s even-par round left him in the group tied for 43^rd place, seemingly in good shape to advance to the match-play bracket, but he has yet to face the challenge of Oakmont.

   Clark had an up-and-down round at Longue Vue, but a surge of four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the incoming nine enabled him to get it to even-par. Clark opened with a bogey at the first hole, made birdies at three and four and stumbled with bogeys at five and eight to make the turn at 1-over.

   Clark birdied the 10^th, 11^th, 13^th and 14^th holes to get it to 3-under for the round before faltering a little down the stretch with a double bogey at the 15^th hole and a bogey at 17.

   You might think that two of the Philadelphia area’s top amateurs, Merion’s Peter Bradbeer and Michael R. Brown Jr. of LuLu Country Club, would not have much of a shot at making match play since they are tied for 107^th place at 3-over 73. But their 73s came at Oakmont, so they are very much in the hunt for a spot in the match-play bracket.

   Bradbeer is coming off a victory in GAP’s final major championship of the season, as he fired a course-record, 8-under 64 at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club last week to win his second Patterson Cup crown by five shots.

   Brown was the medalist in another GAP-administered qualifier, this one at Harrisburg’s Colonial Golf & Tennis Club. He has also won state amateur titles in New Jersey and Delaware this summer and finished in a tie for 14^th place in defense of his Pennsylvania Amateur crown at Merion a couple of weeks ago.

   A couple of teammates on Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 PIAA Class AAA championship team, Penn State junior Jimmy Meyers and James Madison redshirt sophomore Neal Shipley, were among the group tied for 140^th place at 4-over.

   Their 74s came at Oakmont, which means they are still very much alive for a spot in the match-play bracket. Shipley is coming off a strong showing in the Pennsylvania Amateur as he finished in a tie for seventh place at Merion.

   Sean Knapp, the 2017 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship winner at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, is also in the group tied for 140 at 4-over, but his 4-over 74 came at Longue Vue. But if local knowledge matters for anything, few know Oakmont as well as Knapp does. His journey to a long and distinguished amateur career had its roots in his days as a caddy at Oakmont.

   Connor Sheehan, a three-time Lancaster County amateur champion, put together a solid 5-over at Oakmont Monday. Connor Sheehan, who punched his ticket to the U.S. Amateur at the GAP-administered qualifier at Colonial, was tied for 148^th place.

   Notre Dame junior Palmer Jackson, the 2018 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Franklin Regional, had to be a little disappointed with his 6-over 76 at Longue Vue, which left him in the group tied for 189^th place. Jackson reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst Village, N.C. before he even arrived in South Bend, Ind.

   Temple senior Conor McGrath, who captured the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship earlier this summer at Cedarbrook Country Club, was also in the group at 6-over, although his 76 was posted at Oakmont. McGrath, who plays out of Huntingdon Valley Country Club, emerged from a GAP-administered qualifier at Sunnybrook Golf Club.

   Nate Menon, the medalist in the GAP-administered qualifier at Hartefeld National, carded a 77 at Oakmont and was part of the group tied for 215^th place at 7-over. Menon, who will take a fifth year at Stanford, was the 2015 PIAA Class AA champion as a junior at Wyomissing.

   The reigning PIAA Class AAA champion, Holy Ghost Prep senior Calen Sanderson, also carded a 7-over 77 at Oakmont to join the group tied for 215^th place.

   Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach, Calif., winner of the 2016 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Stonewall, also signed for a 77 at Oakmont and was among the group tied for 215^th place. Hagestad, part of the winning U.S. side in the Walker Cup Match in May at another iconic layout, Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach Fla., is No. 12 in the WAGR.

   Penn State junior Patrick Sheehan, the medalist in the GAP-administered qualifier at Sunnybrook, had trouble solving Oakmont, posting a 9-over 79 that left him in a tie for 244^th place.

   Patrick Sheehan, who starred scholastically at Central Bucks East, has had a terrific summer. He finished in a tie for second place with Goetz behind Peters’ stroke of brilliance in the Pennsylvania Amateur at Merion and finished in a tie for second behind Bradbeer in last week’s Patterson Cup at Manufacturers.

   Bridgeman led Clemson to the Atlantic Coast Conference crown and helped the Tigers advance to the NCAA Championship out of the NCAA’s Kingston Springs Regional.

   Starting off the 10^th tee at Longue Vue, Bridgeman birdied the 10^th hole, but really went off after making a bogey at 12. Bridgeman proceeded to make birdies at the 14^th, 15^th and 18^th holes. Turning for Longue Vue’s outgoing nine, Bridgeman made birdies at the fourth and sixth holes before getting it to 7-under with an eagle at the par-5 seventh.

   Joining Goetz in the trio tied for second place at 6-under were Joe Highsmith, who had a big hand in Pepperdine’s run to a national championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. in the spring, and Englishman Alex Fitzpatrick, a senior at Wake Forest who was on the bag when big brother Matthew won the 2013 U.S. Amateur at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Highsmith and Fitzpatrick both shot 64 at Longue Vue.

   Highsmith of Lakewood, Wash. will be a senior at Pepperdine and is No. 23 in the WAGR. Fitzpatrick, a member of the Great Britain & Ireland team that fell to the U.S. in the Walker Cup at Seminole, is No. 4 in the WAGR.