U.S. Open Sectional Returns to Old Oaks, Century on Monday
ELMSFORD, N.Y. (May 31, 2019) – On Monday, June 3, the Metropolitan Golf Association returns its annually conducted U.S. Open sectional qualifying round to Purchase, N.Y., where host sites Old Oaks Country Club and Century Country Club will welcome players vying for four qualifying spots at Pebble Beach Golf Links in the 119th U.S. Open Championship.
Related: Pairings & Starting Times
The field of 73 competitors—52 professionals and 21 amateurs—features top competitors from the Met Area and beyond, from USGA champions and standout collegians to the nation’s top club professionals and PGA TOUR players.
Old Oaks and Century are one of 10 sectional qualifying rounds that will take place across the country on June 3. Sectionals have already been completed in Dallas, Texas (May 20) and Japan (May 27). The number of qualifying spots for each sectional is determined by the size and strength of the field. The MGA-conducted sectional qualifying round rotates between the Purchase sites of Old Oaks and Century and Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., every three years.
Building on History
Three players in the field have previously advanced to the U.S. Open from the Purchase sectional qualifying round: Jim Herman (2013), Rob Oppenheim (2014), and James Renner (2014).
Met Area to U.S. Open
In total, nine competitors in the field have advanced to the U.S. Open from a sectional qualifying round in the Met Area. In addition to Herman, Oppenheim, and Renner having advanced through the Met Area, Matthew Campbell (2017), Christopher Crawford (2016-17), Justin Hicks (2016), Andy Pope (2016-17), Cameron Wilson (2012-2018) and amateur Scott Harvey (2017) have all done so in recent years from Summit and are aiming for similar fortune in Purchase. Herman and Oppenheim have qualified from both sites.
USGA Champions
There are four USGA champions in the field, including 2011 U.S. Amateur champion and PGA TOUR player Kelly Kraft, and three U.S. Mid-Amateur champions: Harvey (2014), Michael McCoy (2013), and Matt Parziale (2017). Harvey is also fresh off a win in last week’s U.S. Amateur Four Ball Championship at Bandon Dunes.
MGA Champions
The field is strewn with past MGA champions looking to expand upon their success in the Met Area:
| Danny Balin | Met Open (2010) |
| Max Buckley* | Carter Cup (2007) |
| Ryan Davis | Met Amateur (2018) |
| Kevin Foley | Ike MGA Stroke Play (2008) |
| Ryan McCormick | Met Amateur (2012) |
| Michael Miranda | Public Links (2016) |
| Joshua Rackley | Met Open (2017) |
| Luke Sample | Boys (2018) |
| Andrew Svoboda | Met Open (2003, 2018), Met Amateur (2004) |
| Johnson Wagner | Met Open (2001-02), Met Amateur (2001-02), Ike MGA Stroke Play (2002) |
| Cameron Wilson* | Boys (2006), Carter Cup (2009), Met Amateur (2009), Ike MGA Stroke Play (2012-13) |
| Cameron Young* | Met Junior (2013), Carter Cup (2014), Ike MGA Stroke Play (2015-16) |
* Denotes former MGA Player of the Year
From Bethpage to Pebble?
Met Area club professionals Alex Beach (Westchester), Danny Balin (Fresh Meadow), and Jason Caron (Mill River) will all aim to advance to their second professional major championship of the season, having competed in the 101st PGA Championship at Bethpage Black last month. Beach and Balin finished 1-2 in the PGA Professional National Championship to earn their spots at Bethpage.
Young Guns
Jack Wall and Luke Sample stand as a pair of rising stars in the field. Wall, who will attend University of South Carolina in the fall, won the MGA Junior Player of the Year last season thanks in part to a runner-up finish in the Met Open at Wykagyl Country Club. Luke Sample, who just recently turned 16 and last fall verbally committed to playing at Duke University, won last year’s MGA Boys Championship and medaled at the Cortlandt, N.Y., local qualifying round with a 6-under 65.
College Standouts
Scotch Plains, N.J., native John Pak recently received PING First-Team All-American honors following his record-setting sophomore campaign at Florida State in which he set the school’s lowest stroke average at 69.56. Pak won the ACC Championship and is currently 12th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Scarborough, N.Y., native Cameron Young just concluded his senior campaign at Wake Forest, with the Demon Deacons’ season coming to a halt in the quarterfinals against eventual NCAA champions Stanford. Young earned All-Region honors and was tabbed All-ACC for the third consecutive year. Owensboro, Ky., native John Augenstein just completed his junior season at Vanderbilt, earning All-SEC First Team honors. The 2017 SEC Freshman of the Year won the 2018 Players Amateur.
The Depth Continues
Additional notable competitors in the field also include Gary Nicklaus, son of four-time U.S. Open champion Jack Nicklaus; three-time PGA TOUR winner and Fairfield, Conn., native J.J. Henry; Web.com Tour winner Dominic Bozzelli; 2018 U.S. Mid-Amateur runner-up Brett Boner; and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica competitor Juan Alvares.
Coverage
- 9 and 18-hole updates for the morning 18, followed by live, hole-by-hole scoring for the final 18 holes in the afternoon
- Web updates on mgagolf.org
- Additional live coverage on MGA social media outlets: @MGA1897 on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook