{"id":2568,"date":"2018-10-23T01:24:45","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T01:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/?p=2568"},"modified":"2018-12-10T21:11:34","modified_gmt":"2018-12-10T21:11:34","slug":"in-praise-of-usga-qualifiers-and-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/golf\/personalities\/2568\/in-praise-of-usga-qualifiers-and-players","title":{"rendered":"In praise of USGA qualifiers and players"},"content":{"rendered":"\"usga-qualifying-featured\"<\/a>\n

One of the trusted axioms of the game is Bobby Jones\u2019s observation of \u201cthere\u2019s golf and then there\u2019s tournament golf.\u201d Meaning the demands of medal play\u2014playing the ball as it lays and putting everything out\u2014is in stark\u00a0 <\/span>contrast to a casual round of golf among one\u2019s friends. And to sharpen the point, one might add further, \u201cthere\u2019s qualifying and competing in national tournaments.\u201d As golf writer Mike Purkey recently observed in The Morning Read,<\/i> \u201cTo have a handicap index low enough to play in events run by your state or regional golf association means you\u2019re in a club that makes up less than one-tenth of 1 percent of all golfers in the U.S\u2026And if you\u2019ve played in a USGA championship\u2026.it\u2019s even more exclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

So with a friendly nod to Purkey, let me cite a roster of Michigan (sorry, Canada and nearby states) players who this past season became members of this elite and exclusive club\u2014those qualifying and playing in USGA Championships in 2018:<\/p>\n

U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Jupiter Hills Club, FL: The Bloomfield Hills duo of Scott Strickland and Brett Hudson qualified but missed the cut for match play.<\/p>\n

U.S Women\u2019s Open at Shoal Creek, AL: No Michigan players.<\/p>\n

\"Brain<\/a>

Brian Stuard<\/p><\/div>\n

U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills GC, NY: In the most exclusive championship in golf, Jackson\u2019s Brian Stuard qualified but missed the cut.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>

Tom Werkmeister<\/p><\/div>\n

U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor, CO: Grandville\u2019s Tom Werkmeister qualified and finished T-52nd in the championship, earning $9087. Northville\u2019s Brian Cairns also qualified but missed the cut.<\/p>\n

\"Suzie<\/a>

Suzie Green-Roebuck<\/p><\/div>\n

U.S. Senior Open at Chicago GC, IL: Michigan natives Suzie Green-Roebuck (T-10), Elaine Crosby (T-23) , Cindy Figg-Currier (T-40) and Becky Iverson (T-44) all qualified in this inaugural championship and all made the cut. Michigan Golf Hall of Famer and Naples\u2019 Mary Jane Hiestand received an exemption into the field but missed the cut.<\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/a>

Colin Sikkenga<\/p><\/div>\n

U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol GC, NJ: Kazoo\u2019s Colin Sikkenga and Spring Lake\u2019s Nick Krueger both qualified. Sikkenga advanced to the round of 32 in match play. He tops the GAM\u2019s Junior Roll this season.<\/p>\n

U.S. Girls\u2019 Junior at Poppy Hills GC, CA: Makaela Schulz of West Bloomfield and Northville\u2019s Nicole Whatley qualified but didn\u2019t advance to match play.<\/p>\n

U.S. Women\u2019s Amateur at GC of Tennessee, Tenn: Caledonia\u2019s Sarah White qualified as did Brighton\u2019s Allyson Geer-Park. Allyson lost in a playoff for match play after shooting a 67 in the second round.<\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/a>

Alex Scott<\/p><\/div>\n

U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, CA: James Kneen of White Lake, Traverse City\u2019s Alex Scott and Canton\u2019s Donnie Trosper all qualified. Trosper lost in a playoff to advance to match play. Scott was T-10 in stroke play and bowed out in the first round.<\/p>\n

U.S. Senior Amateur at Eugene CC in OR: Grandville\u2019s Kerry Buettner, Grand Rapids\u2019 Todd Hoag, Kazoo\u2019s Mitch Wilson and Dearborn Heights\u2019 Bill Zylstra qualified but only Wilson advanced to match play when he lost in the first round to former champion Paul Simson.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mitch<\/a>

Mitch Wilson<\/p><\/div>\n

Former Michigander and Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member John Grace lost in the second round of match play.<\/p>\n

U.S. Mid-Amateur at Charlotte CC, NC: Tecumseh\u2019s Jerred Barley, Bloomfield Hills\u2019 Ken Hudson, Rochester Hills\u2019 Jeff Champine, Royal Oak\u2019s Alex Zioli, Saline\u2019s Mike Ignasiak, Bloomfield Hills\u2019 Scott Strickland all qualified but only Champine and Hudson advanced to match play where they fell in the first round.<\/p>\n

U.S. Women\u2019s Mid-Amateur: Holt\u2019s Julie Massa and Ann Arbor\u2019s Ashley Mantha qualified but missed the cut for match play. Mary Jane Hiestand, runner-up in \u201917, also did not advance to match play.<\/p>\n

U.S. Senior Women\u2019s Amateur at Orchid Island, FL: No Michigan qualifiers although former resident Hiestand advanced to the round of 16 in match play.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the trusted axioms of the game is Bobby Jones\u2019s observation of \u201cthere\u2019s golf and then there\u2019s tournament golf.\u201d… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":2576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17,7],"tags":[83,2832,2862,3873,1001,1013170,1013171,1013172,1013173],"class_list":["post-2568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-courses-and-travel","category-personalities","tag-usga","tag-terry-moore","tag-michigan-golf","tag-brian-stuard","tag-bobby-jones","tag-suzie-green-roebuck","tag-colin-sikkenga","tag-mitch-wilson","tag-alex-scott"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2018\/10\/usga-qualifying-featured.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2568"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2623,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568\/revisions\/2623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}