Derek Tolan drew considerable national attention in 2002 when he became one of the youngest qualifiers ever for the U.S. Open, earning a berth as a 16-year-old.
This year, the U.S. Open will return to Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y., for the first time since 2002, but Tolan won’t be making a return appearance.
The University of Colorado golfer fell short in Monday’s U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Colorado Golf Club, starting out double bogey-bogey en route to a 2-over-par 74.
“It’s definitely a huge deal,” said the amateur from Highlands Ranch, who has qualified for 10 USGA events in his career. “I’m really disappointed. There was a lot more sentiment for me this time around than usual.”
But while Tolan missed the mark, five players from Monday’s field of 84 advanced to Sectional Qualifying, the final stage en route to the U.S. Open, which will be played June 18-21 at Bethpage. Colorado State golfer Zen Brown (pictured) shot a 4-under-par 68 to earn medalist honors, while four professionals punched their tickets to Sectionals: Dustin Mills of Arvada (69), Robert Quaratino of Commerce City (69), Jay Osmon of Alamosa (70) and Micah Rudosky of Cortez (71). Rudosky defeated Nationwide Tour player Dustin White of Pueblo West in a playoff when Rudosky made a par and White a bogey on the second extra hole.
All five players who advanced are looking for their first berth in the U.S. Open. Most, if not all, will be playing at the Sectional Qualifying tournament at Columbine Country Club in Littleton on June 8.
The Sectional qualifiers overcame very difficult conditions early in their round, when 25-30 MPH winds just added to the bite of the cold.
“It was cold out there this morning,” the 38-year-old Rudosky said. “I had on my rain pants and my jacket. But this is a big deal for me. It’s why I try (to qualify) every year.”
Brown, a 21-year-old senior at CSU who plans to turn pro this summer, qualified last year for his first USGA event, the U.S. Amateur. And if he plays like he did Monday, a trip to Bethpage could be in his future. On Colorado Golf Club, his birdies came in bunches of three — at 7, 8 and 9, and at 15, 16 and 17.
“It was a great round,” said the All-Mountain West Conference player. “The first eight holes were windy and the first five were windy and cold. But I battled my way through it.”
Mills did his fellow Arvada resident one better by running off four straight birdies during his round (13 through 16). But elsewhere on the course, he was getting up and down from all sorts of spots.
“It was one of the better short-games rounds I’ve had,” said Mills, a former CGA Boys Stroke Play champion who went on to win the 2007 Denver Open.
Similarly relying on his short game, Quaratino went back to an old putter in his arsenal and needed only 26 strokes on the formidable greens at Colorado Golf Club.
Osmon, a former state high school champion from Alamosa, last qualified for a USGA event en route to the 1994 U.S. Junior Amateur. The new coach of the Adams State College golf team took a straightforward route to success on Monday, hitting 15 greens in regulation.
Two more U.S. Open Local Qualifying tournaments will be held in Colorado: Wednesday at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins and May 18 at Lone Tree Golf Club.
