If Colorado’s 2009 U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying was any indication, there may be big things in store for some of the players who emerge from the state’s upcoming Amateur qualifying tournaments.
Colorado will host two 36-hole U.S. Amateur Sectionals in the next two weeks, the first on Monday at the Broadmoor Golf Club’s West Course in Colorado Springs, and the other on Aug. 10 at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora.
A total of 145 players — 78 at the Broadmoor and 67 at Saddle Rock — will compete for six spots (three from each site) in the U.S. Amateur, which is set for Aug. 23-29. The much-acclaimed Chambers Bay course in University Place, Wash., will hold its dress rehearsal for the 2015 U.S. Open by hosting this year’s U.S. Amateur.
The qualifiers at the Broadmoor and Saddle Rock can only hope the Sectionals open doors like they did last year for Steve Ziegler of Broomfield and Gunner Wiebe of Aurora.
Ziegler (pictured) not only advanced to match play at the 2009 U.S. Amateur, but he made it to the quarterfinals. There, he lost to eventual champion Byeong-Hun An in 21 holes. The performance last year was enough to make Ziegler exempt from qualifying for the 2010 U.S. Amateur.
Wiebe, meanwhile, shot a course-record 63 in his second round of qualifying at Ptarmigan Country Club in Fort Collins last year. Though the University of San Diego golfer fell short of making it to match play at the U.S. Amateur, he’s had a stellar last year. Wiebe qualified for the San Diego PGA Tour stop and won two college tournaments and the CGA Match Play. He also posted the best showing by an amateur in the HealthOne Colorado Open since 1997, finishing second.
Wiebe will be trying for a return trip to the Amateur, but not at the Broadmoor or Saddle Rock. Because he starts summer school at the University of San Diego on Monday, he’ll go through qualifying at a San Diego site.
Two players who earned spots in the 2009 U.S. Amateur in Colorado will be shooting for two straight in early August. Michael Harrington of Colorado Springs, the 2009 CGA Mid-Amateur Player of the Year, is in the field at the Broadmoor, while recent Arizona State University graduate Tristan Bierenbroodspot will be at Saddle Rock.
Also in the field at the Broadmoor are 2004 CGA Player of the Year Steve Irwin, 2008 CGA Stroke Play champion Jonathan Marsico, and Tommy Hart, who teamed with John Elway to win the 2009 Trans-Miss Four-Ball Championship. Among those competing at Saddle Rock are Greenwood Village’s Wyndham Clark, ranked among the top 25 junior players in the nation; Colorado State golfer Zahkai Brown, the 2009 CGA Public Links champion; and University of Denver golfer Klinton Krieger, runner-up to Wiebe in the 2010 CGA Match Play.
The Broadmoor and Saddle Rock are two of 99 Sectional Qualifying sites for this year’s U.S. Amateur, which will feature 312 players. One Coloradan has already successfully advanced through qualifying, as Mark Hubbard of Denver earned medalist honors in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Monday.
Speaking of Colorado angles, the state is just two years away from the U.S. Amateur being contested at Cherry Hills Country Club. The dates are set for Aug. 20-26, 2012.
