Late August and the first few weeks of September mark the end of summer, but for Beau Schoolcraft, that time this year signals the beginning of exciting new chapters in his life.
The former 4A state high school champion plans to play golf for the University of Colorado starting next month after transferring from UCLA, where he spent his first two college seasons. But before settling in at CU, Schoolcraft (pictured) will be making his first appearance at the U.S. Amateur. The 20-year-old from Englewood made sure of that this week when he claimed medalist honors by seven strokes in a 36-hole Sectional Qualifying tournament at the Broadmoor’s West Course in Colorado Springs.
“It’s pretty cool,” Schoolcraft said of qualifying for arguably the most prestigious strictly-amateur golf tournament in the world. “I can’t say if it’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done in golf, but it’s up there.”
Joining Schoolcraft in qualifying for the U.S. Amateur out of the 78-player field at the Broadmoor were Michael Harrington of Colorado Springs and Parker Edens of Greeley. The U.S. Amateur will be contested Aug. 23-29 at the Chambers Bay course in University Place, Wash., site of the 2015 U.S. Open.
Harrington will be playing in his second straight U.S. Amateur, while Schoolcraft and Edens will be making their debuts in the event.
Schoolcraft ran away with medalist honors thanks to a round that was four shots better than anyone else shot in the qualifier at the Broadmoor. The golfer from Cherry Hills Country Club racked up seven birdies in his Monday afternoon round of 5-under-par 65, which left him at 2-under 138 overall.
“It’s close to some of my best rounds (ever), especially under this kind of pressure,” Schoolcraft said. “Everything kind of clicked. It was definitely fun to do.”
While Schoolcraft set himself apart at the Broadmoor, Harrington overcame “awful” putting and rallied in the second round with an even-par 70 to share second place at 145. Also at that figure was Edens, who carded rounds of 73-72 despite three double bogeys.
Suffice it to say the West Course proved a formidable test, particularly with the confounding breaks on putts at the Broadmoor.
“The greens just screw with your mind,” said Edens, a South Dakota State golfer who played the Broadmoor for the first time on Sunday. “It was very difficult.”
Added Schoolcraft: “The greens are so crazy out there — so quick. “¦ I thought it was playing real difficult, with the pin locations and the greens. You also had to be pretty accurate off the tee. You couldn’t have weaknesses in any part of your game if you wanted to score well.”
Also not helping matters was the fact that it took two days for the Amateur qualifying to be completed as two lightning delays kept many of the competitors from finishing as scheduled on Monday. Harrington was the only one of the three qualifiers who needed to complete his second round on Tuesday. In fact, he was in the very last group of the day. Meanwhile, Edens waited for hours after finishing his afternoon round Monday evening, then came back for more of the same on Tuesday, just in case he was involved in a playoff. In between, he added a night to his stay at his grandmother’s house in nearby Woodland Park.
“I waited around and waited around,” said Edens (pictured on right in photo, with Harrington). “I didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what to think. I tried not to think about things too much and (just) let pieces fall where they were supposed to.”
Edens had the opportunity to play the unique, links-style Chambers Bay course last year with some of his former Greeley Central teammates.
“When we were there last summer, I said I wanted to go back,” Edens said. “So it’s going to be fun.”
While Schoolcraft has competed in one previous USGA championship — a U.S. Junior Amateur — and Edens none, this will be the fifth one for Harrington, a 38-year-old financial advisor. He’s played in one previous U.S. Amateur, two U.S. Mid-Amateurs and one USGA State Team. He’s made it to match play in both of his Mid-Ams, advancing to the round of 16 in 2005.
“When I was in my 20s, I remember I just wanted to play in one USGA event, just to get the experience,” said Harrington, the 2009 CGA Mid-Amateur Player of the Year. “Then I played in the Mid-Am in 2005 and it was the greatest experience in my life to some extent. Then I’m like, “˜I want to play in the Amateur,’ and I played well enough in qualifying to do it last year and again this year. That’s very fulfilling. One year can always be a fluke or whatever.
“But it’s just special to play in these (USGA) golf tournaments.”
Falling just short of qualifying at the Broadmoor were Taylor Stamp of Colorado Springs (146) and John Ahern of Morrison (147), who will be two of the alternates for the 312-man U.S. Amateur field.
A second 36-hole U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying tournament will be held Aug. 10 at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora.
U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying Results
At Par-70 Broadmoor GC West Course in Colorado Springs–VIEW SCORECARDS
QUALIFIERS
Beau Schoolcraft, Englewood, Colo., 73-65–138
Parker Edens, Greeley, Colo., 73-72–145
Michael Harrington, Colorado Springs, Colo., 75-70–145
ALTERNATES (IN ORDER)
Taylor Stamp, Colorado Springs, Colo., 73-73–146
John Ahern, Morrison, Colo., 70-77–147
FAILED TO QUALIFY
Kaleb Mahanes, Erie, Colo., 71-77–148
Andrew Hoops, USAF Academy, Colo., 75-74–149
James Doidge, Pueblo, Colo., 72-77–149
Steven Irwin, Golden, Colo., 71-78–149
Kyle Huus, Sidney, Neb., 73-76–149
Justin Bryant, St Louis, Mo., 72-77–149
Clinton Boutelle, Cody, Wyo., 77-73–150
Eric Hallberg, Castle Rock, Colo., 81-69–150
Philip Nelson, Xenia, Ohio, 75-75–150
Stephen Summers, Dallas, Texas, 74-77–151
Devin Spies, Osprey, Fla., 78-73–151
Samuel Krause, Whitefish, Mont., 80-72–152
Andrew Filbert, Scottsbluff, Neb., 76-76–152
David Schroeder, Colorado Springs, Colo., 76-76–152
Martin Prazak, Denver, Colo., 77-76–153
Jackson Giro, Fort Collins, Colo., 77-76–153
Cameron Brown, Edwards, Colo., 81-72–153
Kenneth Doerrer, Telluride, Colo., 79-75–154
Blake Mitchell, Loveland, Colo., 77-77–154
Michael Lee, Greeley, Colo., 77-77–154
Justin Spray, Colorado Springs, Colo., 79-76–155
Chad Novak, Pueblo, Colo., 75-80–155
Chris Winter, Colorado Springs, Colo., 75-80–155
Neil Huffaker, Denver, Colo., 80-75–155
Michael Schoolcraft, Englewood, Colo., 78-78–156
Kyle Burns, Denver, Colo., 75-81–156
Adam Gillespie, Basalt, Colo., 76-80–156
Jonathon Widmer, Boulder, Colo., 76-80–156
Wesley Martin, Denver, Colo., 78-79–157
Tyler Engel, Castle Rock, Colo., 81-76–157
Nick Vanetten, Colorado Springs, Colo., 76-81–157
Kevin Kring, Springfield, Mo., 78-80–158
Ryan Choi, Colorado Springs, Colo., 80-81–161
Eric Farmer, Austin, Colo., 81-81–162
Joseph Schwark, Westminster, Colo., 85-78–163
Creighton Parker, Little Rock, Ark., 79-86–165
Ryan Bent, Evergreen, Colo., 84-81–165
Nicholas Davis, Englewood, Colo., 87-80–167
Josh Mondry, Aspen, Colo., 88-80–168
Michael Cole, Monument, Colo., 81-88–169
Adam Vasilakis, Colorado Springs, Colo., 80-93–173
Michael Glaesel, Arvada, Colo., 88-86–174
Bradley Bugg, Colorado Springs, Colo., 94-80–174
Douglas Rouse, Evergreen, Colo., 88-NC
Brandon McCoy, Colorado Springs, Colo., 80-WD
Derek Fribbs, Castle Rock, Colo., 71-WD
Sebastian Heisele, Boulder, Colo., 76-WD
Marshall Clark, Denver, Colo., 84-WD
Steve Summers, Dallas, Texas, 82-WD
Alex Nichamin, Brookville, Pa., 81-WD
Chase Wortmann, Colorado Springs, Colo., 78-WD
Ryan Boshoven, Castle Rock, Colo., 83-WD
Brian Cohen, Weston, Fla., 81-WD
Alex Kephart, Colorado Springs, Colo., 74-WD
Zachary Zaremba, Pueblo West, Colo., 79-WD
Kory Harrell, Colorado Springs, Colo., 76-WD
Kyle Thurman, Broomfield, Colo., 90-WD
Chris Dillon, Littleton, Colo., 79-WD
David Delich, Colorado Springs, Colo., 81-WD
Tom Krystyn, Denver, Colo., 78-WD
John Luoma, Parker, Colo., 81-WD
