Jake Staiano admits that three years ago, when he came ever so close to qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur as a 14-year-old, he didn’t appreciate the significance of the event.
“At that time it wasn’t a big deal to me,” the golfer from Cherry Hills Village said, referring to when he tied for fourth in a tournament where three qualified for nationals. It was only “after that I realized it was a big deal.”
Last year, Staiano was in the hunt again at the U.S. Junior Amateur qualifying, but a quintuple-bogey 9 during his second round at Eaton Country Club left him four shots out of a playoff for the final spot.
But on Tuesday, in his final chance to qualify for the national championship, Staiano didn’t squander the opportunity. In a qualifying event at Highland Meadows Golf Course in Windsor, Staiano shared medalist honors with AJ Ott of Fort Collins and the two earned berths into the U.S. Junior Amateur along with Blake Dyer of St. Petersburg, Fla.
“It’s almost a relief because I’ve been so close in this (qualifier) in the last few years,” said Staiano, the 2013 CGA Junior Match Play champion. “This is my last year to do it, and I got it done. I was really proud of myself. I stayed focused and didn’t get ahead of myself.”
Staiano — a senior-to-be at reigning 4A state champion Valor Christian who has committed to play college golf at Colorado State — and Ott posted 4-under-par 138 totals in the 36-hole qualifier at Highland Meadows, while Dyer checked in at 139. (The qualifiers are pictured above, from left, Ott, Staiano and Dyer.)
With that, the three earned trips to the national tournament, which will be played July 21-26 in The Woodlands, Texas. It will be the first USGA championship for each of the three.
Ott (left), a 16-year-old junior-to-be at Fort Collins High School, made 10 birdies on the day and overcame a triple bogey on his 30th hole to shoot 67-71. Staiano, 17, carded two eagles on the day to go along with six birdies en route to scores of 68-70. The 17-year-old Dyer, like Ott, recorded 10 birdies in going 70-69. Dyer decided to try to qualify in Colorado because it worked out with a recruiting trip he’s taking at the University of Denver this week.
Ott, who finished sixth in the 5A state high school meet as a sophomore last fall, was leading the pack most of the day on Tuesday. Through 29 holes, he was 8 under par overall. But even going triple bogey-bogey on the next two holes wasn’t close to enough to knock him from a qualifying spot.
“I finished well,” the left-hander said. “I told myself, ‘Just get in at even par for the last round’, and I did.”
Ott is no stranger to Highland Meadows as his home course, Ptarmigan Country Club, is just down the street, and he occasionally practices at Highland Meadows and has played 10-15 rounds there.
“I didn’t play a practice round (for the qualifier). I was confident going into it that I knew how to hit the right shots,” Ott said. Knowing the course well “kind of gave me a little more confidence for sure.”
But Ott hadn’t been playing well in general recently, so Tuesday proved a big step in the right direction.
“I’ve been struggling a lot this summer and I told myself I was going to start coming around during this event,” he said. “I knew I could go low on this course. It’s going to be an awesome experience to go” to the U.S. Junior Am.
Staiano (at left with his caddie) likewise had to overcome some issues he was having with his game to earn a qualifying berth.
“I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my driver. I just played with what I had,” he said. “I was hitting this weak pull cut all day. I was able to get it done — just put it in the fairway.
“But I putted great. I made a lot of big putts on the last 18 (including a 50-footer and a couple of 20-footers). That gave me some confidence coming down the stretch.” The 50-footer was actually a bogey after he hit his tee shot into an environmentally sensitive area and had to re-tee.
Ott had similar results on the greens, starting his afternoon round by draining birdie putts of 30, 20 and 35 feet.
“I made some long putts and I told myself I can make anything,” he said. “I’ve been struggling putting the last few weeks, but I think I’ve figured something out. Most of it is just self-confidence, I think.”
Though Dyer is from Florida, he was no stranger to Highland Meadows. Three times before, he’s played Rocky Mountain Junior Golf Tour events at the course, finishing in the top seven on each occasion.
“I played well here before, so I felt confident about it,” he said. “Last time I played, two years ago, I shot 81 the first day and 66 the second. Having that being the last round I played here (before the qualifier this week) helped me be real confident. It was hard to shoot a bad score out here.”
The first alternate spot Tuesday went to Pierce Aichinger of Englewood (141), with the second going to Robert Rickard of Austin, Texas (142).
In all, 68 junior golfers entered the qualifier at Highland Meadows, including nine players from out of state.
U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifying
At Par-71 Highland Meadows GC in Windsor
QUALIFY FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
AJ Ott, Fort Collins, Colo. 67-71–138
Jake Staiano, Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 68-70–138
Blake Dyer, St. Petersburg, Fla. 70-69–139
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Pierce Aichinger, Englewood, Colo. 68-73–141
Robert Rickard, Austin, Texas 72-70–142
FAILED TO QUALIFY
Alan Berry, Littleton, Colo. 73-70–143
Chris Korte, Littleton, Colo. 71-72–143
Ji Jang, Aurora, Colo. 74-70–144
Isaac Petersilie, Colorado Springs, Colo. 74-70–144
Grant Dinkel, Boulder, Colo. 71-74–145
Daniel Pearson, Longmont, Colo. 74-71–145
Behrod Keshtavar, Erie, Colo. 76-69–145
Kyler Dunkle, Larkspur, Colo. 74-71–145
Blake Flint, Wolfforth, Texas 76-70–146
Sean Benson, Billings, Mont. 71-75–146
Timothy Amundson, Littleton, Colo. 75-71–146
Alec Poorman, Boulder, Colo. 72-75–147
Taylor Rodriguez, Pueblo, Colo. 77-70–147
Oliver Jack, Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 72-75–147
Kobe Padilla, Centennial, Colo. 74-73–147
Connor Chesky, Saint Helena, Calif. 70-78–148
Trey Lambrecht, Sterling, Colo. 74-74–148
Dathan Terry, Lubbock, Texas 77-71–148
Cole Folwell, Boulder, Colo. 76-73–149
Cameron Connor, Boulder, Colo. 77-72–149
Jake Goldman, Leawood, Kan. 78-72–150
David Leede, Greenwood Village, Colo. 77-73–150
Nick Leibold, Littleton, Colo. 79-71–150
Andrew McCormick, Denver, Colo. 77-73–150
Trevor Olkowski, Grand Junction, Colo. 72-79–151
Josh Caridi, Fort Collins, Colo. 76-75–151
Mathew Casias, Pueblo, Colo. 80-72–152
Christopher Raap, Highlands Ranch, Colo. 77-75–152
Li Chen, Westminster, Colo. 71-81–152
Bennett Rogers, Centennial, Colo. 78-74–152
Jackson Vacek, Lafayette, Colo. 79-74–153
Subin Lee, Englewood, Colo. 77-76–153
Bretton Krantz, Windsor, Colo. 81-72–153
Josh Pusar, Castle Pines, Colo. 75-79–154
Austin R Burgess, Colorado Springs, Colo. 75-80–155
Philip Lee, Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 80-75–155
Coleson Krantz, Windsor, Colo. 82-73–155
Trevor Glen, Thornton, Colo. 78-77–155
Weston Moran, Colorado Springs, Colo. 78-77–155
Troy Dangler, Grand Junction, Colo. 78-78–156
Jack Lazzeri, Littleton, Colo. 81-75–156
Evan Buchalski, Loveland, Colo. 74-82–156
Ryan Zetwick, Castle Rock, Colo. 82-76–158
Gary Schlatter, Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 80-78–158
Cameron Berndt, Elizabeth, Colo. 78-84–162
Reese Leiker, Littleton, Colo. 85-77–162
John Kane, Centennial, Colo. 84-78–162
Donny Kinnaman, Clifton, Colo. 81-81–162
Mitchell Nevin, Aurora, Colo. 82-81–163
Chase Federico, Pueblo, Colo. 81-83–164
Roy Carlsen, Arvada, Colo. 83-82–165
Luke Travins, Colorado Springs, Colo. 84-82–166
Robert Hill, Spring, Texas 84-83–167
Mark Hillary, Cherry Hills Village, Colo. 91-79–170
Derek Leydecker, Aspen, Colo. 84-86–170
Luke Toillion, Longmont, Colo. 88-88–176
Dru Novak, Pueblo, Colo. 99-87–186
Braden Bentley, Colorado Springs, Colo. 71-WD
Harrison Murphy, McKinney, Texas 76-WD
