After living much of his life in Fort Collins, Matt Rutledge moved to Irvine, Calif., about five months ago. But a change of residence certainly didn’t affect his knowledge of the courses in his old hometown.
The 29-year-old pro estimates he’s played Collindale Golf Club between 75 and 100 times over the years, and his knowledge of the course no doubt paid dividends on Wednesday as he shared medalist honors in a U.S. Open Local Qualifying tournament.
The 2013 Wyoming State Open champion shot a 3-under-par 68 to tie for the top spot with Georgian Kyle Beardslee.
“I’ve been playing Collindale since my freshman year in high school (at Fort Collins HS),” said Rutledge (pictured). “It feels really good” to advance. “It was cold but I just tried to keep my hands warm and do my thing. I hit the ball good, played good and made some putts.”
In all, five players from Wednesday’s qualifier earned spots in the second and final stage of U.S. Open qualifying, the 36-hole Sectionals. Those will be contested at 10 sites in the U.S. on June 8. The top performers there will punch their tickets to the Open itself, set for June 18-21 at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.
Joining Rutledge and Beardslee in advancing Wednesday were three players who survived a five-man playoff to move on. All three fired 69s: former Colorado State University golfer Parker Edens, from Greeley; PGA Tour Canada player Michael Schoolcraft of Denver; and former Arizona high school champion Matthew Liringis of Chandler, Ariz. Schoolcraft birdied his last two holes of regulation to advance to sudden death.
Losing out in the playoff, and thereby gaining alternate positions, were University of Northern Colorado women’s golf coach Stephen Bidne and former Air Force Academy golfer Tom Whitney, of Fort Collins.
Rutledge made four birdies and one bogey on Wednesday. Beardslee chalked up seven birdies and four bogeys.
For Rutledge, it will be his third trip to U.S. Open Sectionals. And if he’s granted his first choice, he’ll be playing those in Newport Beach, Calif., very close to his new residence. That would make both qualifying stages basically home games for him.
Now a Californian, Rutledge said, “I’ve been able to work and play and practice on my game” more consistently. “I feel a lot more confident going into Sectionals. At Sectionals, it’s a matter of staying patient throughout the day and not letting anything bother you. It’s a long day of golf and there’s some good players. You have to grind it out the whole day and play the best you can.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned is you can’t go out and force the issue to play really good right away. You have to get into your groove and feel it out and just get rolling. There’s plenty of holes.”
Wednesday marked the third and final U.S. Open Local Qualifier being held in Colorado this year.
In the two tournaments conducted last week in the state — at Heritage at Westmoor in Westminster and the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs — nine Coloradans advanced to Sectionals: Derek Tolan of Highlands Ranch, Greg Johnson of Lakewood, Andrew Romano of Lone Tree, Jim Knous of Englewood, Colin Prater and Cameron Harrell of Colorado Springs, Eric Bradley of Eagle, Nathaniel Goddard of Fort Collins, and Jake Staiano of Cherry Hills Village.
U.S. Open Local Qualifying
At Par-71 Collindale GC in Fort Collins
ADVANCE TO U.S. OPEN SECTIONALS
Matt Rutledge, Irvine, Calif., 34-34–68
Kyle Beardslee, Canton, Ga., 35-33–68
Parker Edens, Greeley, Colo., 36-33–69
Matthew Liringis, Chandler, Ariz., 37-32–69
Michael Schoolcraft, Denver, Colo., 36-33–69
ALTERNATES (IN ORDER)
Stephen Bidne, Greeley, Colo., 35-34–69
Tom Whitney, Fort Collins, Colo., 36-33–69
FAILED TO QUALIFY
Jimmy Makloski, Pueblo, Colo., 35-35–70
Drew Stoltz, Scottsdale, Ariz., 35-35–70
Wyndham Clark, Stillwater, Okla., 35-35–70
Dominic Kieffer, Byron, Minn., 35-36–71
Mike Kitowski, Aurora, Colo., 35-36–71
Andrew McCormick, Denver, Colo., 37-34–71
Matthew Rion, Newbury Park, Calif., 37-34–71
Geoff Keffer, Lakewood, Colo., 39-33–72
Jackson Solem, Longmont, Colo., 37-36–73
Ryan Burke, Longmont, Colo., 39-34–73
Spencer Painton, Aurora, Colo., 38-35–73
Pierce Trumper, Fort Collins, Colo., 38-35–73
Nick Umholtz, Greeley, Colo., 39-34–73
Glenn Workman, Pueblo West, Colo., 34-39–73
William Schoolcraft, Denver, Colo., 37-36–73
Cameron Freeman, Fort Collins, Colo., 37-37–74
Eric Hallberg, Parker, Colo., 38-36–74
Barry O’Neill, Loveland, Colo., 38-36–74
Quintin Pope, Cheyenne, Wyo., 39-35–74
Sam Marley, Centennial, Colo., 38-36–74
Pierce Aichinger, Englewood, Colo., 36-38–74
Shaun Fischer, Elizabeth, Colo., 40-35–75
Alec Bone, Phoenix, Ariz., 38-37–75
Scott Ough, Broomfield, Colo., 38-37–75
Adam Thoutt, Westminster, Colo., 38-37–75
Patrick Frodigh, Westwood, Mass., 39-36–75
Troy Berglund, Usaf Academy, Colo., 37-39–76
Kevin Chan, Colorado Springs, Colo., 39-38–77
Kyler Dunkle, Fort Collins, Colo., 40-37–77
Riley O’neill, Aberdeen, S.D., 39-38–77
Andrew Rathbun, Aurora, Colo., 40-37–77
Tyler Bricker, Fort Collins, Colo., 39-38–77
Ethan Castle, Phoenix, Ariz., 41-36–77
Jay Orris, Boulder, Colo., 37-40–77
Trey Kidd, Honolulu, Hawaii, 39-39–78
Brett McCarville, Sidney, Neb., 39-39–78
Charles Rider, Centennial, Colo., 40-38–78
Brandon Bingaman, Montrose, Colo., 41-37–78
David Johnson, Fort Collins, Colo., 40-38–78
Cameron Brown, Edwards, Colo., 40-38–78
Joey Saad, Grand Junction, Calif., 38-40–78
Johan Werge, Denver, Colo., 39-39–78
Griffin Barela, Lakewood, Colo., 42-37–79
Aj Ott, Fort Collins, Colo., 39-40–79
James Jones, Centennial, Colo., 41-38–79
Colby Anderson, Rapid City, S.D., 41-38–79
Bryan Hackenberg, Thornton, Colo., 42-38–80
Randy Urso, Aurora, Colo., 40-40–80
Samuel Toillion, Longmont, Colo., 39-41–80
Andrew Farrand, Fort Collins, Colo., 41-39–80
Robb Bierbaum, Arvada, Colo., 42-38–80
Jake Saliba, Colorado Springs, Colo., 42-38–80
Blake Cannon, Mesa, Ariz., 44-36–80
Nicholas Tarasiewicz, Colorado Springs, Colo., 41-39–80
Brennan Dolan, Boulder, Colo., 42-39–81
Nick Karavites, Englewood, Colo., 46-37–83
Grant McLaughlin, Littleton, Colo., 46-37–83
Dillon Joslyn, Parker, Colo., 41-43–84
Jared Danford, Goodyear, Ariz., 48-36–84
Jeff Shepherd, Kiowa, Colo., 41-43–84
Jesse Wright, Littleton, Colo., 45-42–87
Jason Siegel, Colorado Springs, Colo., 45-43–88
Christopher Jackson, Casper, Wyo., 46-43–89
Krishna Naga, Littleton, Colo., WD
Matthew Sullivan, Denver, Colo., WD
Darrin Hall, Lakewood, Colo., WD
Dean Sessions, Westminster, Colo., WD
Miles Philpy, Northglenn, Colo., DQ
Trevor Glen, Thornton, Colo., WD
Riley Arp, Fort Collins, Colo., NS
Cole Folwell, Boulder, Colo., NS
Thomas Balderston, Denver, Colo., WD
Brett Riotto, Deltona, Fla., WD
Ben Sherlund, Denver, Colo., NS
Rage Geringer, Laramie, Wyo., WD
