A Canadian may have shot one of the lowest rounds in the history of Columbine Country Club, but that did not keep Coloradan Spencer Painton from one-upping him to capture medalist honors in U.S. Amateur qualifying on Monday.
The Aurora resident, who won the 2013 5A state high school title, shot rounds of 69-67 for an 8-under-par 136 total. He finished two strokes better than Edmonton’s Tyler Saunders, who fired a 9-under-par 63 in the second round of the day.
Those two, along with former University of Colorado golfer David Oraee, of Greeley, landed the three U.S. Amateur berths available Monday out of a field of 77 at Columbine. Oraee, who like Painton is a former 5A state high school champion, went 69-73–142 to end up six behind his fellow Coloradan and four back of Saunders.
All three qualifiers are headed for this year’s U.S. Amateur, the world’s most prestigious amateur golf championship, which is scheduled for Aug. 17-23 in Olympia Fields, Ill. (The qualifiers are pictured above, from left: Oraee, Saunders and Painton.)
Monday “was a really, really fun day,” said Painton (below), a 19-year-old who plays college golf for the University of Kansas.
“I putted absolutely outstanding,” added the former member of the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program at CommonGround Golf Course. “I made everything I looked at. It was just one of those days.”
For all three of Monday’s qualifiers, next month’s U.S. Amateur will be their first. In fact, Saunders had never even attempted to qualify before this year.
“It’ll be cool,” said Oraee, who has won one of the CGA’s two major state amateur titles each of the past two years. “It’s going to be at a course we had a (college) tournament at. It’s a really good course (Olympia Fields). It’s the best amateur tournament in the world. I’m excited to play in it and see how it goes.”
Saunders, a 19-year-old who plays collegiately at Texas State, didn’t look like he’d be a qualifying contender after shooting a 75 in the morning round. But he rebounded with a 63 that featured an eagle (at No. 12), eight birdies and one bogey.
“Something changed as soon as I got to the second 18, it seemed like,” said Saunders, who won the the 2014 Alberta Amateur by nine strokes. “Two completely different rounds of golf. It was unbelievable.
“That’s the lowest score I’ve ever shot. I’ve shot 64 three times, but not from this distance or on this difficult a golf course. This is definitely my best round ever.”
Saunders, whose only other experience playing golf in Colorado came at the 2011 Junior America’s Cup at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen, needed just 25 putts to negotiate the afternoon round on Monday.
“I didn’t feel like I missed a putt this afternoon,” he said.
Painton felt similarly. He made just one bogey on the day to go along with nine birdies. He played his final nine holes in 5-under 31.
“I had a number in my head” that it would take to qualify, he said. “It was 4 under (for entire day) and I doubled it.
“It was very, very satisfying. It was a big tournament for me.”
Painton has competed in one previous USGA championship, the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur. It’s not a tournament he’ll soon forget as he advanced to match play before losing to the eventual championship (Scottie Scheffler) in a round-of-64 match.
“They treated us so well,” Painton remembers. “I really, really wanted to get back to that. The best amateurs in the world are there.”
As for Oraee (left), this could very well be not only his first U.S. Amateur, but his last. He plans to turn pro next year after finishing his one remaining semester of undergraduate work at CU. And, depending on how his golf career is going, he’ll likely pursue an advanced degree in medical school.
Speaking of school, Oraee took a “brutal” class in June, which prevented him from going to the course. In fact, he said he didn’t play at all for almost five weeks, the longest such stretch the 22-year-old has had since high school.
“It kind of gave me the itch to play again, so that was good,” he said.
A second Colorado-based qualifying tournament for the U.S. Amateur will be held July 20 at Fort Collins Country Club.
U.S. Amateur Qualifying
At Par-72 Columbine CC in Columbine Valley
QUALIFIED
Spencer Painton, Aurora, Colo., 69-67–136
Tyler Saunders, Canada, 75-63–138
David Oraee, Greeley, Colo., 69-73–142
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Cole Cunningham, Centennial, Colo., 75-70–145
Clayton Crawford, Aspen, Colo., 74-71–145
FAILED TO QUALIFY
Alex Buecking, Columbine Valley, Colo., 73-73–146
Gus Lundquist, Parker, Colo., 74-72–146
Jon Lindstrom, Westminster, Colo., 72-74–146
Steven Drake, Chicago, Ill., 75-71–146
Zachary Berhost, Santa Fe, N.M., 76-71–147
John Hayes, Carlsbad, Colo., 74-74–148
Colin Prater, Colorado Springs, Colo., 71-77–148
Quintin Pope, Cheyenne, Wyo., 77-72–149
Braden Baer, Westminster, Colo., 75-74–149
Brian Dorfman, Denver, Colo., 77-73–150
Harrison Murphy, McKinney, Texas, 77-73–150
Christopher Thayer, Denver, Colo., 76-74–150
Andrew Spencer, Prairie Village, Kan., 76-74–150
Jake Kelley, Littleton, Colo., 74-77–151
Timothy Amundson, Littleton, Colo., 74-77–151
Glenn Workman, Pueblo West, Colo., 76-76–152
Josh Frye, Las Vegas, Nev., 77-75–152
Ross Macdonald, Castle Rock, Colo., 75-77–152
Stephen Summers, Dallas, Texas, 74-79–153
Neil Tillman, Arvada, Colo., 75-78–153
Mark Zbrzeznj, Edwards, Colo., 76-78–154
Drew Vance, Lakewood, Colo., 81-73–154
Hayden Nicholaides, Englewood, Colo., 80-74–154
Sean Crowley, Littleton, Colo., 81-73–154
Joey Saad, Grand Junction, Colo., 78-76–154
Joel Perez, Denver, Colo., 73-81–154
Cameron Berndt, Elizabeth, Colo., 77-78–155
Bill Parker, Denver, Colo., 77-78–155
Zach Johnson, Littleton, Colo., 77-78–155
Wesley Martin, Denver, Colo., 75-80–155
Connor Klein, Lone Tree, Colo., 75-81–156
David Lee, Bennett, Colo., 79-77–156
Tristan Sanders, Denver, Colo., 83-73–156
James Kackley, Denver, Texas, 79-77–156
John Fowlds, Lone Tree, Colo., 80-76–156
Tristan Rohrbaugh, Carbondale, Colo., 80-77–157
Jonathan Kuzava, Littleton, Colo., 81-76–157
Adam Griffith, Westminster, Colo., 77-81–158
Josh Gardella, Littleton, Colo., 81-77–158
Michael Slutzky, Littleton, Colo., 76-82–158
Steve Connell, Thornton, Colo., 81-77–158
Gerald (Alex) Gorman, Broomfield, Colo., 77-81–158
Matt Robertson, Lakewood, Colo., 81-77–158
Nathaniel Green, Green River, Wyo., 84-75–159
Quade Mitchell, Littleton, Colo., 79-80–159
Patrick Manning, Cody, Wyo., 79-82–161
Devyn Solano, Aurora, Colo., 80-82–162
Cody Ryan, Denver, Colo., 84-78–162
Tim Dreger, Northglenn, Colo., 75-88–163
Robb Bierbaum, Arvada, Colo., 87-77–164
Chris Jaster, Colorado Springs, Colo., 84-82–166
Riggs Winz, Littleton, Colo., 85-81–166
Chase Chaldekas, Lakewood, Colo., 79-88–167
David Yergert, Thornton, Colo., 89-78–167
Adam Thoutt, Westminster, Colo., 83-84–167
Austin Hardman, Highlands Ranch, Colo., 84-85–169
Ryan Bent, Evergreen, Colo., 84-85–169
Alec Aichinger, Englewood, Colo., 84-86–170
Logan Rants, Tumwater, Wash., 85-86–171
Austin Fedrich, Irvine, Calif., 86-86–172
Zach Florence, Denver, Colo., 91-81–172
Connor Alexander, Castle Rock, Colo., 86-87–173
Tony Macaluso, Denver, Colo., 96-84–180
Alex Macaluso, Denver, Colo., 92-WD
Jeremy Lederer, Eagle, Colo., 90-WD
