It was five years ago this month that Ryan Axlund competed in his one and only USGA championship — coincidentally the last such national championship contested in Colorado — the 2012 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club.
Suffice it to say he felt he was due for a second go-around.
And on Tuesday, the Aurora resident left no doubt in a U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying tournament at Murphy Creek Golf Course. Playing a course at which he won the 2015 Aurora Amateur, Axlund shot a 7-under-par 65 to earn medalist honors by two strokes.
The 36-year-old went 5 under par in a six-hole stretch starting at No. 12 and ending on No. 17 — where he nearly made a hole-in-one — as he posted a 31 on the back nine. He finished with eight birdies on the day.
“This one is special,” Axlund said. “I made it to the U.S. Am in 2012 when it was at Cherry Hills. The first one is always the hardest. The second one kind of justifies that you actually did it a second time so the first one is not a fluke.
“It felt really good to come out here and be able to do it.”
Four players out of a field that originally numbered 82 earned berths in the U.S. Mid-Am, a tournament limited to players 25 and older which will be held Oct. 7-12 at Capital City Club in Atlanta. Joining Axlund in advancing on Tuesday were Pete Mangold of Denver, who played his college golf at West Point; 2008 CGA Amateur champion Jonathan Marsico of Cherry Hills Village; and Walt Koelbel of Denver. Mangold fired a bogey-free 67, Marsico a 69, and Koelbel a 70. (Pictured above, from left, are Axlund, Mangold and Marsico. Below is Koelbel.)
Koelbel was part of a four-man playoff for the final national berth. He hit a wedge from 130 yards to 7 feet and made the birdie putt on the first hole of sudden death — No. 10 — to advance. Matt Evelyn of Denver earned the first alternate spot and Michael Slutzky of Littleton the second. Scott Crawford, playing at his home course, was the fourth player who shot 70.
It will be the second U.S. Mid-Am for Marsico, and the first for Axlund, Mangold and Koelbel. In fact, it will be the first USGA championship of any sort of Koelbel.
While Axlund had not only played Murphy Creek numerous times before Tuesday but had had won a tournament there, that was in stark contrast to the situation for Mangold and Marsico. Mangold had very little experience at the course before Tuesday, and Marsico had none.
But Marsico did have a secret weapon of sorts — two-time CoBank Colorado Open champion Derek Tolan, who was caddying for the 35-year-old. Tolan owns the second-best competitive score in Murphy Creek history, a 62.
“I had never played the golf course here before today,” Marsico noted. “I told (Tolan on Monday) that I had my buddy caddying for me — he’s like an 8 handicap — and Derek was like, ‘Well I’ll go caddie for you.’ At one point he had the course record here, so I’m like, ‘I’m dumping my buddy the 8 handicap’. And Derek was a huge help with reading the greens and a few lines off the tees with me just not being familiar with the course. If Derek tells me to hit there, I have the confidence to know that’s the right spot to hit. He was a huge help and saved me multiple shots.”
Marsico eagled the par-5 sixth hole from 15 feet, pitched in from 15 yards for par on the next hole after blading a bunker shot, and sank putts of 8, 25 and 10 feet on his final three holes to go birdie-birdie-par down the stretch.
“The putter saved me,” said Marsico, who will be playing in his fourth USGA championship. “It feels great (to qualify). Unfortunately, I don’t get to play much competitive golf anymore. But making the U.S. Mid-Am and competing at a USGA championship is definitely the highlight and the first goal every year. First prize brings an invitation to the Masters. Nothing beats that.”
As for Mangold, because he didn’t know the course well, he teed off with his 3-iron seven times on Tuesday. “There were a lot of times I had no idea (what lurked in the distance), and I just hit 3-iron,” the 37-year-old said.
The conservative strategy paid off, as the 2011 CGA Four-Ball champion hit 16 greens in regulation and barely missed the other two. The result was a five-birdie, no-bogey day.
Qualifying for the U.S. Mid-Am was a nice remedy to cure the sting of three-putting the final hole of the Columbine Country Club club championship and losing by a stroke over the weekend. His competition in that event included two-time Colorado Open champion Brian Guetz and eventual winner Alex Buecking, a former pro who went to the quarterfinals of the 2016 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
“I didn’t sleep very much for the last two days” after what happened at Columbine, Mangold said. “This is going to make me forget all about last weekend. But they kind of groomed me for today, and it turned out OK.
“I can sleep again. I’m super excited.”
As for Koelbel (left), he might not have been able to sleep had he not made his 7-foot birdie putt in the playoff. After all, he had lipped out birdie putts on his final two holes in regulation, including from 6 feet on his 18th hole. Making either of those putts would have kept him from needing to compete in a playoff. The 31-year-old finished with a not-so-sterling total of 34 putts in regulation.
“That one (in the playoff) felt good, a little redeeming,” said Koelbel, a former Cherry Creek High School and University of Kansas golfer. “I hit 17 greens (in regulation) today and missed a lot of putts early. To get one there at the end to close it out felt good. I thought I was maybe due to make one for how many I hit close.”
Going to the U.S. Mid-Am “is exciting,” he said. “I haven’t played in competition in a while. I played in college. but haven’t had a lot of events since then. I started playing well earlier this year and wanted to give this a shot.”
Certainly, qualifying for the national championship is a highlight for Koelbel, who fondly remembers finishing seventh in the 2007 Big 12 Conference Championships while competing against current PGA Tour players Gary Woodland, Jhonattan Vegas and Robert Streb.
With the four Coloradans qualifying on Tuesday, the state will be represented by at least five competitors at the U.S. Mid-Amateur. Jon Lindstrom of Broomfield, winner of the last two CGA Mid-Ams, was co-medalist at a qualifying tournament in Carson City, Nev., last week.
U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying
At Par-72 Murphy Creek GC in Aurora
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Ryan Axlund, Aurora 34-31–65
Pete Mangold, Denver 34-33–67
Jonathan Marsico, Cherry Hills Village 34-35–69
Walt Koelbel, Denver 36-34–70
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Matt Evelyn, Denver 33-37–70
Michael Slutzky, Littleton 37-33–70
For all the scores from Tuesday, CLICK HERE.
