The final Colorado-based USGA championship qualifying tournament in 2017 features a diverse, formidable field.
When Lake Valley Golf Club (left) in Niwot hosts the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifier on Thursday (Oct. 5), the contestants will include:
— Brian Guetz, a two-time Colorado Open champion and one of just two amateurs to win that event (along with Gary Longfellow). Guetz, now an assistant men’s golf coach at the University of Denver, will partner in the Four-Ball Qualifier with fellow Columbine Country Club member Alex Buecking, who last year advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Four-Ball with Jason Enloe.
— Matt Call, who has the distinction of having been both the CGA (2000) and Colorado PGA (2006 and ’07) Player of the Year. Call, a former University of Colorado golfer who has regained his amateur status, will team up with fellow former Buff teammate Norton Rainey for the Four-Ball Qualifer.
In all, 56 two-man teams will compete at Lake Valley, with the top three earning spots in the national U.S. Four-Ball, which will be contested May 19-23 at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Fla.
Several former contestants in this national championship will be playing at Lake Valley — Alex Kephart and Kurtis Lucas (at nationals in 2017; Kephart also went with a different partner in 2015); Tom Hart and Jonathan Marsico (went to match play round of 32 in 2016); Kyle Danford and Davis Johnson (2016); and Jeff Chapman (2015), Zach Fowlds (2016), and Buecking (2016), all of whom have new partners this time around. In Chapman’s case, he’s joining with 2014 CGA Player of the Year Michael Harrington.
Others in Thursday’s field are Colorado State University teammates Jake Staiano and Colton Yates, who will try to follow on the heels of CSU golfers Katrina Prendergast and Ellen Secor qualifying this week for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball; and recent CGA “major” winners Chris Korte and Nick Nosewicz.
For Thursday’s tee times, CLICK HERE.
