Qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship is now in its fourth year, and on Thursday, three two-man teams went where no one had gone before in Colorado.
The three squads each posted best-ball scores of 61, the lowest rounds in the history of Colorado-based qualifying for the event, though relative to par, two other teams likewise fired 9-under-par totals — in their case for 62s — last year at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora.
Tom Hart of Denver and Jonathan Marsico of Cherry Hills Village, Nick Engen of Denver and John Jarmul of Greenwood Village, and Ben Klaus of Oklahoma City and Riley Pumphrey of Austin, Texas shared medalist honors out of a field of 56 twosomes by carding 9-under-par 61s at Lake Valley Golf Club in Niwot.
All three teams thereby landed berths in the U.S. Four-Ball, set for May 19-23 at Jupiter Hills Club in Tequesta, Fla. (The qualifiers are pictured: back row from left, Jarmul and Engen, Hart and Marsico, and kneeling Klaus and Pumphrey.)
It will be the second national U.S. Four-Ball for Hart and Marsico, who advanced to the round of 32 in match play in the 2016 championship, as well as for Pumphrey. It’ll be the first for Engen and Jarmul, and for Klaus. In fact, it’ll be the first USGA national championship of any sort for Jarmul.
Hart, who won the Trans-Mississippi Four-Ball championship with John Elway at Cherry Hills Country Club in 2009, shot a 6-under 64 on his own ball on Thursday. He pitched in for eagle from 45 yards on the par-5 ninth and added six birdies. Overall, Hart and Marsico (left) as a team finished with an eagle and seven birdies.
“We’re thrilled with the score, and we both played solidly, but Tommy played phenomenal,” said Marsico, the 2008 CGA Amateur champion who will depart on Friday for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Atlanta. “He hits it to 2 feet on No. 1 and misses it, and subsequently shoots 30 on his own ball on the front. He pitches in for eagle on 9 and comes back and makes a nice birdie on 10.”
Hart finished the round with an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys, while Marsico had two birdies and three bogeys.
“We play so good together all the time and have a lot of fun,” Hart said. “Neither one of us is much for quitting, so we’ve always got a good chance in these events.”
After making match play in the 2016 U.S. Four-Ball, Marsico and Hart were in a two-team playoff at the qualifier last year, but finished as the odd team out.
“There’s nothing better (than going back this time),” Marsico said. “Going to play a USGA championship with one of your best buddies at a great venue … It’s nice to have a good friend and a great player next to you.”
Like Hart and Marsico, Engen and Jarmul went bogey-free on Thursday, in their case with nine birdies. It was quite a performance for two players from Colorado Golf Club who were attempting to qualify for this event for the first time, and who hadn’t seen Lake Valley in 20 years (in the case of Jarmul) or ever (in the case of Engen).
“Nick came out of the gate firing,” said Jarmul, who grew up in nearby Boulder. “He had four birdies in a row on 2, 3, 4 and 5. Then I birdied four of nine. And we made a gnarly little par putt on 18 (from 5 feet) to go bogey-free. It was a good round. We both played solid.
“I thought we had a pretty good handle on the greens for as much undulation as they have. We did a pretty good job figuring out where the putts were going. Most of the putts, we were burning edges. But probably half our birdies were from inside of 5 feet.”
Engen has played in one USGA championship before — the now-defunct U.S. Amateur Public Links — and he knows how big a deal it is.
“It’s huge,” said the 31-year-old. “Anytime you qualify for a USGA event, that’s pretty special. They’re hard to do. That’s kind of the cream of the crop there.”
Klaus and Pumphrey, former University of Oklahoma teammates, posted an eagle, eight birdies and a bogey on Thursday, with Klaus rolling in a 30-foot putt on No. 9 for the eagle.
“We had one hot streak in the middle of the round (going 8 under in nine holes) that got us through a lot of it,” said Klaus, a former professional who regained his amateur status in 2015. “We didn’t finish like we’d like to, but we’d had done enough earlier that it worked out.”
It will be the first USGA championship for Klaus, who qualified for the 2008 U.S. Amateur but didn’t get to compete as he suffered a pre-tournament injury.
For Pumphrey, it will be his fifth USGA championship.
Five teams finished at 64 on Thursday and played off as the sun set for the two alternate spots. Earning the first alternate position were Ryan Burke of Longmont and Dylan Wonnacott of Fort Collins — two former teammates who won a state high school team title together at Silver Creek — who birdied the third extra hole.
The other teams to shoot 64 were Colorado State University golfers Jake Staiano and Colton Yates, Nick Burns of Denver and Chris Strouse of Greenwood Village, Jeff Chapman of Centennial and Michael Harrington of Colorado Springs, and Marcus Tait and Michael Tait of Littleton.
U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying
At Par-70 Lake Valley GC in Niwot
ADVANCE TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Nick Engen, Denver/John Jarmul, Greenwood Village 29-32–61
Jonathan Marsico, Cherry Hills Village/Tom Hart, Denver 29-32–61
Ben Klaus, Oklahoma City/Riley Pumphrey, Austin, Texas 31-30–61
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Ryan Burke, Longmont/Dylan Wonnacott, Fort Collins 32-32–64
Jeff Chapman, Centennial/Michael Harrington, Colorado Springs 33-31–64
OTHERS WHO SHARED FOURTH PLACE
Jake Staiano, Cherry Hills Village/Colton Yates, Scottsdale, Ariz. 31-33–64
Nick Burns, Denver/Chris Strouse, Greenwood Village 34-30–64
Marcus Tait/Michael Tait, Littleton 34-30–64
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
