FORT COLLINS — Mike Kitowski once worked at Collindale Golf Course and estimates he’s played the course 500 times. On Wednesday, all that local knowledge paid off as he shot a 2-under-par 69 in extremely windy conditions to capture medalist honors in U.S. Open Local Qualifying at his old home course.
“This feels great,” the former Fort Collins High School and Colorado State University golfer said. “It’s the first step of two.”
Kitowski, now a pro who plays out of Aurora, was one of five players who advanced Wednesday to U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying, the final step en route to the U.S. Open, which will be played June 18-21 at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Also earning Sectional berths Wednesday were Shawn Wills of Centennial (71), Drew Stoltz of Fort Collins (72), Australian amateur Benjamin Weatherly (72) and Jon Levy of Arizona. Stoltz, Weatherly and Levy advanced in a four-man playoff for the final three spots, with Stoltz making a 5-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole, Weatherly draining a 30-footer at No. 2, and Levy parring No. 5. Former CSU golfer Nolan Martin of Colorado Springs, the odd man out in the playoff, will be the first alternate.
Kitowski, 34, once worked on the grounds crew at Collindale and won the CGA Public Links title at the course in 1997. Collindale has changed a little since then, but Kitowski still knew its ins and outs when things became “pretty brutal” Wednesday. With strong winds knocking over tables and straining flagsticks, Kitowski still managed to break par, making five birdies along the way.
He bogeyed his first two holes of the day, then settled down as the weather became nasty.
“When the wind blows, you have to focus more; you have no choice,” he said. “I just reset my game plan.”
Stoltz is another player familiar with Collindale, having attended nearby Poudre High School, winning a state high school title in 2001. Stoltz has been a regular playoff participant in U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Collindale, but Wednesday marked just the second time he has advanced to Sectionals.
“I’m just thrilled to get out of here” with a Sectional berth, said Stoltz, who recently won a Gateway Tour event in Arizona.
Weatherly, despite being from Australia, is likewise no stranger to Collindale, having earned medalist honors there last year during U.S. Open Local Qualifying.
Wills and Levy, meanwhile, weren’t exactly competition-hardened. Wills, winner of two CGA Match Play Championships, has played a grand total of 10 rounds this year. And Levy, the director of communications for the Gateway Tour in Arizona, was playing in his first tournament in two years.
“I just wanted to get the ball airborne and going forward,” joked Wills, a two-time qualifier for the U.S. Amateur who recently has been spending much of his time caring for his 10-month-old daughter.
Wills not only got his ball going in the right direction, but he chipped in three times during Wednesday’s round.
Meanwhile, Levy shook off the rust to get up and down from the sand on the fifth playoff hole to advance.
“It’s fun to get those competitive juices flowing again,” he said.
Wednesday marked the second of three U.S. Open Local Qualifying tournaments to be held in Colorado. Five players advanced Monday in Parker and five more will do so Monday at Lone Tree Golf Club. A Sectional Qualifying tournament will be played in Littleton at Columbine Country Club on June 8.
