Mark Wiebe has won twice each on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, but on Monday his son accomplished something Mark never did.
Not only did Gunner Wiebe become the first member of his family to qualify for the U.S. Amateur, but he did so with an exclamation point at Ptarmigan Country Club.
The 20-year-old from Aurora, who plays golf for the University of San Diego, made two eagles in his afternoon round to shoot a course-record 9-under-par 63, earning medalist honors in the 36-hole qualifier by five strokes.
“Dad was a really good amateur player, but he never made it (to the U.S. Amateur), so it’s nice to break through,” Gunner said. “My dad and I were talking, and he said it would be so neat if I could make it. I can’t wait to hear his reaction. I really think it would mean more to him for me to qualify for this than for him to win the U.S. Senior Open (this week).”
Joining Wiebe Monday in punching a ticket to the U.S. Amateur — set for Aug. 24-30 at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla. — were recent CGA Match Play winner Steve Ziegler of Broomfield and Michael Harrington of Colorado Springs.
It’ll be the first USGA championship for Wiebe, while it’ll be the fourth — and the third U.S. Amateur — for Ziegler. Harrington, a 37-year-old financial adviser, will be competing in his third USGA championship, but his first U.S. Amateur.
Wiebe finished with a 13-under-par total of 131 on Monday, while Ziegler used a second-round 64 to post a 136. Harrington came in at 141, then made a par on the first playoff hole to defeat Kyle Danford of Fort Collins for the final U.S. Amateur berth.
Wiebe has been on quite a roll of late. Over the weekend, he won the Denver City Amateur by two strokes.
“Tee to green, this is probably the best I’ve ever been,” Wiebe said. “It’s hard not to shoot good scores when I hit the ball the way I have.”
For the day, Wiebe finished with two eagles, 12 birdies and three bogeys. By far his most spectacular shot of the day came at the par-4 ninth hole, where his 8-iron from 164 yards spun back into the hole for an eagle.
“I didn’t see it, but there was only one place it could be,” he said of his ball.
The hole-out capped a front-nine score of 7-under 29.
Wiebe came close to qualifying for the U.S. Amateur each of the last two years, but on Monday, he closed the deal — resoundingly.
“Overall, it was a great day,” he said. “It’s very exciting.”
Wiebe will have the added bonus of playing the Amateur in Tulsa, where his sister Taylor will be living.
“That’s probably more meaningful to me than playing,” he said.
But it will also be fun to compete on the same Southern Hills course where his dad has played a major championship or two.
Ziegler, a two-time state high school champion who will be a junior at Stanford in the fall, previously qualified for the U.S. Amateur in 2006 and 2008, but he will go in with extra confidence this time. After all, in the last year, he’s won a college tournament, played in the Palmer Cup, made it to the round of 16 at the British Amateur, and won the CGA Match Play.
“I’m so pumped for this,” he said. “I feel like I’m coming back as a different player.”
Ziegler didn’t qualify for match play either of his previous trips to the U.S. Amateur, but this time he’s aiming very high. He wants to make it to the match play finals, which would earn him a spot in the 2010 Masters.
Ziegler missed the cut last week at the HealthOne Colorado Open, but clearly had his game in peak form Monday afternoon, when he posted eight birdies and zero bogeys in his round of 64.
“I knew I had to make birdies and shoot low,” he said.
Harrington’s previous USGA appearances consisted of U.S. Mid-Amateurs in 2006 and “˜08. In both cases, he qualified for match play, and he made it to the round of 16 three years ago.
“It’s nice to think you can (qualify for a USGA championship) once, but I’m really tickled pink to go to the biggest show,” said the Kissing Camels member.
A mid-afternoon thunderstorm Monday delayed the qualifier for more than 1 hour and 20 minutes.
A second U.S. Amateur qualifying will be held Aug. 3 at Boulder Country Club.
U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifying
At Par-72 Ptarmigan Country Club
FINAL RESULTS (Players in green are CGA Stroke Play Qualifiers)
Qualifiers
Gunner Wiebe, Aurora, Colo., 68-63–131
Steve Ziegler, Broomfield, Colo., 72-64–136
Michael Harrington, Colorado Springs, Colo., 70-71–141
Alternates (In Order)
Kyle Danford, Fort Collins, Colo., 68-73–141
Josh Mondry, Aspen, Colo., 72-70–142
Failed to Qualify
Wyndham Clark, Greenwood Village, Colo., 72-70–142
Zahkai Brown, Arvada, Colo., 71-72–143
Derek O’Neill, Littleton, Colo., 74-69–143
Edward Kerr, Windsor, Colo., 73-70–143
Kory Harrell, Colorado Springs, Colo., 73-70–143
Keenan Holt, Durango, Colo., 74-69–143
Kyle Burns, Denver, Colo., 73-71–144
Justin Spray, Colorado Springs, Colo., 76-69–145
Jon Lindstrom, Broomfield, Colo., 75-70–145
Jackson Giro, Fort Collins, Colo., 76-69–145
Sean McNamara, Monte Sereno, Calif., 74-72–146
David Cosel, Monument, Colo., 76-70–146
Sebastian Heisele, Boulder, Colo., 76-70–146
Lanny Cameron, Loveland, Colo., 73-73–146
Justin Howell, Cheyenne, Wyo., 77-70–147
Stephen Summers, Dallas, Texas, 74-73–147
Guy Mertz, Longmont, Colo., 71-76–147 (1st CGA alternate)
Kaleb Mahanes, Erie, Colo., 75-72–147
Jay Smith, Edmond, Okla., 71-77–148
Matthew Sullivan, Denver, Colo., 74-74–148
John Hayes, Denver, Colo., 78-70–148
Riley Arp, Fort Collins, Colo., 72-76–148
Ken Cosper, Ft Collins, Colo., 70-78–148
Danny Hahn, Denver, Colo., 76-72–148
Alexander Gutesha, Greenwood Village, Colo., 77-72–149 (2nd CGA alternate)
Thomas Balderston, Boca Raton, Fla., 76-73–149
Tom Krystyn, Denver, Colo., 75-74–149
Alex Redfearn, Boynton Beach, Fla., 73-76–149
Jim Knous, Basalt, Colo., 74-76–150
Chris Kohn, Belding, 75-75–150
Nicklaus Mertz, Longmont, Colo., 77-75–152 (3rd CGA alternate)
Adam Golesh, Littleton, Colo., 77-75–152
Ryan Choi, Colorado Springs, Colo., 74-78–152
Chad Bell, Parker, Colo., 74-79–153 (4th CGA alternate)
Justin Cross, Fort Collins, Colo., 76-77–153
Tyler Lovato, Westminster, Colo., 73-80–153 (5th CGA alternate)
Nick Flaa, Greeley, Colo., 76-77–153 (6th CGA alternate)
Douglas Rouse, Evergreen, Colo., 79-75–154
Ryan Boshoven, Castle Rock, Colo., 80-76–156
Chris Winter, Colorado Springs, Colo., 79-77–156
Adam Pladson, Aurora, Colo., 81-76–157
Richard Lash, Greeley, Colo., 82-75–157
Kyle Thurman, Broomfield, Colo., 82-75–157
Blake Mitchell, Loveland, Colo., 76-82–158
Kurtis Lucas, Colorado Springs, Colo., 78-80–158
Stuart Thompson, Fort Collins, Colo., 82-77–159
Branden Barron, Centennial, Colo., 82-79–161
Zach Fowlds, Lone Tree, Colo., 82-80–162
Bryce Restivo, Cheyenne, Wyo., 84-79–163
Brian Nichols, Columbine Valley, Colo., 84-79–163
John Turner, Wiggins, Colo., 87-80–167
Arnold Hoy, Castle Rock, Colo., 83-85–168
Davin Sjoberg, Crested Butte, Colo., 86-84–170
John Toplyn, Bellvue, Colo., 90-85–175
Casey Maguire, Fort Collins, Colo., 91-WD–WD
Chandler Smith-Stetson, Albuquerque, N.M., 73-WD–WD
David Holtgrewe, Cherry Hills Vlg, Colo., 82-WD–WD
George Bollinger, Golden, Colo., 81-WD–WD
Kevin Baum, Denver, Colo., 81-WD–WD
Kevin Chan, Colorado Springs, Colo., 88-WD–WD
Kevin Roxburgh, Denver, Colo., 80-WD–WD
Parker Edens, Greeley, Colo., 76-WD–WD
Randy Ozmina, Ft Collins, Colo., 86-WD–WD
Steven Moore, Greenwood Village, Colo., 83-WD–WD
Zachary Zaremba, Pueblo West, Colo., 76-WD–WD
