Darren Black, club pro at Seattle’s Rainier Golf and Country Club, Derek Barron, club pro at Tacoma Firs and Sean Walsh, a junior at Gonzaga, finished at even-par 71 and tied for medalist honors at U.S. Open local qualifying Tuesday at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, WA.
The fourth and final spot from the field of 78 players went to Kent Hagen of Covington, a recent grad of Washington State, where he was a four-year member of the golf team. He had a one-over 72.
Black had six birdies, six pars and six bogeys. Despite calm and overcast conditions, no player in the field broke par on the par-71 layout. Final results can be found here.
The first Open in Northwest history will be played at Chambers Bay in University Place June 18-21. The U.S. Golf Association accepted 9,882 entries for qualifying. To be eligible, golfers must either be a professional, or be an amateur with a handicap index of 1.4 or less.
Local qualifying is taking place at 111 sites across the country May 4-21. Those who make it through local qualifying move on to sectional qualifying.There are 12 sectional qualifying sites, 10 in the U.S. one in England and one in Japan. International sectional qualifiers will be contested May 25, while all sectional qualifiers in the U.S. will be held June 8, and will be played over 36 holes.
