Ryan Davis Gains Second Alternate Spot In U.S. Open Qualifying
New Jersey representatives came close in the 2018 U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying Round – Ryan Davis of Berkeley Heights missing a playoff for the final qualifying spot by one shot – on Monday, June 4 at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit.
The 118th U.S Open Championship takes place June 14-17 at Shinnecock Hills Country Club in Tuckahoe, N.Y.
Davis, a rising junior at Penn State, shot 4-under-par 67-71-138 with his 25-foot putt for birdie on No. 18 on the North Course brushing the right edge of the cup. Davis, who finished tied for seventh place with Wyndham Clark of Purcellville, Va., did garner the second alternate spot. Clark did not appear for the playoff for the alternate spot.
Jack Wall of Brielle, the 17-year-old who last week won the High School Tournament of Champions and is defending NJSGA Junior Champion, shot 3-under-par 70-69-139, and Pat Wilson of Andover, the former St. John’s golfer who played in the 2015 U.S. Open, shot 71-69-140.
The co-medalists at 7-under-135 were two-time U.S. Open participant Cameron Wilson of Rowayton, Conn., and Calum Hill of Silver City, N.M. Hill is a native of Scotland and runner-up in the NCAA Division 2 Tournament in 2016 for Western New Mexico University.
Tied for third at 6-under-136 were Mike Miller of Brewster, NY, who played in the 2016 U.S. Open, and Stewart Hagestad of Newport Beach, Calif. Hagestad played in last year’s U.S. Open. In 2016, he won the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, earning a spot in the 2017 Masters Tournament. There, he was the low amateur (T-36). New Jersey caddie John Doherty was on his bag at Canoe Brook, as he had been at the U.S. Mid-Amateur.
Theo Humphrey of Greenwich, Conn., an All-American at Vanderbilt and U.S. Amateur semifinalist last year, grabbed the final qualifying spot in a one-hole playoff over first alternate Mark Hoffman of Canada.
“This was my first time in a U.S. Open sectional. It was an absolute grind. I got up at five a.m., and practiced a little bit. I played real well in the morning (3-under-67 on the South Course), and gave myself a chance in the afternoon,” said Davis, 20, who tied for fourth in last year’s NJSGA Open at Metedeconk National.
“I gave it my best shot on that putt on 18, but that’s golf. I will take this as a positive. The length of the day was more mental than anything else,” said Davis, who plays out of New Jersey National Golf Club in Bedminster.
