Holmgren & Broin Survive Rain & Oakmont; Both Make Match Play at U.S. Am

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OAKMONT, Pa. -- A pair of two-hour-plus rain delays and Oakmont Country Club combined to claim some victims from the Minnesota contingent at the U.S. Amateur Championship this week during the stroke-play portion of the tournament. But Van Holmgren and Gunnar Broin made it through the 36 holes of qualifying and into the match play part of the tournament. The ways in which they dealt with the iconic course at Oakmont were entirely different, however.

Holmgren, the 6-foot-7 former Minnesota State Amateur champion just sort of bored Oakmont into submission in his second round, which, because of the rain delays, began on Tuesday and ended late Wednesday morning. Starting on the back nine, he birdied the 612-yard, par-5 12th hole, and bogeyed the 198-yard, par-3 sixth. Other than that it was all pars, 16 of them, for an even-par 70, which gave him a 36-hole total of 136 (4 under), good for a tie for seventh place.

That second round for Holmgren was in sharp contrast to his first round, which was played at the other course that was used for qualifying, Longue Vue. He started with a birdie on the first hole (391 yards, par 4), eagled the fourth (550, par 5) and threw in two more birdies as part of a front-nine 31. The 2017 state high school champ from Wayzata -- who has one year of college eligibility remaining at Florida Gulf Coast University but will turn pro instead and try Korn Ferry Q-School this fall --  parred the ninth, 10th and 11th holes. But he didn't make another par until the 18th. In the interim, he went double bogey, birdie, bogey, eagle, double, birdie. When his roller-coaster back nine was finished, he had shot a 4-under 66.

Broin played Oakmont first, and made only half as many pars as Holmgren (8). His opening gambit was a double bogey at the drivable second hole, but he birdied the third. The soon-to-be sophomore at Colorado State bogeyed the fifth and came back with a birdie at the par-3 sixth. He reversed the bad hole-good hole pattern on the back nine, going birdie-bogey on the 11th and 12th holes, the 14th and 15th, and the 16th and 17th on the way to a 71.

But his Tuesday/Wednesday round at Longue Vue was an even wilder ride. Players who started on the back nine at Longue Vue actually began their rounds on the ninth hole. Broin birdied it, and his next 12 holes were pretty routine -- one bogey and one birdie. So he was 1 under for the round at that point, and even par overall, which meant he was three shots inside the cut line. But then he doubled the 550-yard, par-5 fourth and the 376-yard, par-4 sixth.

That was a quick plus 4 on his scorecard, and suddenly he was one shot outside of the cut line.

Having bounced back from bad holes several times already, Broin did it again Wednesday morning at Longue Vue -- with a birdie at the 314-yard, par-4 seventh hole and an eagle on his last hole, the 535-yard, par-5 eighth. All of that, and he ended up even for the day, with a 70. The resulting aggregate of 141 put him in a tie for 37th.

Another qualifier was Brian Stark. He's not from Minnesota, and he may never have been here before this summer. Who knows? He's from California, and he'll be a junior at Oklahoma State in a few weeks, but he showed up in Minnesota, at Dacotah Ridge, on the second Monday in July for the U.S. Am qualifier there, and won it by four shots, with a 65-68--133.

Stark has been no less impressive this week in Pennsylvania, opening with a 66 at Longue Vue and adding a 69 at Oakmont for a 135. That earned him a three-way tie for fifth. 

Mark Goetz, who will be a fifth-year senior at West Virginia this fall, is from Greensbug, Pa., which is 30 miles from Oakmont. He had played the course about 10 times before this week, and the local knowledge he gained from that helped, apparently, because he followed a 64 at Longue Vue on with a 68 at Oakmont, and claimed medalist honors -- not to mention the No. 1 seed for match play -- with a cumulative 132.

Harvard hasn't produced a lot of contenders for the U.S. Amateur crown recently, but Brian Ma, a sophomore to be for the Crimson, matched Goetz's 68 and finished second with a 133. Stanford, on the other hand, always seems to have someone who's in the hunt  at the Am -- most notably Tiger Woods, who won three times, but also Tom Watson, Bob Rosberg, Lawson Little, Casey Martin and Notah Begay -- and Michael Thorbjornsen, a Cardinal sophomore to be, shot 69 at Oakmont on Tuesday for a 134 and third place.  

Of course, in a field of 300-plus golfers and only 64 qualifiers for match play, there were a lot more tales of tragedy -- or at least disappointment -- than tales of triumph during the two and a half days of stroke play. Cecil Belisle, the 2021 Minnesota State Open winner, was one of them. His first hole on Monday was No. 10 at Oakmont (476 yards, par 4), and he doubled it. He made two more bogeys and a double on the back nine, and five bogeys on the front, for an 81. He came back with a 67 at Longvue, but missed the cut by five shots. 

Belisle won the State Open in a playoff with two-time champ Ben Greve and Derek Hitchner. Hitchner, who won the State Amateur a week later -- and had won the Trans-Mississippi a week earlier -- was in position Wednesday morning to make what has already been a great summer even better. After a 69 at Longvue, he was 1 over through seven holes at Oakmont, and appeared headed for match play. Then Oakmont bared its teeth. He doubled the eighth hole, bogeyed the 10th and went on to make three more bogeys in a four-hole stretch (13 through 16). He birdied the 17th, but the resulting 76 left him two on the wrong side of the Magic Number with a 145.
 
Jacob Pedersen's story was similar tale of so near but yet so far. The Gustavus Adolphus All-American from Minnetonka shot 70 at Longue Vue and got through the front nine at Oakmont in even par (35). But he bogeyed four of the next five holes. He birdied the short, par-4 17th (312 yards), which got him back the cut number (3 over), but he ended his round with a bogey at the long 18th (488 yards), which meant a 74 and 144 -- one too many.

Making the cut on the number, by the way, didn't mean you went right into match play. There were 12 guys at 143, and they had to play off for one spot. David Nyfjall won the playoff. He was one of three who birdied the first extra hole (No. 15, 479 yards, par 4), and he parred the 18th twice. That did it. As the No. 64 seed, he was paired against the top-seeded Goetz in the first round of match play -- the Round of 64.

Only one of the 32 first-round matches was completed before play was halted by darkness Wednesday. Ricky Castillo, the No. 33 seed, beat the No. 32 seed, Donald Kay, 5&4.  

Some matches didn't even get started, among them the match between Holmgren, the No. 7 seed and No. 58 Maxwell Moldovan. It is scheduled to start at 7:50 EDT Thursday morning. 

Broin (No. 37), who finished his second round of qualifying birdie, eagle, started his match against Trent Phillips (No. 28) par, birdie, par, eagle, and was 2 up after five holes. 

As for Stark, the No. 5 seed got No. 60 Gordon Sargent in the first round. Sargent hasn't started college yet -- he'll be a freshman at Vanderbilt this fall -- but he has already won two Alabama State Amateur championships. The two-time Rolex Junior All-American lost the first hole against Stark with a bogey, but made a conceded eagle at the 312-yard, par-4 second, won the third with a par and the 609-yard, par-5 fourth with a birdie. Sargent made another bogey at the fifth, but was 1 up on Stark through seven holes when play was suspended.  
 

U.S. Amateur 

At Oakmont Country Club 

Par 70, 7,206 yards

& Longue Vue Club

Par 70, 6,705 yards

(All matches will be played at Oakmont)

Stroke play qualifying (top 64 advance to match play)

1. Mark Goetz, Greensburg, Pa.                   64-68--132

2. Brian Ma, Milpitas, Calif.                           65-68--133

3. Michael Thorbjornsen, Wellesley, Mass.   65--69--134

T4. Brian Stark, Kingsburg, Calif.              66-69--135

T4. Travis Vick, Houston                                67-68--135

T4. Brad Reeves, Woodbridge, Calif.             65-70--135

T7. Van Holmgren, Plymouth                      66-70--136

T7. Jacob Bridgeman, Inman, S.C.               63-73--136

T37. Gunnar Broin, Chanhassen                71-70--141

Missed cut (there was a 12-for-1 playoff for the No. 64 seed at 143)

Jacob Pedersen, Minnetonka                     70-74--144

Derek Hitchner, Minneapolis                       69-76--145

Cecil Belisle, Red Wing                                81-67--148

Jeremy Tetrault, Forest Lake                       86-79--165