By: Stephen Hanjack
shanjack@massgolf.org
LONGMEADOW, Massachusetts (May 13, 2024) – On a perfect day in Western Massachusetts, four players advanced through U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Longmeadow Country Club. Leading the way was Chris Tallman (GreatHorse), who tied the competitive course record with a 64 (-6).
Two other professionals, both with Massachusetts ties, also advanced. Kyle Gallo, the 2011 Massachusetts Open Champion, and Alejandro Soto (TPC Boston) shot rounds of 65 (-5) and 68 (-2) respectively, to avoid any playoff.
And in a playoff, amateur Alex Landry (Indian Ridge CC) defeated Nick Leblanc (Wayland CC) to secure the final spot.
For the second straight year, Chris Tallman earned medalist honors at U.S. Open Local Qualifying. Last year, Tallman accomplished the feat at the Orchards GC. This year, in earning the medal, he also notched a share of Longmeadow Country Club’s competitive course record, with a 64 (-6). Michael Kartrude, Ethan Whitney, and Peter Knade all shot 64 during the 2022 Massachusetts Open Championship at Longmeadow.
“The game has felt really good,” said Tallman. “I just got back from playing in the PGA Professional National Championship and was playing really well out there. Just missed qualifying for the PGA Championship by one shot.”
Tallman will join two others from GreatHorse (Ryan Downes, Nick Maccario) at Final Qualifying. This will be his second straight trip, and is hoping to be assigned to the Canoe Brook, New Jersey, site.
On what he learned from last year’s trip to New Jersey, Tallman added, “You just have to have two good rounds out there, you have to play aggressive.”
Kyle Gallo is no stranger to U.S. Open Final Qualifying, a stage he estimates to have played on five or six times. Gallo is an accomplished golfer who won the 2011 Massachusetts Open Championship at Oak Hill CC, several Connecticut Open Championships, and is a Connecticut Golf Hall of Famer.
He now spends more time coaching than playing, though. Gallo was recently hired as an assistant coach for the Holy Cross Golf Team, but his most important coaching duties come on the baseball diamond with his kids.
After burying a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole, Gallo signed his scorecard, checked the leaderboard, and made a run for it, with hopes of getting to baseball practice on time.
Unlike Tallman and Gallo, Alejandro Soto and Alex Landry will be making their first appearance at U.S. Open Final Qualifying.
Soto was stuck in neutral, sitting at even par, when he hit a tee shot into the right trees on the 15th hole. The next shot was an artistic, low cutting punch, which thread the needle through the trees ahead. The ball not only escaped danger, but bounded up onto the putting surface. The birdie attempt narrowly missed, but an easy par from the trees surely felt like a birdie.
Still sitting at even, Soto recounted, “I checked where I was at on the leaderboard and I told myself that I have to make something happen.”
That he did. On the par 3 16th hole, Soto landed his tee shot just past the pin, and zipped it back to the hole, nearly making an ace. That set up an easy birdie.
Now at 1-under, Soto kept the pedal to the metal, making the aggressive play of hitting driver on 17. The risk paid off, as his tee shot came to rest on the lower fairway, setting up a short wedge, which also led to a birdie.
On the final hole, Soto faced a tricky downhill putt for par, from just outside 10-feet. Riding the momentum of the closing stretch, he confidently stepped up and buried the putt for a 68, and a golden ticket.
Much like Will Frodigh a week earlier, Alex Landry was in the second group of the day (8:10 a.m. tee time), and after posting a 69 (-1) was forced to sweat out a 4+ hour wait. Luckily for Landry, he was a mere minutes away from the Birthplace of Basketball – Springfield, Massachusetts. So Landry, and his mother, hopped in the car and took the short drive over to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Who can say what Landry took from his trip to Springfield? But after tapping in a short par putt on the first playoff hole, we all know exactly what he’s taking home from Longmeadow.
U.S. Open Local Qualifying continues on Tuesday at Kirkbrae CC (RI), with over half of the field hailing from the Bay State.
COMPLETE LIST OF QUALIFIERS AND ALTERNATES FROM LONGMEADOW CC
QUALIFIER (Names; Cities)
Christopher Tallman, Holyoke, MA; 64 (-6)
Kyle Gallo, Berlin, CT; 65 (-5)
Alejandro Soto, Colombia; 68 (-2)
Alex Landry (a), Andover, MA; 69 (-1)*
ALTERNATES (In Order)
Nick Leblanc (a), Waltham, MA; 69 (-1)
Matthew Johnson (a), Boston, MA; 70 (E)**
*Advanced in a playoff (par on first playoff hole, no. 16)
**Advanced in a playoff (birdie on fourth playoff hole, no. 17)
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Located less than a mile from the Connecticut border, Longmeadow Country Club has long been one of the most prestigious country clubs in Massachusetts. Like many of the classic courses in New England, Longmeadow posses its own unique charm with a classic Tudor-Style Clubhouse and an active road (Shaker Road) bisecting the golf course. The club recently celebrated their Centennial, and did so by hosting the 2022 Massachusetts Open Championship and the Griscom Cup Matches.
Hosting high profile events is nothing new for Longmeadow, as they have two USGA championship propers to their name. Both the 1995 U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship, won by Marcy Newton, and the 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, won by Kevin Tway, were played at Longmeadow’s Donald Ross layout.
Identified as a proper test of golf, Longmeadow has continued to host the region’s best golfers through USGA Qualifying. In recent years U.S. Open (2024, 2016), U.S. Amateur (2021, 2019), U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur (2013), U.S. Women’s Open (2012), U.S. Junior (2012), and U.S. Mid-Amateur (2010) Qualifying has been contested at Longmeadow.
Video: Hole-By-Hole Flyovers of Longmeadow CC | 2022 Massachusetts Open Championship
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