NORTON, Massachusetts – Beginning next week, Mass Golf will play host to two U.S. Open Championship local qualifiers on opposite sides of the Bay State as amateurs and professionals alike will look to take the first step at qualifying for the 2018 U.S. Open, which is slated for the prestigious Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York from June 14-17.
The two 18-hole U.S. Open local qualifiers will be conducted at Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth on Thursday, May 10 and Stockbridge Golf Club in Stockbridge on Monday, May 14, respectively. A third local qualifier, being conducted by the Rhode Island Golf Association at Pawtucket Country Club, will also be held on Monday, May 14.
The U.S. Open, the second major of the golf season, is one of only four Championships Proper managed by the USGA that is open to both professionals and amateurs. All competitors who advance from the local qualifying stage will next compete at one of nine 36-hole sectional qualifiers being held across the U.S. on Monday, June 4. All competitors who advance from the three local qualifiers will compete at the Canoe Brook Country Club sectional qualifier in Summit, New Jersey. That qualifier will be conducted by the Metropolitan Golf Association.
In addition to the many Massachusetts-based professionals and amateurs looking to advance to the 118th U.S. Open Championship, Brockton native and firefighter Matt Parziale earned an automatic exemption into the Championship Proper following his 2017 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship victory last October. Parziale recently competed at the Masters in early April and also has exemption into the 2018 U.S. Amateur Championship and the next 10 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championships.
STARTING TIMES | PLAYER INFORMATION
83 players – including 48 with amateur status – will compete for five qualifying spots and two alternate spots at the Pinehills Golf Club qualifying site on May 10. Of the 83 in the field, 57 list their residency in Massachusetts.
Of the 83 competitors in the field, three who advanced to the sectional stage from the same Pinehills site one year ago will once again eye a chance to advance to the Championship Proper. Chris Gentle (Lowell, Mass.), who was the medalist at last year’s U.S. Open local qualifier at Pinehills, will join fellow professional golfers Jack Whelan (Topsfield, Mass.) and Marc-Etienne Bussieres (Sherbrooke, QC) looking to once again repeat as local qualifiers.
STARTING TIMES | PLAYER INFORMATION
55 players – including 33 with amateur status – will compete for three qualifying spots and two alternate spots at the Stockbridge Golf Club qualifying site on May 14. Of the 55 players in the field, 27 list their residency in Massachusetts.
Amateur Jonathan Elkins (South Deerfield), who advanced to sectional qualifying from the Crumpin-Fox U.S. Open local qualifier site in 2017, is among the group of competitors looking to return to sectional qualifying.
STARTING TIMES | PLAYER INFORMATION
69 players – including 38 with amateur status – will compete for four qualifying spots and two alternate spots at the Pawtucket Country Club local qualifying site on May 14, which will be conducted by the Rhode Island Golf Association. 33 competitors in the field list their residency in the Bay State.
Professional James Driscoll, of Brookline, a two-time Massachusetts Amateur Champion, 1996 Richard D. Haskell Player of the Year and former runner-up at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, will seek to qualify for sectional staging from the Pawtucket Country Club local qualifying site.
Mass Golf will provide coverage for the two local U.S. Open qualifiers being contested in Massachusetts, as well as coverage pertinent to Massachusetts from the U.S. Open local qualifier at Pawtucket Country Club. Visit MassGolf.org and follow @PlayMassGolf on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest information. To join the conversation, use the hashtag #MassGolf and #USOpen.
