For all intents and purposes, Bret Guetz grew up at Columbine Country Club, and through the years has played well enough there to qualify for the 2003 U.S. Open and was the second national alternate for last year’s tournament at Winged Foot.
But when local qualifying began for this year’s national championship and players were asked where they’d like to compete in sectional qualifying should they advance, Guetz passed on his home course, opting instead for Columbus, Ohio.
“I would much rather go somewhere that had a number of spots available, rather than play somewhere that only has one,” Guetz said. “Making it out of a sectional that has only one spot is definitely doable, but it’s really, really difficult.”
Guetz learned that lesson the hard way a year ago. The Canadian Tour player shot a 7-under-par 137 at Columbine for the 36-hole qualifier, only to lose out to Pueblo’s Dustin White, who was two shots better.
“That score would have gotten me in anywhere else,” Guetz said. “If Columbine had two spots this year, that’d be great, but with only one, you’re taking too many chances on some player getting hot and beating you out.”
The United States Golf Association, which runs the Open, bases the number of sectional qualifiers into the 156-player event on the “quality of field” at each site. This year, there are 15 sectional locations, 13 in the U.S. with one in Japan and another in England.
Only three sites, Columbine, Mission Hills, Kan., and Bremerton, Wash., received just one qualifying berth for the Open, which is June 14-17 at Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh.
Respecting the process
Between 1986 and 1988, Columbine had three players qualify; between 1989 and 2005, the number dropped to two. For the past two years, only one player has advanced. Ed Mate, the executive director of the Colorado Golf Association, said that while his organization “whines a little bit every time we have the chance” about its minimum allotment into the tournament, he also admits that for the most part, the USGA gets it right when it comes to handing out berths at each locale.
“I respect the process,” Mate said. “If Japan only has 19 players, but they’re all world-ranked, I understand their getting three spots.”
There will be 20 players at Columbine on Monday, including White. Currently playing on the minor-league Gateway Tour in Arizona, the 26-year-old, looking at the combination of getting a trip home and his success a year ago, said he never really considered going anywhere else.
“I know I may be a little different than other players,” White said. “But I also like being somewhere where, at the start of the day, you know what you have to do. If you’re at a site with multiple spots, you’re never sure exactly what it will take to advance.”
But a number of local players, including Colorado Springs’ Tom Glissmeyer, who also qualified in 2003, Aurora’s Shane Wahbeh and Drew Stoltz of Fort Collins, chose to go to Columbus rather than stay home. The Midwestern city is an attractive draw, in part because it yields so many qualifying spots, 28 this year between two sites.
However, while White is facing 19 players, none of whom, after the withdrawal late last week of David Duval, has more than a nodding acquaintance with the PGA Tour, the locals mentioned above will be in a 144-man field that is thick with star players.
Columbus field talented
Seven players scheduled to compete at the same Columbus site as Glissmeyer, Wahbeh and Stoltz – Charley Hoffman, Aaron Baddeley, Charles Howell III, Mark Wilson, Mark Calcavecchia, Boo Weekley and Nick Watney – have already won on the PGA Tour this year. That doesn’t include Ryder Cuppers like Jose Maria Olazabal, Ryder Cup captains and major champions like Paul Azinger and Tom Lehman, or up-and-coming stars like Bill Haas, Camilo Villegas and J.B. Holmes.
“If I looked at those names, I think I’d be saying, ‘I’m not gonna go there,”‘ Mate said. “If the local guys there advance, I’d be pleasantly surprised, but Adam Scott shot a 62 on Friday on a tough course at the Memorial – that’s the caliber of player they’re going up against.
“Columbus has more spots than Columbine, but the local guys aren’t familiar with the course – how much is familiarity worth to you? I’d rather take my chances playing for one spot at a course that I’m very familiar with.”
Guetz was another player who asked for the first Columbus site, but was shuffled to the second location instead. And while it seems his chances may be a bit better there, competing against 69 other players – with very few PGA Tour types – for four spots, Guetz insists he’d still rather be going against all the big guns.
“Being a PGA Tour pro doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get into the Open; there are guys who are out there (in Columbus) who will play better than they will,” he said. “There are a lot of guys who are just as good as PGA Tour pros, they just don’t have the status.
“I personally feel confident that I’ll play better playing against those guys, and there are so many more spots available – so what if I qualify by one or two shots instead of by four or five?”
U.S. Open sectional qualifying
There are 15 sites for U.S. Open qualifying, with 80 places available for the tournament field. Play begins Monday.
(Places, Site avail.)
Columbine C.C., Columbine Valley 1
Bear Creek G.C., Murrieta, Calif. 4
Walton Heath G.C., Surrey, England 9
Jupiter Hills C.C., Tequesta, Fla. 2
Hawks Ridge G.C., Ball Ground, Ga. 3
Riverside G.C., North Riverside, Ill. 5
Indian Hills C.C., Mission Hills, Kan. 1
Woodmont C.C., Rockville, Md. 5
Century C.C., Purchase, N.Y. 3
Columbus, Ohio #1 (OSU Scarlet G.C./
Scioto C.C./Double Eagle G.C.) 24
Columbus #2 (Double Eagle G.C.) 4
Memphis (Colonial C.C., North & South courses/Chickasaw C.C.) 15
Northwood C.C., Dallas 3
Gold Mountain G.C. , Bremerton, Wash. 1
* Note: One previous qualifier, May 28 at Ibaraki Pref., Japan. Three places filled.
Columbine field
(Player, Residence)
Jason Allen Pueblo
Zen Brown Arvada
Wil Collins Rapid City, S.D.
Kelepi Finau III Salt Lake City
Scott Foster Anthem, Ariz.
Jeffrey Koprivetz Yorba Linda, Calif.
Brian Kortan Albuquerque
Jeremy Lederer Ridgway
Bill Loeffler Castle Rock
Thomas B. Noonan Jr. Boulder
Justin Otto Horseshoe Bay, Texas
Scott Petersen Parker
Jeff Philippe Parker
Jason Preeo Highlands Ranch
Craig Reasoner Casper
Gregory Slack Cedar City, Utah
Dale Smigelsky Fort Collins
Dustin White Pueblo West
Michael Zaremba Pueblo West
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
