TROY — It is called the U.S. Open local qualifier, but there is nothing local about the golfer who traveled nearly 10,000 miles to play Monday at the Country Club of Troy.
Justin Warren, a 27-year-old professional from Picton, Australia, was among five players who advanced to the next stage of U.S. Open qualifying June 5. Warren’s 4-under-par 67 took medalist’s honors and was one stroke lower than Matt Dobyns of Jericho.
Capital Region players were shut out of the top five. Joshua Montgomery of Canada was third at 69, William Frodigh of Westwood, Mass., and Max Theodorakis of Danbury, Conn., took the final two spots, each shooting 1-under 70.
Ben Rublee of the host club was the top area finisher, tying for seventh. He lost a playoff to Casey Pyne of Greenwich, Conn., for the second alternate berth. Rotterdam native Bryan Bigley, now living in Danville, Calif., also tied for seventh but did not return to the course for the playoff.
“I had my cousin’s wedding back home on Saturday in Sydney,” Warren said as he explained his reasons for playing at Troy. “I wanted to come over to America quite a few weeks ago, after the last event of the Australasia (Tour) season, but she’s my closest cousin. If I didn’t hang around for her wedding, she probably never would have spoken to me again.
“I had to it (Open qualifier) after a certain date. I was looking at anything from May 13 to 15, 16, and in terms of travel and trying to find somewhere to go. This was a pretty easy one with the airport nearby. In terms of logistics, this would probably be the simplest one for me.”
A total of 84 players, the most for the Albany-area qualifier since 1979, registered in hopes of making it to the 123rd U.S. Open, scheduled for June 16-19 at Los Angeles Country Club.
There are eight sectional sites throughout the country. Most of those who…
Read the full article here