Forget Steve Stricker, Ernie Els and even Lee Westwood, who is making his PGA Tour Champions debut this week, at the U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island. One of them may win the title at a great, historic venue but let’s take a moment to celebrate some of the really cool stories of the amateurs who have made the field.
There are 19 amateurs teeing it up this week, which is impressive in its own right given that more than 3,000 golfers submitted entries for the 44th U.S. Senior Open, the third-most in the championship’s history. They were competing for about 75 available qualifier spots, with more than half the field having exemptions based on past performance and senior tour status.
We’re not going to run through all the ams — though do wonder how often Brad Steven gets confused for former Butler University and current Boston Celtics GM Brad Stevens — but there are so many compelling storylines among this bunch that we’re compelled to share some of the better ones.
The president and CEO of shaftmaker Fujikura played college golf at San Diego State University and has long been one of the industry’s top sticks. In fact, he once qualified for the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open. The 54-year-old shot 70 and survived a 4-for-1 playoff at a qualifying tournament last month at Goose Creek in California. It will be his third USGA Championship after previously competing in the 1997 U.S. Amateur at Cog Hill won by Matt Kuchar, and the 2007 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Bandon Dunes won by Trip Kuehne. Schnider has got his 15-year-old son, Luke, caddying for him, his 85-year-old dad watching in the gallery and suffice it to say, we don’t need to wait for the Darrell Survey to know he’s using Fujikura shafts.
Kuehne of Southlake, Texas, topped the leaderboard at the Qualifier at Metropolis Country Club in White Plains, New York, shooting a 2-over 72 to earn medalist honors and qualify for the Senior Open for a second straight year. He’s a U.S. Mid Amateur past champion (2007) and lost to Tiger Woods in…
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