Canadians Aim For the US Open at Chambers Bay

June 3, 2015

by Alfie Lau, Inside Golf

It Remains To Be Seen Whether There Will Be Any Canadian Flags Flying At Chambers Bay For The 2015 U.S. Open

Currently, there are no Canadians scheduled to be amongst the 156 players who will tee it up at Chambers Bay starting June 18.

But come June 8, in what is termed the Longest Day in Golf, at least 22 Canadians will try to overcome their final obstacle, a 36-hole qualifier being played at 10 sites all across America, to get one of the final spots in the U.S. Open.

The U.S. Open is the most egalitarian of the 4 Majors, as any player, professional or amateur, with a handicap index of 1.4 or less can slap down their entry fee and try to make it through local and sectional qualifying.

As of May 26, there were only 74 players who were exempt into the tournament, including former U.S. Open champions of the last 10 years, the last five years of other Major champions and all players in the Top 60 of the Official World Golf Rankings as of May 25.

There were also 16 qualifiers out of two international sectional qualifiers, held in Japan and England on May 25. With 90 of the 156 spots in the U.S. Open spoken for, that means there’s only a maximum of 66 spots available in the 10 sectional qualifiers to be held June 8 all throughout the United States.

The six Canadians with the best chance to qualify for Chambers Bay certainly have the pedigree, as they are all regulars on the PGA TOUR.

Ontario’s David Hearn and Mike Weir, along with Saskatchewan’s Graham DeLaet, join BC products Nick Taylor, Roger Sloan and Adam Hadwin as players who didn’t have to go through local qualifying.

But they will have to go with sectionals, with the most probable places they’ll be playing being the Brookside Golf & Country Club/The Lakes Golf & Country Club in Columbus OH or the Springfield Country Club in Springfield OH.

That’s because these venues are the closest qualifiers to The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, which hosts the PGA TOUR event which ends on June 7, and traditionally have the most qualifying spots in to the U.S. Open because of the depth of the field.

For British Columbia golfers Cory Renfrew and James Lepp, the natural place for them to play their way to the U.S. Open is located two hours east of Chambers Bay, at the Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum, WA.

 

 

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