WAILUA — Mark Scheibach fired a three-under-par 69 to capture the only qualifying spot in the second U.S. Open Local Qualifier, Saturday at the Wailua Golf Course. Scheibach held a two-stroke lead with a 34 following the front nine and
WAILUA — Mark Scheibach fired a three-under-par 69 to capture the only qualifying spot in the second U.S. Open Local Qualifier, Saturday at the Wailua Golf Course.
Scheibach held a two-stroke lead with a 34 following the front nine and continued to hold that pace to finish with a back-nine 35 for the win.
T.J. Kua, a University of Hawai‘i golfer and Lihu‘e native, was in second place, two strokes off the pace at 36 following the front nine, but slipped to third with 38 on the back nine to finish with a two over par 74 for the second alternative spot.
Thomas Freestone of Princeville finished with a one-over 73 (38-35) for the first alternative spot, finishing the qualifier in second place, four strokes off the pace.
With the win, Scheibach will be heading to one of 13 Sectional Qualifiers scheduled in 2010. At least one player from each sectional qualifier advances directly to the U.S. Open Championship, which will be played June 17-20 at the Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The Local Qualifiers continued on Maui Sunday, where blustery conditions made for a challenging day, said Mary Bea Porter-King of the Hawai‘i State Junior Golf Association, who was overseeing the action at Wailua, Saturday.
Doug Stacy, Frank Luchowski and Royden Heirakuji, all Maui golfers, finished in a three-way tie at one-over par 73 at the King Kamehameha Golf Club.
All three advance to one of the 13 Sectional Qualifiers.
David Haven of Lahaina, Maui and Alex Chiarella of Makawao, Maui finished with the first alternate spots, both golfers ending with a three-over 75.
Earlier, Jim Seki, a former Honolulu resident, earned a spot to the Sectionals by winning the first U.S. Open Local Qualifier at the Hoakalei Country Club on May 9.
In that match, Seki finished with a three-under 69 to claim top medalist honors. Michael Fan of Pearl City earned the first alternate spot with a four-over 76.
Kamden Brakel of Acampo, Calif. is the first alternate after winning a one-hole playoff over Brett Komoto of Honolulu.
Following the top three spots in the Wailua qualifier, Paul Ito and Ron Castillo Jr. ended tied for fourth with 77. Ron Jones of Lihu‘e ended with a 79.
Steve Murphy of Koloa and Marvin Terada of Kapa‘a ended in a tie with 81. Kenneth Kimura of Kapa‘a tied with Donald Pakkala of Honolulu at 83. David Werner of Princeville and Scott Ashworth of Lihu‘e rounded out the field with 85 and 91, respectively.
The U.S. Open is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association.
Visit www.usga.org for more information.
