Amateurs Fahey, Owens head Open Qualifier at Woodcrest

CHERRY HILL, N.J. — Overbrook Golf Club’s Sean Fahey and Wildwood Golf & Country Club’s Steve Owens withstood 100-degree temperatures and carded respective 2-under-par 69s to share medalist honors in an Open Championship Qualifier at Woodcrest Country Club (par 71, 6,488 yards) Wednesday. Fahey and Owens, along with eight others, advanced to the Championship proper, set for July 23 at the pristine Pine Valley Golf Club. At the end of the day, the cut line fell to 72.

   “It feels great,” Fahey said. “I’ve had a couple of friends who’ve gotten the invitation to play there. I’ve been really jealous of them. Now I’ll be able to get on that course, which is obviously the best in the country.”

  “This is my second time playing in [the Open Championship],” Owens, 45, of Philadelphia, Pa., added. “It feels great.”

  Fahey is off to a scorching start in 2012. The Villanova, Pa. resident qualified for match play in the Association’s Amateur Championship last week at Huntingdon Valley Country Club.

   “I worked a lot over the winter with Brian Quinn [Temple University’s golf coach], and he helped me a lot,” the soft-spoken 16 year-old said. “I’ve been hitting it really well over the last couple of months. Whenever my putter seems good, I seem to play really well.”

  Fahey, a semifinalist in the 2011 Junior Boys’ Championship, assembled a modest outward campaign Wednesday, mixing a bogey and a birdie with seven pars. On the par 5, 521-yard No. 2, Fahey steered his drive into the left tree-line. He pitched out to the fairway, flew a 9-iron 150 yards over the green and failed to get up-and-down for par. After flighting a drive over the trees on No. 8 (par 4, 420 yards), Fahey smacked a sand wedge 100 yards to four feet below the flagstick and cleaned up the birdie putt.

  Fahey kept his nerves in check and continued his red figure rhythm on No. 11 (par 5, 503 yards). He hammered a hybrid 220 yards and watched his golf ball “hit something hard,” which halted its momentum and allowed it to rest 15 feet from the jar. Fahey then two-putted for birdie. On the par 3, 180-yard 13th hole, he drew a 6-iron to seven feet above the flagstick and drained the downhill, right-to-left breaker for birdie.

   “I just started it on the line and it broke right in,” he said.

  Fahey drilled a 6-iron 185 yards and dropped a six-footer over the right edge for a 3 on No. 16 (par 4, 409 yards). He ended with an ultimately meaningless bogey on the par 5, 560-yard 18th hole. Fahey attempted to punch a 4-iron under a tree following a poor drive, but only advanced his golf ball into the first cut. Fahey elected to lay up short of the water hazard with a 9-iron, nuked a gap wedge over the green and nearly holed a downhill putt for par.

  Fahey will travel to Peddie Golf Club tomorrow to compete in a U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifier.

   “It will be 72 holes in three days,” Fahey, who competed in a Pennsylvania Golf Association Amateur Championship Qualifier at Concord Country Club yesterday, said. “I’ll be a little tired, but we’ll see how it goes.”

  Owens’ round mirrored Fahey’s: four birdies and two bogeys. He registered consecutive red figures on Nos. 3 (par 3, 163 yards) and 4 (par 5, 512 yards). Owens left a 7-iron 15 feet right of the No. 3 hole location and converted the right-to-left-curler for birdie. He stopped a 60-degree wedge at eight feet on No. 4. Owens crushed a hybrid more than 200 yards to 15 feet and two-putted for a 4 on No. 11. A 5-iron to 25 feet above the No. 13 flagstick resulted in birdie No. 4 on the day.

  Owens, an inspector for a taxi cab and limousine enforcement, doesn’t play a lot of competitive golf annually, but the Open and its backdrop inspired an appearance Wednesday. He qualified for the 2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur.

  Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 145 Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.