Appleget heads U.S. Open Local Qualifier

  COATESVILLE, Pa.–John Appleget, 41, carded a 2-under-par 69 at Coatesville CC (par 71, 6,444 yards) on Friday to earn medallist honors in a local qualifier for the U.S. Open Championship. Three others advanced to U.S. Open Sectional qualifying set for June 5-6 at multiple nationwide sites.

  This local qualifier (field of 59 players, 25 pros, 34 amateurs) is one of 111, 18-hole local qualifiers for the U.S. Open Championship that will be played June 15-18 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

  A teaching pro at Harbor Pines GC, Appleget now sets his sights on his sixth appearance at a sectional qualifier.

  Appleget, who hails from Dorothy, N.J., attributed his field-leading, sub-par round to his putting.

  “Like always, putting is the key,” he said. “I putted great today.”

  Appleget carded a 3-under-par 32 on the front side and a 1-over-par 37 on the back. A score he said would be difficult to achieve without playing the course beforehand.

  “I play this course once a year,” Appleget said. “You can’t just play it blind. It’s easy to make bogey.”

  He avoided carding a bogey on the front nine, heading into the clubhouse after birding No. 4 (par 3, 165 yards), No. 7 (par 4, 323 yards) and No. 9 (par 4, 371 yards). On No. 9, Appleget attacked the green with a wedge from 100 yards out to leave the ball two feet from the pin.

  When it was all said and done, Appleget found him self atop the leader board and on his way to Canoe Brook CC in Summit, N.J. for the U.S Open Sectional Qualifier on June 5-6.

  Others advancing to sectionals were Jeff Daniels, a 31-year-old amateur out of Harrisburg, Pa., Tug Maude, a professional on the Grey Goose Tour from Wayne, Pa. and last year’s Golf Association of Philadelphia Player of the Year, and Richard Brewington, an amateur from Orangeville, Pa.

  Daniels, a 31-year-old amateur, heads to Rockville, Md. for his third sectional qualifier after carding a 1-over-par 71. A realtor who plays out of Manada GC, Daniels echoed Appleget’s sentiment on the difficulty of playing the course for the first time.

  “I played this course once before today,” Daniels said. “Without out that, I wouldn’t have had any idea what to hit off the tee.”

  Maude will head to Summit, N.J. for the sectional while Brewington chose Rockville, Md. as his site. Both players advanced in a one-hole playoff.