Gold goes low, tops U.S. Am. Qualifier

  WILMINGTON, Del. – Christopher Gold of Haddonfield, N.J., torched the Nemours course at DuPont CC to the tune of six birdies and an eagle to card an 8-under-par 63 Monday, good for medallist honors at the local qualifier for the U.S. Amateur Championship.

  The University of Maryland senior carded a two-round total of 134 (71, 63) to top the 155-player field who attempted to qualify for the Championship at the Nemours (par 71, 6,166 yards) and DuPont (par 71, 7,076 yards) courses.

  Gold will be joined by Jeffery Griest of Glen Mills, Pa., Chris Derby of Alexandria, Va., Conrad Von Borsig of Swarthmore, Pa., David Sanders of Mt Laurel, N.J. and Brandon Detweiler of Akron, Pa., at the U.S. Amateur Championship is set for Aug. 18-24 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

  “I’m just happy to get in,” said the 21-year-old, a veteran of two U.S. Amateur Championships (2004-05) who also played Pinehurst CC in the North-South Amateur Championship earlier this summer. “I have a feel for the course and I feel like it fits my game.”

  But it was the Nemours course that looked as if it was tailored to Gold’s game Monday as he made up a four-stroke deficit after the first round and beat the field by two strokes on the Nemours track that played 3.154 strokes easier that the DuPont course.

  “I just played solid in my first round [at DuPont] and saw that there were a couple low scores on the other course, so I figured I was still in it,” said the Gold of his chances.

  Gold capped off his stunning second round with a chip-in eagle on the par 5 18^th hole (577 yards).

  “It was a great ending,” he said of the chip-in for eagle. “It was a nice way to finish.”

  For Griest, who came in with the second best score of the day with a 5-under-par 136 (70, 66), the flatstick was key, as the 21-year-old said he made bunch of putts to help him advance into his first U.S. Amateur Championship.

  “I mean, I have goose bumps,” said Griest, a University of Delaware senior, of making it into the Championship. “I’m just so excited and can’t wait to get down there.”

  For Derby, a recent graduate of Loyola College who has aspirations of turning professional within the year, Monday’s qualifier for the Championship carried a little more weight for him than most.

  “I’m so excited,” Derby said. “This is the last shot I had [to qualify] so I’m absolutely ecstatic. I’m kind of in shock right now.”

Notes:
  Robert Maguire of Pottstown, Pa., made a hole-in-one on the par 3, 17^th hole (Nemours, 177 yards) with a 6-iron.

  The U.S. Amateur, the oldest USGA championship, was first played in 1895 at Newport Golf Club in Rhode Island. The event, which has no age restriction, is open to those with a Handicap Index of 2.4 or lower. It is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

—

  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 136 Member Clubs and 56,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The purpose of the Association is simple: To promote, protect and preserve the game of golf in the region.