Small heads USGA Senior Amateur Qualifier

  “I feel like the kid,” said Small, who qualified for his first U.S. Senior Amateur. “It’s a nice feeling because I’ve been playing in all these amateur and mid-amateur events and I was always the old guy. Now I’m the kid.”

  The “kid” said he played solid golf all day, beginning his sub-par round with a birdie.

  Small birdied No. 1 (par 4, 363 yards) after a well-played tee shot left him 105-yards to the hole. The electrical contractor then attacked the pin with a sand wedge, leaving him a four-footer for birdie.

  “Everything I hit was right at the stick,” Small said. ‘”It was just good solid golf.”

 He continued his strong play after the turn with birdies on Nos. 10 (par 5, 501 yards) and 14 (par 3, 149 yards) to finish the day at 5-under par.

  Coming in a close second was Charles “Buck” Jones of Collegeville, Pa., with a 4-under-par 68.

  “I drove it real well and made a lot of putts,” said Jones, who just came off a strong second-place finish at the Chapman Memorial Cup (Gross).

  Also qualifying was last year’s low medallist qualifier, Thomas DiCinti who shot a 2-under-par 70.

  “This has been the focal point of my year since I played poorly once I got there last year,” said DiCinti. “I was not mentally ready for that event.”

  He added, “I want to prove to myself, as well as anyone else, that I can play at that level.”

  Charles Wilkins of Medford, N.J., Neil McDermott of Newtown Square, Pa. and Vic Gerard of Neptune, N.J., rounded out the remaining qualifiers.

  The 2006 USGA Senior Amateur Championship is scheduled for Sept. 16-21 at Victoria National GC in Newburgh, Ind. The inaugural USGA Senior Amateur was held in 1955 at Belle Meade CC in Nashville, Tenn. The event, for those who are 55 or older on or before the day the championship begins, is open to those with a USGA Handicap Index of 7.4 or lower.