"Hope sprang eternal for the 88 who started, on an overcast day that turned gorgeous, then to drama in the dusk."

Bill Dwyre files a wonderful write up of the Oakmont/Glendale qualifier in today's LA Times, staying until dark when Brian Locke dramatically won in a playoff to capture the fifth spot. He also tells us about 16-year old Beau Hossler and his impressive play.

The package included some great photos and huge page one Sports placement in today's paper, capturing the essence of the sectionals.

2011 U.S. Open Sectional Round-Up

Look, I know the budget and employment cuts at Golf House have really undermined morale but today's paltry and confusing U.S. Open Sectional coverage was stunning. Sectional day is arguably the organization's finest moment each year when sectional qualifiers determine nearly half the field of the U.S. Open, and most friends, family and fans would have to invest significant time just to find scores. It's also a natural public relations boost to the championship if taken advantage of.

(Just one example: as of midnight Monday night, the USGA Sectional page still was listing the field for the Columbus qualifier minus scores!)

Thankfully, Twitter and the golf media were there to pick up the slack (again), not to mention solid work was turned in by several (though certainly not all) of the regional golf associations to provide access to scores if you knew where to look. (But that's not so easy nor should it be necessary if the USGA was making the effort, which is why the one-stop shop was posted here).

As usual Golfweek is your one-stop shopping for a great round up of the day, with snippets on who some of the qualifiers are. That's handy this year with so many amateurs and unknowns making the field.

Rusty Miller leads the AP wrap-up with Sergio's reversal to decide to qualify paying off with rounds of 68-67 in Memphis, earning him a spot, which contrasted nicely with Vijay's no-show. He also notes what a lot of the bigger names did.

Jason Sobel describes the six-man playoff in Columbus.

Jim McCabe also reports from Columbus, home to the largest field of the day, and filed this earlier dispatch on qualifier Brandt Jobe keeping up his hot play.

Julie Williams reports on how Sam Saunders made it in a dramatic playoff (is there any other kind of playoff?).

Jimmy Burch chimes in from Dallas where he says former Open Championshp winner Todd Hamilton looped all 36 for himself en route to qualifying.

Brendan Prunty files from the Summit, NJ site where Matt Richardson has been dreaming of a chance to play the U.S. Open.

In the lone USOpen.com story on today's golf, Dave Shefter reports from Canoe Brook on Geoffrey Sisk qualifying for the fifth time.

And while we're piling on the USGA, check out this post at the Golfweek site from former SCGA communications man Bob Thomas on the allocation of qualifying spots.

It’s no surprise that the sites closest to the most recently played PGA Tour event, The Memorial, and the one this week in Memphis, get the best ratios but the two overseas sites continue to receive a vastly disproportionate number of qualifying slots, particularly in relation to the number of golfers who actually tee it up.

Walton Heath in England had 11 spots for 82 players who entered; that ratio of 1:7.45 was better than either of Columbus, Oh, or Memphis. That ratio seems questionable, at best. However, because 23 players withdrew from the event, just 59 players competed for those 12 qualifying spots, making for a ridiculous actual ratio of 1:4.9.

The Japan site is even worse. Five players qualified (according to the USGA site) out of an announced field of 34 players, a ratio of 1:8.5, slightly lower than Memphis’ 1:7.8 and Columbus’ 1:8.1. However, only 22 players actually teed it up in Japan, which brought the ratio down to 1:4.4.

This dropout situation occurs year after year yet the USGA seems to show no inclination to changing the allocation formulas. Meanwhile, the non-PGA Tour U.S. site ratios range from 1:11.2 (Rockville, Md., near a Nationwide Tour stop) to 1:23.5 in Glendale, Calif. Seven of the 11 spots have a ratio of 1:17 or greater and those sites will have few, if, any, dropouts at least at the beginning of the 36-hole day. I consider the ratios shameful and they’re one of the reasons I have cancelled my USGA membership.

A spot was added to Glendale after Steve Stricker's win at the Memorial eliminated the need to told a spot for a winner there, but even then the 1:23.5 ratio would not drop enough to bring it in line with other sites or any semblance of equity.

Your One-Stop 2011 U.S. Open Sectional Scoring Links

Here goes with the live scoring and pairings links.

I'm sure these will be updated and tweaked throughout the day, but this should kill at least an hour's worth of your Monday morning productivity...


Vero Beach, Fla. (Quail Valley Golf Club) - 56 players for three spots

Scoring* Round 1 scores now posted

Pairings


Ball Ground, Ga. (Hawks Ridge G.C.) - 47 players for three spots

Scoring

Pairings

St. Charles, Ill. (St. Charles C.C.) - 58 players for three spots

Scoring (first round scores posted)

Pairings


Rockville, Md. (Woodmont Country Club) - 112 players for 10 spots

Scoring (First Round scores, warning PDF)

Pairings (warning, PDF)


Summit, N.J. (Canoe Brook C.C.) - 83 players for four spots

Scoring

Pairings (warning, PDF)

Columbus, Ohio (Brookside CC/The Lakes CC) - 120 players for 16 spots

Scoring

Pairings


Springfield, Ohio (Springfield Country Club) - 34 players for two spots

Scoring

Pairings


Memphis, Tenn. (Tunica National) - 78 players for 10 spots

Pairings

Scoring


Dallas, Texas (Dallas Athletic Club, Blue Course) - 71 players for four spots

Pairings

Scoring

Glendale, Calif. (Oakmont Country Club) - 94 players for four spots

Scoring (sort of, technical problems all day)

Pairings

Bremerton, Wash. (Gold Mountain GC, Olympic) - 48 players for four spots

Scoring

Pairings

The Best Of The 2011 U.S. Open Sectional Storylines

You can read all of the storylines for today, quite possibly the best day in golf, as noted by the USGA staff. 

The storylines feature a heavy emphasis on former USGA event winners, qualifers and also rans, with a few family members of committee types thrown in.

Here are some that caught my eye, starting with my second instructor in the game and a world class human being.

Glendale, Calif. (Oakmont Country Club)
94 players for four spots

• Jim Empey of Boise, Idaho, played in the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, won by Tom Kite. He is the former coach of the University of Southern California men's golf team and is now a PGA teaching professional at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Boise.

• Harry Rudolph III of La Jolla, Calif., was once one of the most promising young players in golf and made it to the quarterfinals of the 1987 U.S. Junior Amateur. He led the University of Arizona to a NCAA Division I National Championship in 1992 and often competed against his high school cross-town rival, Phil Mickelson, who played for Arizona State. Rudolph's first attempt at a pro career never got off the ground, however, and he gave up his dream in 1999. In 2009, Rudolph regained his amateur status and qualified for match play at the 2009 U.S. Mid-Amateur and 2010 U.S. Amateur. He has since returned to the professional ranks.

Vero Beach, Fla. (Quail Valley Golf Club)
56 players for three spots

• Gary Koch of Tampa, Fla., has played in 17 U.S. Opens and has two top-25 finishes. Koch won six tournaments as a professional and is now a broadcaster for NBC Sports. Koch also won the 1970 U.S. Junior Amateur and played on two USA Walker Cup Teams (1973 and 1975).

• Sam Saunders of Orlando, Fla., is the grandson of golf legend Arnold Palmer. He has played in three U.S. Amateur Championships and one U.S. Junior Amateur.

• Sawyer Shaw of West Palm Beach, Fla., is a high school freshman who finished second at his local qualifier at Bear Lakes C.C. in West Palm Beach. The 15-year-old won back-to-back tournaments on the Florida Junior Tour in April and added another victory at the Under Armor/Vicky Hurst Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in May.

• Tommy Stankowski of Fort Myers, Fla., is the older brother of PGA Tour player Paul Stankowski. He last played the U.S. Open in 1992 at Pebble Beach.

Ball Ground, Ga. (Hawks Ridge G.C.)
47 players for three spots

• Russell Henley of Macon, Ga., graduated from the University of Georgia in May and recently became the second amateur to win a Nationwide Tour event (Daniel Summerhays was the first in 2009) when he captured the Stadion Classic held at the University of Georgia's golf course. He tied for low amateur at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach with Scott Langley (T-16).

St. Charles, Ill. (St. Charles C.C.)
58 players for three spots

• Scott Langley of Manchester, Mo., won the 2010 NCAA Division I individual title. The left-hander also qualified for the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he tied for low amateur with Russell Henley in 16th place, and he represented the USA at the 2010 World Amateur Team Championship in Argentina.

Rockville, Md. (Woodmont Country Club)
112 players for 10 spots

• Guy Boros of Pompano Beach, Fla., has played in two U.S. Opens, most recently in 1998. He has three wins on the Nationwide Tour and one career PGA Tour win - the 1996 Greater Vancouver Open. Boros is the son of Hall of Famer Julius Boros, who won 18 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1952 and 1963 U.S. Opens. Boros is also the oldest winner of a major championship; he was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship.

• Bubba Dickerson of Fernandina Beach, Fla., won the 2001 U.S. Amateur Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga., over Robert Hamilton. He also played in two other U.S. Amateurs and won an NCAA Division I men's team title with the University of Florida in 2001. Dickerson played on the PGA Tour in 2006 and 2007, and has been a regular member of the Nationwide Tour since then.

• Jason Gore of Valencia, Calif., was tied for second place after three rounds of the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, but shot a final-round 84. Gore has played in three other U.S. Opens (1998, 2008 and 2010) and was a member of the victorious 1997 USA Walker Cup Team. He also led Pepperdine to the 1997 NCAA title.

• Kirk Triplett of Scottsdale, Ariz., has three career PGA Tour victories and has played in 16 U.S. Opens, most recently in 2007.

• Ty Tryon of Orlando, Fla., became the youngest player to earn a PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour's Qualifying School in 2001 at the age of 17. He made the cut at last year's U.S. Open.

• Drew Weaver of Sea Island, Ga., played on the victorious 2009 USA Walker Cup Team. He won the 2007 British Amateur, becoming the first American to win since Jay Sigel in 1979. The Virginia Tech graduate also played in the U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park that year and finished 40th.

Summit, N.J. (Canoe Brook C.C.)
83 players for four spots

• Gregory Bisconti of South Salem, N.Y., was the low PGA professional at the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National G.C. in Chaska, Minn. Bisconti is the club pro at The St. Andrew's Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., one of the five founding USGA member clubs.

• Tarik Can of Manhasset, N.Y., was a semifinalist in the 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur. He also advanced to match play in the 2006 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links. Can is the former caddie for Paula Creamer, the reigning U.S. Women's Open champion.

• Bob Rittberger of Garden City, N.Y., is the head professional at Garden City (N.Y.) Golf Club. He won the 2010 Met Open at Bethpage Black, the site of the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens. Rittberger narrowly missed advancing to the U.S. Open in 2007 when his approach shot on the 36th hole of sectional qualifying hit the flagstick and ricocheted into the rough, leading to a double bogey when he needed a par to advance.

Columbus, Ohio (Brookside Country Club/The Lakes Country Club)
120 players for 16 spots

• Byeong-Hun "Ben" An of Alameda, Calif., became the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur when he defeated Ben Martin in the 2009 final at the age of 17. An was born in South Korea, but moved to the United States to pursue golf. He currently plays for the University of California-Berkeley.

• Joseph Bramlett of Saratoga, Calif., is a rookie on the PGA Tour who, along with Tiger Woods, is one of two players on the Tour with African-American heritage. The former Stanford standout has played in four U.S. Amateurs, two U.S. Junior Amateurs and a USGA Men's State Team Championship. He qualified for the 2010 U.S. Open as an amateur.

• Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain won the Masters in 1994 and 1999. He has 31 worldwide professional wins and has appeared in the U.S. Open 17 times, with his best finishes a pair of ties for 8th place, in 1990 and 1991. Olazabal will captain the European Ryder Cup Team in 2012.

• Anthony Paolucci of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., was the runner-up in the 2007 U.S. Junior Amateur. At the time, he was only the third 14-year-old in history to make it to the final. Paolucci also appeared in two other U.S. Junior Amateurs and two U.S. Amateurs.

Springfield, Ohio (Springfield Country Club)
34 players for two spots

• Chris Smith of Peru, Ind., has played in five U.S. Opens, with his most recent appearance in 2004. Smith made the PGA Tour in 1995 and won the 2002 Buick Classic

Memphis, Tenn. (Tunica National)
78 players for 10 spots

• Chris DiMarco of Longwood, Fla., has three PGA Tour victories and has finished second in every major except the U.S. Open. The former Florida Gator lost the 2005 Masters in a playoff with Tiger Woods. DiMarco's last U.S. Open appearance was in 2007.

• Hunter Hamrick of Montgomery, Ala., has played in four U.S. Junior Amateur Championships and was the youngest player in the field at the 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur at age 13. He was also the youngest player in the field at the 2005 U.S. Amateur at age 15.

• Brendan Steele of Irvine, Calif., became the third rookie to win on the PGA Tour this year when he captured the Valero Texas Open in April. He won the final event of the 2010 Nationwide Tour season, moving him from 30th to sixth on the money list and earning him a 2011 PGA Tour card.

• Scott Verplank of Edmond, Okla., won the 1984 U.S. Amateur and played on the victorious 1985 USA Walker Cup Team that beat Great Britain and Ireland at Pine Valley (N.J.) Golf Club. Verplank has five career PGA Tour victories and has appeared in 17 U.S. Opens, with his best finish a tie for seventh in 2007.

Dallas, Texas (Dallas Athletic Club, Blue Course)
71 players for four spots

• Todd Hamilton of Westlake, Texas, won the 2004 British Open at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. He also won the Honda Classic in 2004 and was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year at the age of 38.

• Tom Kite of Austin, Texas, won the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and has played in the championship 33 times. The Hall of Famer owns 38 worldwide professional wins and represented the USA in the 1970 World Amateur Team Championship.

• Bob May of Las Vegas, Nev., was a member of the 1991 USA Walker Cup Team that won in Dublin, Ireland. He has played in numerous USGA championships. May is best known for taking Tiger Woods to a thrilling playoff in the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla C.C. in Louisville, Ky., which Woods eventually won.

• Cory Whitsett of Houston, Texas, won the 2007 U.S. Junior Amateur at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo. Whitsett became just the fourth left-handed player to win a USGA championship and the fifth 15-year-old to win the title.

Bremerton, Wash. (Gold Mountain Golf Club, Olympic Course)
48 players for four spots

• Notah Begay III of Dallas, Texas, has four career PGA Tour victories. He was a member of the 1995 USA Walker Cup Team and is a former teammate of Tiger Woods at Stanford. Begay has played in three U.S. Opens.

• Sebastian Crampton of Pacific Grove, Calif., is the youngest player in sectional qualifying. He will be 15 years and 16 days old when he competes on June 6. If he qualifies, he will be the youngest player to play in the U.S. Open, surpassing Tadd Fujikawa, who was 15 years, 5 months and 7 days old when he qualified in 2006 at Winged Foot.

Obama-Boehner Golf Summit To Occur On U.S. Open Saturday!

So while those two lovebirds are swatting it around Andrews or some other DC course, the world's best will be at nearby Congressional. Politco's Glenn Thrush reports (thanks reader Tim for the link).

Obama’s offer — and Boehner’s acceptance — came six months after White House press secretary Robert Gibbs suggested the two could work out their differences on the course. Both men are passionate golfers; Obama prefers to hit public courses with a handful of friends and White House staffers while Boehner favors private courses, golf fundraisers and schmoozing sessions with other pols.

Steve Rushin penned an impassioned plea for the two to play golf and Golf Digest even had buttons made up to campaign for a golf course meeting between the President and Speaker of the House.

Do I dare speculate that since Obama always plays his golf on Saturdays, that the schedule has been left open for a U.S. Open Sunday visit?

Ramsay "Suicidal" After Missing U.S. Open Qualifier Playoff

I think that's the urban term the kids use these days for "mildly depressed," but hopefully someone just kept whispering the reassuring word "Congressional" to the Scot after he missed Monday's playoff to determine the final U.S. Open spots.

Bernie McGuire reports.

Ramsay left the Walton Heath 36-hole qualifier with scores of 71 and 69 for a four- under-par tally thinking his effort was not enough to be among the 11 qualifiers for Congressional. He made his way to Heathrow but, after being stuck in traffic, he missed his flight and the wedding of Gareth Maybin.

Okay, first thing here. Who gets married on a Monday?

Sorry, go on Bernie...

Ramsay then received a call from Stephen Gallacher saying he should return as he was likely to be among three players fighting for the last position. Unfortunately, Ramsay was still 15 minutes away from the course when Andreas Hato and Johan Edfors teed up. It was Edfors who was successful.

Ramsay looked distraught in returning 9.20pm, in the dark, to be told he’d missed the chance to join Gallacher and Martin Laird as the only Scots in the June 16 Major.

“I feel suicidal,” he said. “I got a call from Stevie to say four under was in and to get back here. To miss out on the chance to play the US Open makes me feel sick.

A Wild And Wacky Local Qualifier

Garry Smits reports on Monday's US Open qualifier at Sawgrass. It included a DQ for a non-conforming wedge and one player qualifying in spite of a one-shot penalty for slow play.

There also was a controversy over the FSGA's pace-of-play policy, which requires groups to not only finish their rounds in a given time, but finish within 15 minutes of the group ahead of them on both nines.

Six players in two groups didn't make the deadline of four hours, 40 minutes to complete 18 holes; and were more than 15 minutes behind the group ahead of them. Included was Harman, whose 70 was changed to a 71 with the one-stroke penalty. He angrily berated tournament officials for not giving his group a warning during the round. He qualified anyway.

Under the FSGA policy, initiated two years ago, warnings are not issued during play. Stroke penalties can be assessed at the turn and when a group finishes, and can be waived at the discretion of the committee if players were held up by rulings or having to look for lost balls.

"They received the pace-of-play policy in a packet mailed to them before the tournament, got another copy on the first tee, and the policy also is posted on six holes on the course," Dudley said. "There's no excuse for them not knowing it. They don't need warnings from rules officials to know what the policy is. All they have to do is read the information they've been given."

"Let me repeat that: The USGA is actually making par go up, not down."

That's the takeaway quote from USGA Media Day at Congressional where Graeme McDowell actually appeared, almost unheard of these days for such events (example #396 of why he's a class act).

AP's Joseph White reports on Congressional stretching to as much as 7,574 yards if the USGA wants it to stretch that far. And there was this about the latest redesign.

Overall, though, the course had to be altered to bring its hazards back into play to match the longer game of today. Davis said his goal was to make it so the golfers would be using the same clubs the architect had in mind when the holes were designed nearly a century ago.

The trick is to do it without altering the character and feel of the place. Ben Brundred Jr., co-chairman of Congressional's U.S. Open committee, knew such changes were inevitable when Tom Kite, at age 55, had the lead after three rounds when the Booz Allen Classic was played there in 2005.

"So what are you going to do?" Brundred said. "You've got a 55-year-old guy that's 40 yards longer than he was in his prime. The holes have to change."

The Future Is Bright For More Rees-toration Sniping!

Now that the PGA Tour's finest have found their voice when it comes to evaluation of Rees Jones Reestorations of tournament venues, it's worth remembering that we have many more opportunities in the next few years for more tirades, brouhahas and other kvetching.

Two of next year's majors are played at Reestored courses, Congressional Country Club Blue (US Open) and Atlanta Athletic Club (PGA). Throw in the fact that these are not just Reestorations, but Reestorations of previously unheralded Reestorations, with both courses having troubled summers this year, and how can you now love the possibilities for 2011?

And lest we not forget, the 2012 Ryder Cup heads to Reestored Medinah!

Until then, the boys will just have East Lake to fuel their insipred critiques.

Congressional Opens To Reviews

AP's Ben Nuckols writes about the re-opening of Congressional and its new greens. I thought this was interesting:

Ben Brundred Jr., co-chairman of Congressional's U.S. Open committee, declined to say how much the changes cost. He did say that members paid to rebuild the greens and that all other costs were split between Congressional and the USGA.

Congressional's Green Rebuilding Unfortunately Goes Off Without A Hitch

The misery that is a U.S. Open next year at Congressional is finally setting in now that Barry Svluga reports on the course's upcoming reopening after a great job by superintendent Mike Giuffre and various contractors to get the greens rebuilt on schedule, dashing all hopes of a possible U.S. Open move.

"Awkward" Tees At Congressional

I have to confess it's been a while since I looked at Congressional very closely but today's AT&T National first round was an eye-opener. The list of cringe-inducing sights is too long, so let's just hope they do some tree and bunker work before the 2011 U.S. Open. To call the bunkers there two-dimensional would be unfair to two-dimensional bunkers.

Rex Hoggard blogged about this change, which actually sounds like it fits with the rest of the course:

The Blue will close shortly after this week’s event and the greens rebuilt, but some new tee boxes that the U.S. Golf Association may use have already been installed, at Nos. 9 and 15 for example, giving players a glimpse at what may await in ’11.

“(Nos.) 15 and 9 seemed very awkward because they move away from the way the slope is,” said Jim Furyk, who has played in the last four Tour events played at Congressional (’97 U.S. Open, ’05 Booz Allen Classic and ’07 and ’08 AT&T Nationals). “They both slope left to right and the tee is going back to the left, which makes the tee shot a little bit more awkward.”

Speaking of awkward, that hill behind below the new 10th tee, old 18th green site. They will find a way to put people there in the U.S. Open, right? It looks a little strange right now with just a television tower. Actually, that's the least of Congressional's issues.