Just 2 berths at each site up for grabs as Columbine and Fort Collins CC host U.S. Amateur qualifying; among entrants are Tom Glissmeyer, who qualified for 2003 U.S. Open as 16-year-old, and 2-time Colorado Open champ Brian Guetz
By Gary Baines – 7/9/2021
Things have suddenly gotten a bit more difficult to qualify for the U.S. Amateur at Colorado-based sites.
While three players per qualifying tournament in the Centennial State traditionally have advanced to the U.S. Am, this year that number is two per event.
It’s two out of 81 competitors at Columbine Country Club in Columbine Valley on Monday, and two out of 82 at Fort Collins Country Club on July 19. In both cases, qualifying is a 36-hole affair, with the right to advance to the 2021 U.S. Amateur at stake. This year’s U.S. Am is set for Aug. 9-15 at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, which has hosted a record nine U.S. Opens.
Speaking of the U.S. Open, a player who qualified for the Open in 2003 as a 16-year-old is scheduled to tee it up at Columbine on Monday. That would be Tom Glissmeyer of Denver. Also in the field at Columbine is two-time Colorado Open champion Brian Guetz of Littleton, who grew up playing Columbine and who’s now a reinstated amateur. Likewise competing are three-time U.S. Amateur qualifier Michael Harrington of Colorado Springs; 2018 qualifier Austin Hardman of Highlands Ranch, recent CGA Match Play champions Cole Nygren of Longmont (2021) and Josh McLaughlin of Loveland (2019); Sean Crowley of Littleton, a Columbine member who’s playing in the U.S. Senior Open this week; and four-time CGA Mid-Amateur Player of the Year Chris Thayer of Golden.
Set for Fort Collins CC on July 19 are 2019 U.S. Am qualifier Cal McCoy of Highlands Ranch; three-time qualifier Steve Irwin of Golden; Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins, who twice advanced to the U.S. Junior Amateur; 2019 CGA Player of the Year Davis Bryant of Aurora; 2020 CoBank Colorado Senior Open runner-up Jon Lindstrom of Denver; Jackson Solem of Longmont; and Colorado State University men’s golf assistant coach Parker Edens of Fort Collins.
Gunnar Broin, like Bryant a CSU golfer, has already qualified for the U.S. Amateur. He was the medalist in a qualifying tournament in his home state of Minnesota on July 6, finishing with a 140 total for two rounds.
For tee times, click on the following: COLUMBINE CC, FORT COLLINS CC.