Johnson Earns Medalist Honors at Amateur Qualifier
MOSCOW, Pa. - It was a banner day for Glenmaura National Golf Club members at today's Amateur Championship Qualifier at Elmhurst Country Club, as five players from the club made it into the championship proper, led by medalist Nicholas Johnson, who fired a 3-under par 69. In total, 15 players from today's field advanced to the 102nd Amateur Championship presented by Allegheny Health Network, which will be held on July 27-29 at the Country Club of Scranton.
"I played solid golf today," Johnson said. "I got off to a bit of a slow start but was able to right the ship halfway through the front nine and then played steady from there."
Johnson's round turned around on the par-5 sixth hole. Sitting at 1-over for the day, he hit the green in two shots and drained an eagle putt to get into red numbers. After another birdie on the par-4 eighth hole, he made the turn at -2. From there, he used a stretch of three birdies in four holes between No. 11 and No. 14 to get to 4-under for the day before finishing at -3. Included in that stretch was a 45-foot birdie putt on the downhill par-3 13th hole.
"It's always nice to make a putt like that," stated Johnson. "All of the greens rolled really true today and the course was in awesome shape, which makes it fun to play."
A pair of golfers finished a shot back - Glenmaura National's John Barone and Glen Oak's Anthony Sebastianelli, each firing a 70. Following them were Great Bear's Gus Steger and Country Club of Scranton's Michael Lynch, who were the other two players to break par at 71.
Two home club hopefuls made it through the qualifier, as Wally Gonzalez (even) and Michael Bonavoglia (+1) each were among the qualifiers on the day.
There are three more qualifiers scheduled for the championship - June 11 at Brookside Country Club of Allentown, June 17 at Treesdale Golf & Country Club and June 22 at Out Door Country Club.