On day one, The Ridgewood Country Club and stroke-play co-host Arcola Country Club more than held their own against these elite players in the 122nd edition of America’s oldest championship.
With a premium on driving accuracy – the rough was as high as 5 inches at Ridgewood – and greens rolling about 13 feet on the Stimpmeter, the field faced a pair of US Open-like setups, and the scores were reflective of that philosophy.
Add some sunshine and wind to firm up the conditions and there’s a reason why only 18 of the 312 players broke par on either venue.
Five of the day’s six best scores came at Ridgewood, where three-under 68s were posted by a group led by 2018 US Junior Amateur champion Michael Thorbjornsen. Fellow Bay Stater Chris Francoeur, a 2022 University of Louisville graduate headed to the Korn Ferry Tour Q-School later this month, matched that score.
Also shooting 68 at Ridgewood were two members of the USGA’s “Seinfeld” group, Hazen Newman and Campbell Kremer and Luke Gutschewski, the son of two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner and PGA Tour veteran Scott Gutschewski.
Hazen Newman was part of the “Seinfeld” group on day one and signed for one of the day’s low scores. PHOTO: USGA.
Georgia Tech rising junior Christo Lamprecht had the low round at Arcola, a two-under 68.
Thorbjornsen, a rising junior at Stanford who qualified for this year’s US Open at The Country Club not far from his hometown, used his experience in major events to his advantage on the difficult layout. Playing in his fifth US Amateur, Thorbjornsen registered six birdies against three bogeys, two coming on his final three holes.
“Just not being surprised by anything, like how long the rough is, how fast the greens are, stuff like that,” said Thorbjornsen, the 2021 Western Amateur champion who finished fourth in the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship in June, a week after his second US Open start. “I just feel very comfortable out here.”
Francoeur wasn’t in the field until last week, when his ex-college teammate and close friend Jiri Zuska became exempt by finishing in the top five of the Elite Amateur Series, a group of seven competitions that lead into the US Amateur.
Zuska was the medalist at the Berkshire Hills Country Club qualifier on June 30 with Francoeur earning first-alternate status. When Zuska became fully exempt, Francoeur got his spot.
“He stayed with me for the first two months of the summer, so I guess he owed me one there,” said Francoeur.
On Monday, Francoeur was five-under through 15 holes, only to suffer bogeys on Nos. 6 and 8 (he started on No. 9). He had a ball buried in the lip of a bunker on the 6th and he missed the fairway on the 471-yard 8th hole of the composite course being used at the 27-hole facility.
Lamprecht is looking to carry on the recent US Amateur success of Georgia Tech golfers that includes Andy Ogletree (2019) and Tyler Strafaci (2020) winning in consecutive years. Tech alums Matt Kuchar (1997) and five-time champion Bob Jones have also hoisted the Havemeyer Trophy.
“Just not being surprised by anything, like how long the rough is, how fast the greens are, stuff like that. I just feel very comfortable out here.” – Michael Thorbjornsen.
Lamprecht was three-under through 16 holes before making his second and final bogey of the day on the 497-yard, par-4 17th.
“I guess the overall expectation of this tournament, it’s hard,” said Lamprecht, who will represent South Africa in the World Amateur Team Championship in France. “It’s the US Open of amateur golf. There’s not a lot of birdies given to you. You’ve just got to play smart golf and not get carried away.”
Other notables who broke par on Monday were two-time US Mid-Amateur champion and three-time USA Walker Cup competitor Stewart Hagestad (69 at Ridgewood), 2021 US Amateur semi-finalist/2022 US Open low amateur Travis Vick and US Open qualifier Fred Biondi (both with 69 at Arcola), and 2021 USA Walker Cup competitor Ricky Castillo, 2022 US Junior Amateur champion Wenyi Ding and 2022 US Open qualifier Adrien Dumont de Chassart, all of whom shot 70 at Ridgewood.
The best score of the Australians in the field was a shared honor by three of our five starters. Jack Buchanan, Hayden Hopewell and Karl Vilips all recording two-over-par. Hopewell signed for a 72 at Arcola, while Buchanan and Vilips shot 73 at Ridgewood.
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