Frank Abbott of Las Vegas, Nev. and Gregg Guernsey of Vancouver, Wash. both shot 1-over par 73s in earning co-medalist honors at U.S. Senior Amateur qualifying held today at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash. Also qualifying today were Tom Brandes of Bellevue, Wash. and Jim McNelis of Gig Harbor, Wash., each shooting 2-over par 74s.
These four players will advance to the 2014 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, to be held Sept. 13-18 at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, Calif.
Abbott, playing in the first group of the day, stood at 2-under par after 11 holes before finishing with three bogeys. The early posting of his 73 gave the rest of the field something to shoot for, but only Guernsey was able to match it.
Brandes stumbled out of the gate with a double-bogey six on the par-4 first hole, but shot even par the rest of the way. Earlier this summer, Brandes had qualified for his second consecutive U.S. Senior Open. He has been named the WSGA Senior Men's Player of the Year the past four years, and last year finished second in the British Senior Amateur.
This is the sixth USGA national championship that McNelis has qualified for.
This 18-hole qualifier was contested on the North and East nines at Sahalee.
The Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) is the local representative of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and conducted this qualifier for the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship.
The U.S. Senior Amateur is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
