Joel Skarbo of Seattle, Wash. shot 2-under 70 to earn medalist honors in leading the field of 75 players who competed today in U.S. Open Local qualifying at the par-72 Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash.
Along with Skarbo, four other players will also advance from this Local qualifier to the Sectional qualifier. Those four include Damian Telles of The Dalles, Ore. who played for the University of Idaho golf team and now competes on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada; Andrew Von Lossow, an amateur from Spokane, Wash.; and Derek Barron of Lakewood, Wash., a professional who qualified for last year’s U.S. Open, all three of whom shot 1-under 71.
For the fifth and final spot, Derek Bayley of Rathdrum, Idaho defeated Robert Fisher, a PGA professional from Oregon City, Ore. in a playoff, after both had finished at even-par after 18 holes. Bayley is a senior on the Washington State University men’s golf team, and was named the 2017 WSGA Men’s Player of the Year after finishing second in last year’s Washington State Amateur and runner-up in the PNGA Men’s Amateur, and winning the Idaho Match Play Championship.
Fisher is first alternate, and David Phay of Oak Harbor, Wash. is second alternate.
Skarbo, a professional, teed off in this morning’s first group of the day, and immediately posted a score that no other player in the field could match. He birdied his final two holes of the day to put him at 2-under, and kept the lead to earn medalist honors.
Skarbo played collegiately on the Western Washington University men’s golf team, and since then has worked in the golf industry as a rep for various golf club manufacturers, currently with PING.
The 2018 U.S. Open Championship will be held June 14-17 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y.
The Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) is the local representative of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and conducted this Local qualifier for the U.S. Open Championship.
For hole-by-hole scoring of this Local qualifier, click here.
The USGA accepted a total of 9,049 entries for the 2018 U.S. Open Championship. The entries came from golfers in all 50 states, including 408 from New York, as well as the District of Columbia and 80 foreign countries.
To be eligible, golfers must either be a professional, or be an amateur with a Handicap Index of 1.4 or less.
Local qualifying, which is played over 18 holes at 111 sites in the United States, and one in Canada, is taking place between April 3-May 17. Sectional qualifying will be contested over 36 holes and held in England and at 10 sites throughout the U.S. on Monday, June 4, as well as on May 21 in Japan.
Founded in 1922, the WSGA is a 501c4 non-profit, amateur golf association governed by men and women volunteers. Serving over 68,000 individual members at more than 550 member golf clubs and 270 golf courses throughout the state of Washington and Northern Idaho, the WSGA works to continually expand the game of golf to people of all backgrounds.
The WSGA also serves as a statewide representative of the USGA and works closely with a number of allied associations within the golf industry for the betterment of the game.
