BEDFORD —
For Andrew Bailey, attempting to qualify for the 59th Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament for Champions was a no-brainer.
“I was looking for some summer tournaments,” said Bailey, of Cleveland. “It’s a major of amateur golf.”
The decision paid off, as Bailey, a junior at Cleveland State, carded a 2-under par 70 with six birdies during Monday’s qualifying round at Bedford Springs.
Bailey will join three others in this week’s Amateur, which begins Thursday at Sunnehanna Country Club and will have a field of 78 players.
The low round of the day was a 3-under 69 by Cory Seigfried of Villanova.
Gregor Orlando of Erie and Jay Pinkos of Clifton, Va., joined Bailey at 70.
“I left a couple out there,” Bailey said. “With the pin placements, I was left with some tricky putts. I had three three-putts, but besides that I hit it well.
“The course was awesome. I love it. It’s not really long, but it makes you think.”
This was the second straight year that Bedford Springs hosted the qualifier, and Denny Wharton, co-chairman of the Amateur, was pleased with the turnout, which approached 60 and included players from Louisiana, Nebraska, Maryland, Ohio and Virginia as well as several from the Greater Johnstown area.
“The quality of the field was very strong,” Wharton said.
“We talked about (having a qualifier) for a while. We were the last holdout of the major amateurs without a qualifier. We are happy to be over here. The course is in spectacular shape and the greens are perfect.”
For a while, it appeared as if University of Maryland teammates Sean Bosdosh of Frederick, Md., and Ben Warnquist of Rockville, Md., would both be in the field for this week’s Amateur.
Warnquist was the first player to come off the course at par or better with his round of even par 72, which included 16 pars, one birdie and one bogey.
“I played really solid. Hit a lot of fairways and greens,” he said. “I played a practice round (Sunday). It’s a really nice course.
“I got in late. I looked at my schedule and didn’t have anything. I was playing well and wanted to give it a shot.”
Bosdosh was the first player to come in under par with a 1-under 71.
“I didn’t make any putts,” he said. “I had 2 bogeys and three tap-in birdies.
“I just tried to hit fairways and greens and take as much pressure off me as possible.”
Ron Leporati, head golf professional at Bedford Springs, hopes to be able to continue the association with Sunnehanna and the Amateur.
“We are honored to partner with Sunnehanna Country Club in hosting the qualifier for the Sunnehanna Amateur,” he said.
“We have tremendous respect for the event as well as the membership of Sunnehanna Country Club. We appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this event and look forward to a long standing relationship with Sunnehanna and the Johnstown community.”
“Last year, we hosted 49 participants in the qualifier and this year it has grown to 58. I expect the number (of participants) to increase to 70 or 72 next year as this opportunity seems to be gaining momentum among the top golfers in the country.”
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Bedford tournament fills field for Sunnehanna
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