Two First Coast golfers were medalists in qualifying for USGA national championships.
Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach birdied three of his first four holes at the Heathrow Country Club on June 2 and won a U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier with a 7-under-par 64.
Dunham had six birdies and an eagle. He defeated Pavel Tsar of Palm Beach Gardens and Mingbo Jiang of Orlando by one shot.
The U.S. Junior Amateur is July 21-26 at the Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
Ryan Nicholson of Ponte Vedra shot 4-under 32 on the back nine of the Stillwater Golf Club and finished with a 5-under 67 to tie Sam Brown of Bulgaria for medalist in a U.S. Amateur qualifier on June 9. Luke Balaskiewicz of Jacksonville shot 70 to tie for fifth and earn a spot in the Amateur and Cameron Reed of Ponte Vedra is the first alternate with a 71.
The U.S. Amateur is Aug. 11-17 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Club pros earn PGA Section Awards
Five members of the Northern Chapter PGA received awards from the North Florida Section.
Bea Mauricio of the St. Johns Golf Club is the Assistant Professional of the Year; Monique Gesualdi of the St. Johns Golf & Country Club was given the Youth Player Development Award; Nick Nuzzo of the TPC Sawgrass earned the Professional Development Award; Wes Tucker of St. Johns Golf Club received the Bill Strausbaugh Award; and Kimberly Lawlor of the Palm Valley Golf Club received the Player Development Award.
NFJGF sponsors free junior golf days
The North Florida Junior Golf Foundation is hosting seven free junior golf play days at Blue Cypress, Bent Creek Golf Club, Jacksonville Beach Golf Club and the Brentwood Golf Club. They will be held through July 31 with information available at the host clubs or by parents registering their children at nfjg.com.
The Foundation also is hosting 15 junior summer golf camps for kids 8-16. The camp prices vary, but the NFJG Foundation is paying $200 per student.
The camps are at Bent Creek, Deercreek Country Club, Queen’s Harbour Golf Club and St. Johns Golf Club.
Area veterans win in Charlotte
PGA of America member and North Florida Junior Golf Tour executive director Jack Aschenbach and four teammates, all veterans, won the PGA HOPE Secretary’s Cup at the Carmel Country Club. Aschenbach, Don Moore, Felix Rios, Andrew Rameriz and Chris Hundley posted a team score of 7-under 65. … Joe Grippi, Paul Worley, Cole Slater and Sady Campbell won the Jacksonville Area Golf Association Kid-Am at the Jacksonville Beach Golf Club, with a scramble score of 55. Jim Loftin, Jeff Adams, Terry Allen and Morgan Wilkerson won a card match with two other teams after they all shot 59. … Creekside High School graduate and former University of North Florida player Andrew Riley has qualified for the British Amateur at Royal St. George in England June 16-21. He has transferred to North Carolina. … Jason Duff, who has completed his college career at UNF, has joined the pro staff at the San Jose Country Club.
Information from the Northeast Florida Golf News was used in this report.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Phillip Dunham, Ryan Nicholson qualify for USGA national championships at qualifiers
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
