Southern Nevada golfers come up empty in U.S. Open qualifiers

The longest day in golf was anything but kind to Southern Nevada golfers on Monday.

None of the region’s 13 players were able to get through 36 holes of qualifying at 10 locations to secure a spot in next week’s national championship, but there were a couple of close calls.

Kurt Kitayama finished in a four-way tie for the final spot at a qualifier in Springfield, Ohio, but Zac Blair grabbed it with a 3-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole. Kitayama ended up as second alternate from the qualifier.

At York, Ontario, Harry Hall shot consecutive 68s at Lambton Golf Club to tie for 10th, but only the top seven finishers punched a ticket to Oakmont and the U.S. Open.

There was no such drama for other Southern Nevada players across the country. Among those failing to get through were David Lipsky in Springfield; Seamus Power, Rico Hoey and former UNLV player Garrick Higgo in York; Taylor Montgomery and Jhared Hack in Valencia, California; Joseph Bramlett, Isaiah Salinda, Danny Lee and prep standout Drake Harvey in Rockville, Maryland; and UNLV junior Wyatt Plattner in West Palm Beach, Florida.

There was a glimmer of success in qualifiers for the U.S. Senior Open, however, when Henderson’s Craig Barlow was co-medalist at a qualifier in Fair Oaks, California. The former PGA Tour player and current elite instructor finished at 5 under to punch his ticket to the U.S. Senior Open at the Broadmoor Club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the end of the month.

Bob May and Eric Meeks failed to get through in Fair Oaks, as did Brian Hurlburt in Mesa, Arizona; Brandon Lorain in Bend, Oregon; and Jeff Lemaster in Piqua, Ohio.

Greg Robertson can be reached at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.