Headline: Three Players Advance During International Showdown at U.S. Amateur Qualifying Hosted at Wahconah Country Club
For Immediate Release: August 3, 2009
Dalton, MA —It was an international affair in Dalton on Monday as golfers from all across North America traveled to Wahconah Country Club to take part in U.S. Amateur Qualifying.
The ultimate prize… a trip to the 2009 U.S. Amateur Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Only the top three scorers from today's 36-hole competition earned the right to compete in one of the most prestigious USGA Championships later this month.
Click here for results from Wahconah Country Club
Highlighting the field of three qualifiers was Richard Werenski (South Hadley, MA) who finished with a two-round total of 2-under par 140. Werenski, who plays out of The Orchards Golf Club and is a junior at Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy, came through with an impressive 2-under par 69 during the afternoon round to secure a spot in the three-for-two playoff. In that playoff, Werenski – along with Jean-Philippe Paiement (Mont-Laurier, QC) – claimed the final two qualifying spots over nine-time Richard D. Haskell MGA Player of the Year and the 2009 Massachusetts Amateur Championship Runner Up Frank Vana, Jr. (Shrewsbury, MA).
Werenski is no stranger to national competition as he has been ranked in the top 30 juniors in the world in all three of the junior golf rating systems for the class of 2010. He also recently accepted a verbal offer to compete for Georgia Tech in 2010.
Finishing just one stroke ahead of Werenski and Paiement was Robert Burrow (Charlotte, NC), a sophomore at Rice University.
One year ago, Burrow failed to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship by just one stroke. This time around, Burrow used a 5-under par 66 morning score to propel him to the top spot which he would not relinquish. Although his afternoon round of 2-over par 73 was not up to par with his morning effort, it still proved enough to claim medalist honors and secure a spot at Southern Hills Country Club.
Burrow will bring an impressive collegiate resume with him to Tulsa as he was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Golf Team and selected to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll. He also posted a 66 for the Owls during this past season which matched the second-lowest score at Rice since 1985.
For more information about the U.S. Amateur Championship, please visit the official site at www.2009usamateur.org.
U.S. Amateur Qualifying
Monday, August 03, 2009
Wahconah Country Club (Dalton, MA)
Par 142 (71-71)
Qualifiers
1) Robert Burrow (Charlotte, MA) 66-73--139
T2) Richard Werenski (South Hadley, MA) 71-69--140
T2) Jean-Philippe Paiement (Mont-Laurier, QC) 66-74--140
Alternates
1st) Frank Vana, Jr. (Shrewsbury, MA) 70-70--140
2nd) James Core (Beaconsfield, QC) 70-71--141
The photo featured on the home page was courtesy of the Southeast Missourian and the AJGA.