Headline: Kevin Carey and Joe Walker Are Right at Home at the U.S. Senior Open Sectional Qualifier Held at Dennis Pines Golf Course

For Immediate Release: June 28, 2016

Kevin Carey (top) and Joe Walker.

Dennis, MA — Tuesday’s U.S. Senior Open qualifier at Dennis Pines Golf Course featured 67 golfers from both professional and amateur circles from around the country. However, two local amateurs didn’t have to leave the confines of the Cape, nevertheless their town, as they looked to qualify for the prestigious USGA Championship Proper.

CLICK HERE for highlights from that USGA sectional qualifier.

Amateurs Joe Walker, a resident of Dennis, and Kevin Carey, of South Dennis, both members at the 18-hole public club located on the mid Cape, were right at home Tuesday when they had the opportunity to play their home course, a place that they have won a combined 21 club champion titles.

Playing in front of dozens of fellow members and friends who came out to support them, Walker and Carey say it was an "awesome experience" to be among some of the top senior players in the country vying for the opportunity to take home the Francis Ouimet trophy, given out annually to the top finisher at the U.S. Senior Open.

But unlike club championships or recreational play, the U.S. Senior Open qualifier at Dennis Pines represented a different feel that neither was used to.

“You certainly feel the pressure of the members and there are high expectations," said Walker. "Especially because the members don’t know how good these players are [in the field]. They’re used to seeing Kevin and I and other guys play even par from the back tees, but these guys can shoot nothing. They are such powerful players.”

Despite such a wide variety in the field, playing the home course gave both local members an advantage over those who might have been seeing the course for the first time.

“To have the powerful players who try to play this place blind is very difficult on par 5’s so it is a little bit of an advantage,” said Walker, a three-time Dennis Pines Club Champion.

Carey, who won the Dennis Pines Club Championship a record 18 times, echoed that sentiment, stating, “On your tee shots, there are certain places you can’t hit it and certain places you don’t want to hit it.”

Obviously, both players knowledge of the course played to their advantage, as the duo were among 11 players to shoot a 1-over par 73 and advance to a playoff for first and second alternate positions.

Despite the fact that neither were victorious, both were excited that their own course could be featured in such a noteworthy USGA event.

“It’s great to have all these great players see this course,” said Walker. “It is a very difficult test. I’m glad all these good players are able to see this and now they can go back and tell people to play Dennis Pines if they’re on the Cape.”

Walker was the 2012 MGA Senior Amateur Champion in addition to winning the MGA Mid-Amateur in 1994 and 1995. Both he and Carey have played together in several tournaments throughout the region and together have won the Cape Cod Amateur Tournament a total of nine times.