Headline: Bay State Natives Fail to Qualify at U.S. Amateur Sectional Qualifier Held at Crestwood Country Club

For Immediate Release: July 12, 2016

Crestwood Country Club

Rehoboth, MA — On Tuesday, Massachusetts natives Kevin Silva (New Bedford, Mass.) and Ryan Pelletier (Mansfield, Mass) both shot a combined 140 in 36 holes of play to advance to a playoff for the second alternate spot at Crestwood Country Club, the site of the sectional qualifier for the playing of the 116th US Amateur Championship, scheduled for August 15-21 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

At the end of the day however, it was University of Kansas golfer Drake Hull (West Rutland, Vt.), who too shot 140 after scores of 69 and 71on the afternoon that took the second alternate spot after edging out Silva on the fourth hole of the playoff. The two had matching scorecards on each of the first three holes in the sudden death playoff after Pelletier was knocked out following the first playoff hole.

Silva, who lasted the longest of the 29 Massachusetts competing for the two alternate spots, finished more than 12 hours after first teeing off at 7:48 am Tuesday morning.

He shot a 3-under par 68 after 18 and was only behind eventual low amateur Eric Banks (Truro, NS) at the break but a 1-over par 72 performance combined with second half improvements by several other golfers pushed the former professional Silva who regained amateur status in 2013 back to T4 on the leaderboard and into the needed playoff for second alternate.

Pelletier, on the other hand, fired seven birdies and made par on an additional 24 holes to shoot 1-under par 70 in each round to finish at 140 himself. On the first hole of the three man playoff, he finished two strokes above his two fellow competitors to bow out.

Banks, a Canadian product who graduated from the University of Florida in 2015, ended his day as low amateur, finishing at 5-under par 137 to take the top spot and earn placement in the US Amateur next month. Such was the case for Will Dickson, a rising senior at Moses Brown, a preparatory school in Providence, Rhode Island who carded a 3-under par 68 after the a 1-under performance in the first half of the day to finish at 4-under 138 on the day. He has committed to play at Georgia Tech beginning in Fall 2017.

Brad Valois (Warwick, RI) finished at 70-69-139 and earned the first alternate spot.  

The MGA will be involved with two other US Amateur qualifiers in the coming weeks. On July 19, a qualifier will be held in Western Mass. at The Orchards GC, where three qualifying and two alternate spots will be up for grabs before Boston’s George Wright GC plays host to a qualifier on July 26.