Chris Hartenstein qualified for this year’s U.S. Senior Amateur, advancing from the Humble, TX qualifier at The Golf Club of Houston after shooting even par 72. This year’s U.S. Senior Amateur is being held at The Minikahda Club, in Minneapolis, MN. Chris advanced to the match play bracket as the 54th seed, shooting 151 in the 36 hole stroke play qualifying portion of the event. After a Round of 64 concession from his opponent, Chris found himself in the Round of 32 against a familiar name from the San Antonio area: Alan Hill. Alan is no stranger to the USGA stage, making it to the semi-finals of the 2001 U.S. Public Links. Earlier today, Hill defeated Hartenstein 4&3, to end his run at the U.S. Senior Amateur. Well done, Chris and way to represent Austin senior golfers on the national stage. With this finish, Chris moves to #1 on the Senior Rankings here in Austin this season. The complete U.S. Senior Amateur scoring is available on the USGA website.
The upcoming U.S. Mid-Amateur will be played at the Capital City Club, Atlanta, GA on October 7th-12th. Local Austin-area qualifiers for this national event include:
Stephen Paterson
Jonathan Alden
Warren Smith (Lakeway)
Brian Noonan
Another contingent of Austin-area golfers will represent our city very well, in the upcoming Texas Mid-Amateur, to be held September 22-24th at The Club at Comanche Trace, in Kerrville, TX. The list of Austin golfers are:
Stephen Paterson
Josh Swanson
Matt Wernecke
Robert Evans
Tim Hamm
Jonathan Alden
Cameron Bisset
Jack Cardwell
Chris Hartenstein
Jay Reynolds
Robert Sherman
Greg Smith
Josh Luongo (Round Rock)
Mike McClung (Marble Falls)
Tyler Mycoskie (The Hills)
There are only a couple of tournaments left for both Senior and Mid-Amateurs to collect Rudy’s Cup points. Top 8 Mid-Amateurs and top 3 Seniors are automatic selections, while captain Grady Bruce will have 3 captain’s picks to choose from to round out this year’s team. Current rankings have been updated through the U.S. Senior Amateur.
Barret Sandefur was 2-down through 9 holes of his semi-final match with Nathan Shilling, but shot 3-under on the back nine, advancing to the championship match 2&1. In the finals, Barrett continued to get hotter than the August temperature and shot a sizzling 4-under par on his front nine against Jonathan Alden, who earlier closed out Josh Luongo 1-up in their semi-final match. Steady golf for Barrett on the back nine against Alden resulted in a victorious 6&5 victory to claim the inaugural title.
Austin Amateur Golf 