Burtonsville’s Denny McCarthy is off to a strong start in the U.S. Amateur. Firing a 1-under-par 71 in the opening round of stroke play, McCarthy is tied for 15th in a field of 312 and is in solid position to make the first round of match play, but first he must take on the brutal Chambers Bay course off the Puget Sound near Tacoma. The field will be cut to 64 after Tuesday’s second round.
Playing Monday at the Home Course in nearby Dupont, McCarthy, a senior at Georgetown Prep, never strayed more than a stroke from par on Monday, making three birdies and two bogeys. The Home Course plays to 7,420 yards, with a 76.3 rating and a 131 slope. On Tuesday, McCarthy tackles treeless, monstrous Chambers Bay (7,742 yards/78.6 rating/138 slope), the longest course in USGA history, and a par 71 to boot. The Robert Trent Jones design will host the 2015 U.S. Open.
Other Washington-area players in good position after the first round are LaPlata’s Brent Martin (72/Chambers Bay), a former standout at Winthrop University, and Crofton’s Josh Eure (73/Home Course), a sophomore at Arkansas.
Among those with lots of work to do on Tuesday are Centreville’s Craig Groenedaal (78/HC), Reston’s Michael Muehr (80/CB), Brookeville’s Matt Brown (80/CB), Baltimore’s Chris Baloga (82/CB), and Silver Spring’s Mike Mulieri (84/CB).
University of Virginia golf coach Bowen Sargent (81/CB), playing in the Amateur for the first time since 1991, struggled, but Cavalier senior Amory Davis (70/HC) of Chadds Ford, Pa. is tied for 11th.
The best score was turned in by 47-year-old Jeff Wilson of Fairfield, Calif., who fired a 62 at the Home Course, six strokes better than anyone in the field. The score was the second best in the 110-year history of the U.S. Am and included back-to-back eagles on his last two holes, including a hole-out from 132 yards on the par-four 9th. Wilson has played in four U.S. Opens and was the low amateur in 2000.
Defending champion Byeong-Hun An of Korea, who became the youngest winner in U.S. Am history (17 years, 11 months, 13 days), shot 70 at the Home Course on Monday. He is bidding to become the first repeat winner since Tiger Woods (1994-96). Afterward, An begins his freshman year at California.
Other notables in the field include Ben Hogan award winner Nick Taylor (69/HC), 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Jordan Spieth (72/HC) of Dallas, British Amateur champion Jin Jeong (74/HC) of Korea, NCAA champion Scott Langley (74/HC) of St. Louis, and 2010 U.S. Junior Amateur winner, 14-year-old Jim Liu (74/HC) of Smithtown, N.Y, and 2010 Junior Am runner-up, Justin Thomas (71/HC) of Goshen, Ky.
McCarthy’s performance was more impressive considering the play of some other outstanding juniors. Bobby Wyatt, 17, of Mobile, Ala., who made news last month when he shot a 57 in the Alabama Junior, shot 80 at Chambers Bay. Gavin Hall of Pittsford, N.Y., who made a splash with a record 62 at the U.S. Junior Am, shot an 88 at Chambers Bay to tie for 301st.
The Golf Channel will begin coverage on Wednesday. NBC takes over the semifinals (Saturday) and finals (Sunday).
