Solid starts for Pumariega, Peel, McCarthy in Wisconsin
George Washington senior Andres Pumariega and Billy Peel of Potomac, a senior at Eastern Kentucky, shot even-par 70 in the opening round of the U.S. Amateur, Monday in Wisconsin and look to continue their solid play on Tuesday as they attempt to qualify for match play in the 111th annual event.
Both Pumariega of Miami, Fla., who made GW history in the spring with victories in three straight events, and Peel, a member at Columbia Country Club who is playing in his first USGA event, opened at Blue Mound Golf & Country Club. They will play tougher Erin Hills on Tuesday.
Pumariega and Peel are in a logjam of 33 players tied for 62nd place at even par. The top 64 in the field of 312 will advance to match play on Wednesday at Erin Hills.
Playing Erin Hills on Monday was Denny McCarthy, a freshman this fall at Virginia, who shot a 1-over 73. McCarthy, who is in the Amateur for the third straight year, will play Blue Mound on Tuesday.
Of the 61 players who broke par on Monday, 37 played at Blue Mound (par 70), while 24 played at Erin Hills (par 72).
Also in solid position are William & Mary junior Jeremy Wells of Hopewell, who shot a 3-under 69 at Erin Hills, Virginia Tech sophomore Bryce Chalkley of Richmond, Va., who shot a 1-over 71 at Blue Mound, and recent Virginia grad Will Collins of Salisbury, N.C., who shot 72 at Erin Hills.
Among those with plenty of work to do on Tuesday are Ryan Rettberg of Front Royal, a freshman at Radford, Brad Miller of Timonium, a senior at Richmond, and highly-touted Evan Beck of Virginia Beach, a junior at Wake Forest. All shot 75 at Blue Mound. Nick Austin of Midlothian, a junior at Richmond, shot 74 at Blue Mound.
In his first trip to the Amateur, Rusty Pies of Potomac, a member at Bethesda Country Club, shot a 76 at Erin Hills.
Other players of note in the Amateur include Oklahoma State junior Peter Uihlein (68/EH), the defending Amateur champion; Stanford junior David Chung (69/BM), last year’s Amateur runner up; recent Georgia graduates Russell Henley (66/BM) and Harris English (73/EH), who won Nationwide Tour events this year; California high schooler Beau Hossler (69/EH), who qualified for the U.S. Open at Congressional; two-time U.S. Junior Am champion Jordan Spieth (68/BM); UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay (71/EH), who made a splash this summer on the PGA Tour; and NCAA champions John Peterson (68/BM) of LSU and Scott Langley (74/EH) of Illinois.
