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MEDIA COVERAGE: Charlottesville Daily Progress [icon name="external-link" class="" unprefixed_class=""]
By Chris Lang
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Though Michael Moyers grew up in Stanardsville, about a 40-minute drive from Charlottesville, he never played Farmington Country Club particularly well, even when he was dominating the VSGA junior scene.
That changed Thursday. Moyers, a former Web.com Tour professional, turned one of the first two starting times into a 6-under-par 64 in local qualifying for next month’s U.S. Open championship at Shinnecock Hills. That round earned him medalist honors and one of six spots in sectional qualifying in early June.
Moyers posted seven birdies and one bogey playing in nearly perfect morning conditions. So what’s changed from his junior days, when he struggled to navigate Farmington’s tight layout?
“I haven’t played here competitively, probably, since I was 16,” Moyers said. “So I’ve gotten much longer (off the tee), probably 30 yards longer. So I didn’t have to hit driver. I didn’t have to try to fit it in gaps. I hit hybrids off the tee, so that helped a lot to keep the ball in the fairway.
“I think the best thing I did today was probably my distance control. I wasn’t getting behind the hole all the time, which is very important out here. I just didn’t hit anything out of play, and I made everything inside of 10 feet.”
Put all that together, and Moyers finished four shots clear of anyone else in the 93-player field. Since his one-year stint on the Web.com Tour, Moyers has been working with his father at Greene Hills Club, trying to free his mind from the struggles on the professional circuit. He’s slowly gotten back into playing, and he expects to add to his competitive schedule this summer.
“I had some anxiety issues I needed to tend to,” he said. “I took a year off or so, and it looks like it was a good choice. I had to get my head straight. It was very stressful out there, and I think it took a lot out of me. I lost my focus on what I was playing the game for. I was thinking about money too much and just not enjoying it.”
Professionals nabbed five of the six sectional qualifying spots. Chris O’Neill, John O’Leary, and Alex Simmons each posted bogey-free, 2-under 68s to finish tied for second. Barrett Kelpin and amateur Thomas Walsh returned 1-under 69s to secure the final two qualifying spots.
Amateurs Kelly Chinn (Army Navy CC) and Scott Reisenweaver (Salisbury CC) each shot even-par 70. Chinn is the first alternate out of Thursday’s qualifier; Reisenweaver the second.
O’Neill, who grew up in Glen Allen and was a standout at the University of Michigan, advanced out of the Farmington qualifier for the second straight year. He’ll attempt to advance through sectionals in Ohio next month.
“I think you’ve got to stay away from the big mistakes and play solid, just try to hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens,” O’Neill said. “Shooting 62 doesn’t get you anything. Just playing a good, solid round, I think, is the big thing.”
O’Leary, the director of golf instruction at Trump National Washington D.C., has advanced to sectionals a number of times but is still searching for his first trip to the championship proper.
“I didn’t make a bogey, but I just didn’t make anything (on the greens),” he said.
Simmons, an assistant golf professional at Farmington, was part of the final two groupings and was on No. 5 tee when the skies darkened and the horns blasted, signifying the start of a more than two-hour delay for inclement weather. After the delay, he made his first birdie on No. 7 and added another at No. 15 to get to 2-under. But he said a par on 13 might have been the most important part of his round.
“I made a really good up and down for par there, and that was really big momentum,” Simmons said before heading back to close up Farmington’s pro shop for the day. “I was scrapping for par there on a birdie hole. It ended up saving me.”
Kelpin, a friend of O’Neill’s who recently relocated from Michigan to Richmond, posted his 69 early and sweated the rest of the day as the scores came in. Kelpin rebounded from a stretch of three straight bogeys from holes 12-14 to play his final four holes at 2 under.
“I knew if I kept it together and made a couple coming in, I’d have an outside shot,” Kelpin said. “I ended up having to lay up on the par 5 on 16, which I didn’t want to do, but I had a bad lie off my tee shot. But I hit a nice sand wedge into about a foot, and then I hit it to about 2½ feet on 17. That was really nice to come back and give myself a shot.”
Walsh, who plays at the University of Virginia and on Thursday was named an All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer, was 2 under at the turn but bogeyed two of the first three holes on the inward nine. A birdie on 13 stabilized his round, and he parred the final five holes to return 69 and secure his spot in sectionals.
Chris Lang is the Editor of Virginia Golfer Magazine and Manager, Digital Media for the VSGA.