Scoring [icon name="external-link" class="" unprefixed_class=""]
By Arthur Utley
CHESTERFIELD – The third try proved to be the right time for Isaac Simmons (London Downs Golf Course) to qualify for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.
Simmons, a recent graduate from Jefferson Forest High School in Forest bound for Liberty University, fired a 3-under-par 69 in the local qualifier at Lake Chesdin Golf Club on Wednesday to earn the medal and a berth in the 71st edition of the national tournament that will be played July 16-21 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.
Simmons was the only player in the field to break 70. Four players – Kelly Chinn, Drew Brockwell, Caleb Choe and Jack Wall – shot 70 and played off for the two remaining qualifying slots and two alternate spots. Chinn (Army Navy CC) and Brockwell (Golf Club at The Highlands) gained berths on the third playoff hole. Choe (Bayville GC) is the first alternate, and Wall, from New Jersey, is the second alternate.
Simmons missed qualifying the two previous years. He was in solid position midway through the back nine last year at the Country Club of Petersburg but was derailed by a triple bogey.
On Wednesday, he logged five birdies, two bogeys and two pars on the front nine and strung together nine consecutive pars coming home.
“Today on the back I think I was a little more conservative because I knew one bad swing can take you out of it especially late in the round,” Simmons said. “Normally, I’m pretty aggressive. I like to go at the pins. Me and my coach have been working on that…aim more at the center [of the greens].”
Poor putting earlier in the year led Simmons to switch putters, and he picked up some confidence last week when he qualified for the VSGA Amateur Championship and Delta Dental State Open of Virginia.
Qualifying for the U.S. Junior “is something I’ve always wanted to do…I stuck to my game plan, and I did what I came here to do. It’s just nice to know if I trust in myself…I kind of had self-belief today… I think that was the big difference especially doing it during such an important tournament. It made it satisfying,” Simmons said.
This is the second time Brockwell, a St. Christopher’s graduate headed to Virginia Tech, has qualified for the national event. He did it two years ago when he was 15.
“I’m looking forward to it a lot. It’s a great tournament. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Brockwell, who recorded four birdies against two bogeys. His birdie on the 18th hole got him into the playoff. “I remember I was so excited and so nervous at the same time [the first time] and it ended up not being great for me. I was thinking about next hole, next hole, next hole when I should have been thinking about that shot. Now I just need to go up there and hit shot by shot and see what I can do.”
Chinn, 15 and a member of the VHSL Class 6 state champion Langley High golf team who won the 6A individual title as well, entered Wednesday’s qualifier “really motivated and confident that I had a shot at it, and I definitely got that done.”
After three birdies and no bogeys on the outward nine, he had one bogey and eight pars on the back nine.
In the playoff, “the first hole my nerves were almost taking control of me. I stayed calm, took some deep breaths and got it done,” he said.