Clarkston native Joel Dahmen finishes strong to earn U.S. Open spot
Jun. 7—Monday's 36-hole final qualifying stage for the U.S. Open is known as golf's longest day.
That was a good thing for Clarkston native Joel Dahmen, who came through late on the second nine of his second round to earn a spot in the U.S. Open for the third time in his career.
Dahmen made birdies on his 33rd, 34th and 35th holes to polish off a 5-under 66 at Wedgewood Golf and Country Club in Powell, Ohio. That boosted Dahmen to 6 under overall after a rollercoaster 1-under 71 earlier at nearby Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club.
Dahmen, who started his second round on the back side, turned in 2-under 33 to move inside the top 20 in a 106-player field battling for 13 spots. After pars on the next five holes, he birdied the par-5 sixth, par-4 seventh and par-3 eighth.
And then he waited. He was in solid position, but a weather delay forced dozens of players to finish before darkness fell Monday night. Dahmen ended up in a four-way tie for ninth with PGA Tour players Patrick Rodgers, Wyndham Clark and Andrew Putnam.
Hayden Buckley won a five-man playoff Tuesday morning for the last qualifying spot for the U.S. Open, which will be June 16-19 at The Country Club in Brookline, near Boston.
Numerous PGA players were in the field in Powell and in the Springfield, Ohio, with both sites close to Muirfield Village, where the Memorial Tournament wrapped up Sunday.
Dahmen's opening round included five birdies, one eagle, three bogeys and one triple bogey.
Dahmen, who missed the cut in his two previous U.S. Opens, took to Twitter on Tuesday morning, hoping to line up accommodations: "Hey Tweeps! I qualified for the US Open yesterday and could use some help with possible housing. Dream scenario would be a 3-bedroom house."
Dahmen finished tied for 32nd at the Memorial. He's No. 73 in the FedEx Cup standings and No. 76 on the money list with $1.275 million.
Dahmen wasn't the only player with area connections to qualify for the U.S. Open. Brady Calkins, who played at Community Colleges of Spokane in 2014 and was named to the NWAC All-Decade team (2010-19), tied for first with Isaiah Salinda at 8-under at Pronghorn Resort in Bend, Oregon.
Calkins, 27, shot a pair of 68s to claim one of the three berths in the field of 65.
"It's a dream come true," Calkins told NBC Golf. "I've been a pro since I was 19. This is my first time getting through something like this, so I'm pretty excited."
The Chehalis, Washington, native, finished first on the Dakotas Tour money list in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Jared du Toit, who played two seasons at Idaho before finishing up at Arizona State, shot 7-under at RattleSnake Point in Ontario, narrowly missing one of three spots in a 25-player field. The Canadian native finished tied for fourth.
Former Washington State Cougar Max Sekulic came up short in his qualifying bid May 23, shooting 70 at Royal Oaks Country Club and 69 at Lakewood C.C. in Dallas to finish at 3-under 139.
Sekulic made his pro debut last week at a PGA Tour Canada event. The Canadian native will play in his first PGA Tour tournament this week at the RBC Canadian Open.
Mead's Mularski qualifies for Junior AmateurMead High senior Taylor Mularski won a two-hole playoff Monday over Angela Zhang to secure a qualifying spot for the U.S. Girls' Junior Amateur.
Mularski shot a 2-over 74 at Inglewood Golf Club in Kenmore, Washington. She played the final 10 holes in 2 under. Canada's Vanessa Zhang (71) took first and Redmond's Nicole Kato (72) was second in a 35-player field.
Mularski will be one of 156 competitors July 18-23 at the U.S. Girls' Junior Amateur at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Rose Zhang, No. 1 in the world amateur rankings, won the 2021 U.S. Girls' Junior Amateur.
