Recent I.U. grad Shepherd wins U.S. Open qualifier; ND's Mullen earns spot from playoff

SOUTH BEND — By the time the playoffs for four additional qualifying spots and two alternates from the local qualifying round for the United States Open concluded at Morris Park Country Club Monday, medalist Ethan Shepherd was probably in his car somewhere around Kokomo headed home to Greenwood, Ind.

The 23-year-old Shepherd, who received his degree from Indiana University last Friday, birdied five on his last 10 holes after starting three-over on his first six for a two-under-par 68 at the windswept 6,623-yard Morris Park, which celebrates its 100th birthday next year.

Two massive shots with his driver — a 252-yard shot off the fairway on the par-5, 528-yard 18th hole and driving the par-4, 304-yard second green — resulted in two birdies which helped Shepherd overcome a double-bogey 6 on the 437-yard 12th hole which played into 25-mile-an-hour winds from the south and southeast and a bogey at the 196-yard, par-3 15th.

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“I’m probably one of the shorter players in the field; I hit it (average) about 265 (yards),” said the 6-foot, 140-pound (“soaking wet”) Shepherd, who then added three more birdies at the par-3, 170-yard fourth (an 8-iron to five feet), the par-4, 419-yard seventh (a 6-iron to the front of the green and 50-foot birdie “bomb”) and the par-4, 372-yard eighth (a 60-degree wedge approach to six feet).

“Even after the birdie (at 18), I knew I had to make a bunch of birdies to have a chance,” added Shepherd, who is hoping to be placed in the Springfield, Ohio, sectional which takes place a day after Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament concludes in Dublin, Ohio, about 60 miles northeast. That site likely will see many PGA Tour players coming from Muirfield Village. “I know I still have a lot of work to do to get out of Springfield, but it would be unbelievable to get to Brookline.”

Shepherd’s back-nine comeback on Morris Park’s front side concluded a round which was two strokes better than eight other golfers who fashioned even-par 70s and then spent almost two hours deciding the four other golfers who will join Shepherd in 36-hole sectional qualifiers around the United States and Canada on Monday, June 6.

At stake for them in the sectional qualifying sites are spots in the 156-player field for the 122nd U.S. Open which will be played June 16-19 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

It took 32-year-old professional and two-time Indiana Open champion Michael Davan of Zionsville and Purdue sophomore Herman Wibe Sekne of Norway two holes to earn their qualifying spots, Nos. 2 and 3.

It then took 18-year-old Notre Dame freshman Owen Mullen of Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada, and 20-year-old Ball State redshirt sophomore Griffin Hare of Tipton, Ind., two more holes – or four total – to earn the fourth and fifth qualifying spots out of Morris Park. Alternate spots in the playoffs went to 29-year-old professional Rick Palonis of Manhattan, Illinois, and 23-year-old Northwestern senior David Nyfjall of Uppsala, Sweden.

The 6-foot-4 Mullen, who picked golf over hockey after secondary school in Canada, plays for Canadian native John Handrigan, the coach of No. 15 Notre Dame’s team, the No. 3 seed in Palm Beach Gardens (Florida) regional May 15-18. Like Shepherd, Mullen started his round on Morris Park’s back nine and birdied No. 10. He also birdied the par-4 eighth to offset bogeys at Nos. 14 and 7.

But in the two holes used in the playoffs – the 13th and 18th – Mullen made four pars, including a nifty up-and-down from a plugged lie inside the hazard line of the pond guarding the 18th hole. Mullen wedged the ball away from the green onto the 13th tee and then pitched a 30-yard chip to within five feet and sank the putt for par to continue in the playoff. When he holed a short putt for par at 18 on his second trip, he was congratulated by teammate Andrew O’Leary.

“I didn’t have any shot toward the pin,” Mullen said. “My option was to take a drop in front of the hazard or do what I did. A lot of people probably wouldn’t have thought of that. I thought it was the best chance for me to make par.”

Mullen’s 36-hole sectional qualifier will be at RattleSnake Point Golf Club in Milton, Ontario June 6.

U.S. OPEN LOCAL QUALIFIER

SOUTH BEND – Results from Monday’s local qualifying round at the par-70, 6,623-yard Morris Park Country Club for the 122nd United States Open golf championship which will be played June 16-19 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Monday’s qualifiers and alternates move into 36-hole sectional qualifiers June 6 at sites around the United States and Canada:

Qualifiers

68 (-2): Ethan Shepherd 31-37

70 (E): b-Michael Davan 36-34, b-Herman Wibe Sekne (34-36), c-Griffin Hare 36-34, c-Owen Mullen 35-35

b-birdied the second hole of playoff (the par-5, 528-yard 18th) to earn qualifying spots 2 and 3

c-parred the fourth hole of playoff (the par-5, 528-yard 18th) to earn qualifying spots 4 and 5

Alternates

70 (E): d-Rick Palonis 37-33, e-David Dyfjall 34-36

d-bogeyed the fourth hole of playoff (the par-5, 528-yard 18th) to earn first alternate spot

e-parred the fourth hole of playoff (the par-5, 528-yard 18th) to earn second alternate spot

Did not qualify

70 (E): f-Michael Sharp 36-34, g-Matthew Meneghetti 35-35

f-double bogeyed the fourth hole of playoff (the par-5, 528-yard 18th)

g-double bogeyed the first hole of playoff (the par-4, 420-yard 13th)

71 (+1): Cole Bradley 33-38, Mitch Davis 35-36, Raymond Knoll 36-35, Wyatt Laekin 34-37, Brenden O’Reilly 36-35, Craig Isabel 37-34

72 (+2): Evan McDermott 38-34, Joe Hooks 36-36, Mitchell Lamping 38-34, Alex Bishop 36-36, Ray Filter 37-35, Nick Bienz 38-34, Brooks Snyder 36-36

73 (+3): Jack Musgrave 36-37, Justin Pahl 38-35, Thomas Pechin 36-37, Brad McFadden 38-35, Chris Schultz 34-39, Clay Merchant 37-36, Orlando Merced 35-38, Angelo Marcon 37-36

74 (+4): Casey Magner 37-37, Zack Carrabine 40-34, Peyton Snoeberger 36-38, Cal Hoskins 38-36, Aiden Gutierrez 37-37

75 (+5): Spencer Mortola 39-36, Brayden Miller 40-35, Andrew Stineman 38-37, Colin Nasser 35-40, Tate Heintzelman 38-37, Nicholas Feinberg 38-37, Alec Cramer 39-36, Ben Sluzas 37-38, Bruce Knutson 39-36, Mike King 36-39

76 (+6): Gareth Lappin 37-39, Patrick Kelly 40-36, Yianni Kostouros 36-40, Alec Dutkowski 39-37

77 (+7): Luke Prall 37-40, Andrew White 36-41, Patrick Mudd 38-39, Nicholas Grubnich 37-40, Owen Sander 39-38

78 (+8): Jacob Howes 37-41

79 (+9): Evan Bone 39-40, Benjamin Thieman 40-39, Eric Eberts 39-40

80 (+10): Jon Jozefowski 42-38

81 (+11): Ziembo Zack 40-41

82 (+12): Keith Aaron Pasqualone III 44-38, Shoji Fujita 43-39

83 (+13): Kevin Cunningham 42-41

84 (+14): Sam Dales 42-42

85 (+15): Jack Marshall 41-44, Robert Pruzin 42-43,

86 (+16): Bo Smith 43-43

87 (+17): Nicholas Knowlton 42-45

89 (+19): Anthony Paino 44-45

WD: Keith Pasqualone, Eric Berggren, Kash Bellar, Patrick Seymour, Brian Maurer, Julian Thompson

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: I.U. grad Shepherd wins U.S. Open qualifier; ND's Mullen earns spot