Missouri State Amateur Qualifying
The Falls Golf Club, O'Fallon, Missouri
Tuesday, May 27, 2008

111 golfers registered for the local State Amateur Qualifier at the Falls Golf Club on Tuesday for a chance at earning 49 spots at WingHaven Country Club for the Championship in June.  The weather was indicative of the tough spring experienced throughout the Midwest this year providing a difficult test for the competitors.  The challenging playing conditions were evident in the scores as the qualifying score was two strokes above the usual cut line at the Falls.

Early tee times seemed to have a slight advantage as those players were able to play 6 - 9 holes in warmer conditions as a cool front came through around lunch time bringing rain and wind.  But as the scores continued to come in there were still a good number of low scores posted in the afternoon.

Dustin Ashby of O'Fallon, MO posted an early 69 to take the clubhouse lead followed by 69's from Marc Chenot of WingHaven Country Club and Ted Moloney of Fox Run Golf Club.  "I am very happy with how I played today under the circumstances and I am excited to play in my first State Amateur, at my home course," said Chenot after his round.  Brian Kennedy of Chesterfield took medalist honors with a 68, a great score under the tough conditions.  While posting a great score in the qualifier provides confidence heading into the Championship, the real goal of the 90+ players is to make the cut and avoid a playoff which actually happened for one of the first times in recent history.

There were 49 spots available and the cut came in at 77 with exactly 49 players at 77 or better.  A nearly full clubhouse had been anxiously awaiting the cut line and a bunch of players posting early 76's, 77's, 78's and 79's sat around watching each score posted to determine if they were in, were out or would be subject to a playoff.  Tim Cochran, University of Missouri-St. Louis sophomore finished his round at nearly 12:30 and was forced to wait around until 5:00 just to feel comfortable that his 76 would qualify.  "It was nerve racking and extremely boring at the same time.  I was pretty sure that 76, under those conditions would get in, but with over half the field on the golf course, you never know, and it was a little closer than I anticipated," commented Cochran.

Three members of host course WingHaven Country Club qualified for the event, Chenot, Chad Hull and Scott McClellan and each expressed their desire to play well come June 17th.  There were also quite a few players that have played a lot of golf at WingHaven over the years that qualified including former St. Louis Blue, Terry Yake, Bob Trittler, Sam Carlson, Mike Lawton and several current and former UMSL Golfers, Matt Thomas, Matt Rau, Tim Cochran, Denny Reagan and David Archibald that all experienced WingHaven as a home course in the past.

The Missouri State Amateur begins with practice rounds on Monday, June 16th followed by 36-holes of stroke play on June 17th and 18th and then a match play draw culminating with the final match on Sunday, June 22nd.