Kuehne Leads Trio to U.S. Senior Open
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (May 21, 2024) - Trip Kuehne of Southlake, Texas topped the leaderboard at the 44th U.S. Senior Open Championship Qualifier at Metropolis Country Club shooting a 2-over 72 to earn medalist honors.
Frank Bensel of Jupiter Florida and Michael Muehr of Bonita Springs both earned a spot to Newport Country Club after prevailing in a four-man playoff.
Kuehne maintained a consistent performance throughout his round. He started the day strong with a birdie on the par-4 second. He added another birdie on the seventh, finishing the front nine at 1- under par. However, the back nine proved challenging for him along with the rest of the field as he carded three bogeys, resulting in a back nine score of 38. His score at 2-over par would hold throughout the day as no-one could chase him down on a course that played tough.
Muehr had a quiet start to the day shooting 2-over on the front nine for an opening 37. He would make the turn and make birdie on the long par 4, 10th. He would give a couple shots back coming in to finish with a 73. This was good enough to get him into the playoff where he would punch his ticket on the second playoff hole.
“It’s such a fantastic golf course. But, I did play blind. The greens were really challenging. The 10, 12 footers, I usually just jam them in. You’ve got to be really careful around,” said Muehr.
Bensel started on the 10th where he would make a birdie but would hit a rough patch on the nine with several bogies. He would find another birdie, making one on seventeen to close out his first nine. He made the turn in contention at 2-over but would drop several shots on the second and fourth holes. He would have a strong finish birdieing 5 and 7 to earn his spot in the playoff.
“In the playoff going down 10, I had birdied it this morning, and wanted to do the same thing. The wind was a little different, I just tried to hit an easy three wood, everyone went a little to far, and had the tree to deal with, but made par.”
The second and final playoff hole was played on the eighth.
“Eight is a really tough hole, because you need to hit it right to left off the tee and hit great wedge shot so it was an easy par.”
The two alternates will be Dan Keogh of Canada and Charlie Bolling of Glen Cove, New York. Keogh of Canada is the first alternate and Bolling is the second.
The 44th U.S. Senior Open will take place from June 27-30 at Newport Country Club.