ALLAMUCHY, N.J. (May 17, 2016) – Seven players advanced through Tuesday’s U.S. Open Local Qualifying Round at Panther Valley Golf & Country Club.  Pat Wilson of Andover, N.J., and amateur Ryan Snouffer of Sparta, N.J. led the 120-man field with rounds of 4-under 67. The qualifiers will compete in the Sectional Qualifying Round at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., on June 6 for a coveted spot in this year’s national championship.

Related: Results

Wilson carded five birdies and one bogey en route to the early morning lead, putting his familiarity with the course to good use. “I was proud of how I managed my way around the golf course,” Wilson said following his round. “It was using a lot of local knowledge having grown up playing here. I hit 16 greens, so you’re probably not going to get into much trouble doing that. The only bogey I made was a three-putt, so the two times I missed the green I got up and down. That made it a pretty easy day.”

Wilson was admittedly fueled by his experience from 2016, as he advanced through qualifying to compete in the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

Snouffer, a rising senior on Seton Hall University’s golf team and runner up in the 2015 MGA Player of the Year race, birdied three of the first seven holes to jump start his round. He added two more birdies on his inward nine, making his lone bogeys during the round on Nos. 9 and 14.

William Hook of Hawthorne, N.J. used a streak of five consecutive front nine birdies to shoot a 2-under 69 and secure a tee time at Canoe Brook. Robert Linepensel of Washington, N.J., birdied the 18^th hole to also post a 2-under 69 while Matthew Dubrowski of Bergenfield, N.J., and amateur Trevor Randolph of Franklin Lakes, N.J., shot rounds of 70 to round out the players under par.

Amateur James Mongey of Morristown, N.J., a rising junior at Fordham University, claimed the final qualifying spot with a rollercoaster even-par 71 that included six birdies.

A playoff was needed to determine the first and second alternates, with Andrew Ferrell of Greenwich, Conn., edging out Andrew Giuliani of New York, N.Y., with a par on the fourth playoff hole. Giuliani has begun the process of being reinstated as an amateur.

A par 71 setup, Panther Valley played a challenging 6,742 yards in breezy conditions. 

Today’s round marked the end of the MGA’s 2016 U.S. Open Local Qualifying series. The MGA conducted Local Qualifying at five sites across the Met Area.