UPDATED: July 16 - After the first round of stroke-play qualifying, Xander McDonald-Smith is right in the mix of things at the top of the leaderbaord after posting a score of 2-under 68 on Monday, 5 strokes behind the leader.  Ryan Siegler is a few strokes back at 1-over 71, Sean Kelly shot 2-over 72, and Christian Dolan and Chris Yeom are at 4-over 74. John Yu shot 5-over 75 and Jim Dufficey ended up with an 85.

After today's final round of stroke-play qualifying, the low 64 players will move on to six rounds of match play for the remainder of the event.

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ELMSFORD, N.Y. (July 15, 2013) - The 2013 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship begins Monday, July 15 at Laurel Hill Golf Club in Lorton, Va. Seven players are representing the Met Area in the championship field after advancing through sectional qualifying rounds. The starting field of 156 players will be cut to the low 64 scorers after two rounds of stroke-play to advance to the match play portion of the event.

RELATED: LIVE SCORING | Full Championship Site

Xander McDonald-Smith, 20, of Rockaway Park, N.Y., is a frequent MGA competitor and works as an instructor at The First Tee. The Penn State junior took the one qualifying position available at the Penn State Blue Course in State College, Pa., and also qualified for the Met Amateur next month.

Christian Dolan of Islip, N.Y.; John Yu of Fresh Meadows, N.Y.; and Chris Yeom of New Hyde Park, N.Y., qualified at Bethpage Blue last month to send them to Virginia. Yu and Dolan recently played in the Ike Championship, where Yu finished T-10th.

Two players are representing New Jersey after advancing through the qualifier at Hominy Hill in Colts Neck, N.J. Jim Dufficy of Tinton Falls, N.J., and Ryan Siegler of West Windsor, N.J., took the two available spots. Both players qualified for and competed in the Ike, and Siegler just played in the MGA/MetLife Public Links as well.

Sean Kelly,  a junior at South Carolina and a native of State Island, N.Y., was the medalist at a sectional qualifier in Florida. Kelly is fresh off a runner-up finish at the Florida State Amateur Championship. Kelly is also a past Met Junior competitor.

           This is the first U.S. Amateur Public Links conducted at Laurel Hills. The winner is exempt into the 2014 U.S. APL, the next two U.S. Amateurs, and is likely to be invited into the Masters. Earlier this year, the USGA announced that after 2014, they will retire the U.S. Amateur Public Links.