Former Gopher Bell Medals, Rolland and Two Others Move on at U.S. Open Local Qualifying

May 21, 2015 | 4 min.


By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  RAMSEY, Minn. – Former and current University of Minnesota golfers seem to have the knack for advancing through the stages of the U.S. Open qualifiers.

Donald Constable and Clayton Rask moved through both local and sectional qualifying before punching a ticket to Pinehurst last year. Current Gopher Grady Meyer fired a 3-under par 69 last week to move on to the next stage of qualifying.

Thursday it was former Gopher Robert Bell’s turn as Bell carded a 3-under par 69 at the Links at Northfork to earn medalist honors while moving on the next round.

“It was a really good day out there and I was putting the ball well. It was windy and required a lot of good shots. I thought it was a really tough golf course today and I was able to control my ball flight and make a few putts,” Bell said.

Bell, Pierz, Minn., got off to a quick start with birdies at the first and third holes before giving back a stroke with a bogey at the fourth. Bell rolled in another pair of birdies at the fifth and seventh to get to 2-under before a four-putt led to a double-bogey on the ninth, as he made the turn at 1-under.

He quickly rebounded by rolling in back-to-back birdies to start the back nine to move to 3-under once again, and after his seventh birdie of the round coming on the par-4 14, Bell was cruising at 4-under. Bell failed to get his par putt to drop on the final hole, but was one of only two players to post a red number in the field of 78 players.

“I expected to play well today,” Bell said following his round Thursday, “I just got through the Canadian Tour [qualifying school] so I had a lot of momentum coming off of the last couple rounds and I’ve been feeling good the last few weeks.

“It was a fun day to be able to go out and do what you want to do. I haven’t been able to make it through [local qualifying] since I started playing in them my junior year of high school, so today was the day that I felt like it was my time to get through.”

Eric Rolland’s 1-under par 71 was good enough to send him to the next round of qualifying Thursday as he took full advantage of having some local knowledge of the course.

“It was fun. I’m fortunate because this is sort of my home away from home—I live nearby and I worked here so I know all the bumps,” Rolland said.

“Today there was a northwest wind which changes this golf course significantly from the way people are accustomed to playing it, so I knew the shots I needed to make.”

Rolland, Rogers, Minn., put together a solid front nine rolling in birdie on the opening hole and chipping in for birdie at the third to quickly get to 2-under as he made par on the following six holes.

He began the back with another birdie to get to 3-under before dropping a shot on the 12th with a bogey. A double-bogey at the 15th put Rolland back at even for the afternoon, but he bounced back with a birdie at the par-4 16th hole and would finish at 1-under.

“I drove the all good and I putted well,” he said. “Fifteen is tough—it’s probably the toughest hole on the course. It’s a narrow dogleg with a sloped green and it was really windy. Fortunately I birdied 16 and parred 17 and 18 from there.”

Despite having a strong Minnesota Section of the PGA and so many good players in the field Thursday, Rolland said his expectations were almost non-existent. Something he learned from a fellow Minnesotan the last time Rolland advanced through local qualifying.

Rolland was supposed to play a practice round with Tim Herron in Chicago before the sectional qualifier in 2012 and after Rolland had played a number of holes, Herron finally came out with his caddie on a golf cart.

“I asked him if he was going to play and he said, ‘nah, I’m just going to look at a couple things,’ and he was so laid back because the sectional is all or nothing. He ended up 11-under for 36 holes to get through, so the point is, you’ve got 80 guys playing for two spots—everything has to be on or you’re not getting through, so there’s really no pressure,” Rolland said.

After carding rounds of even par 72, Ryan Helminen, Menasha, Wis., and Evan Degrazia, Thunder Bay, Ontario, grabbed the final two qualifying spots following a one-hole playoff, while Julian Ramirez and Ben Skogen finished as first as second alternates, respectively.

The 115th U.S. Open will be played June 18-21 at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.

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