Kline Fires 69 at Minneapolis Golf Club; Four Others Advance to U.S. Open Sectional

By Nick Hunter
nhunter@mngolf.org


  ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. – Only a couple weeks removed from finishing his collegiate career at Grand Canyon University, Minnesotan Alexander Kline fired a 3-under par 69 Monday in his first event as a professional amid tough conditions at the Minneapolis Golf Club to advance with four others to the next stage of qualifying for the 2016 U.S. Open.

Kline, Ramsey, Minn., rallied behind a pair of early birdies in the wet and windy conditions before falling back to 1-under with a bogey at the par-4 eighth. Kline found trouble off the tee at the ninth and punched over the green before making a spectacular up-and-down to remain at 1-under.

Moving to 2-under after rolling in his birdie chance at the 12th, Kline holed his third shot from the bunker for birdie to get to 3-under. Taking advantage of the final par-5 on the course, Kline sank his birdie chance at the 15th before taking a bogey at the 16th to finish on top of the leaderboard Monday at 3-under par 69.

“I got off to a good start, birdied one and three—the par-5s. I didn’t really hit it that great but I hung in there. My short game was working overtime, but on a day with these conditions, you kind of need that,” he said. “I got a couple lucky bounces, kept everything in front of me and made a couple putts. The greens were quick and tough and the rough is long and thick.

“I just got out of college and our conference tournament was last week. I was hitting it good but I was putting terribly. I neglected my long game a bit and worked on my putting. I played yesterday and didn’t hit it that great so I wasn’t expecting to shoot 69—I thought 72 would get it done.”

Kline, who played his high school golf at Elk River, says he plans to play in local events this summer as well as a few events on the Dakotas Tour.

Former University of Minnesota golfer Cameron White’s round of 1-under par 71 was enough to earn a spot in the sectional qualifier from the field of 78 Monday at Minneapolis Golf Club.

“I played really steady and tried to let everything come to me. I finished bogey-bogey in the rain, but I hit good shots,” White said following his round Monday. “I hit it good all day, it just took a little while to get it going.”

White, Plymouth, Minn., rolled in eight consecutive pars before driving the green at the 406-yard par-5 ninth hole. White would two-putt for birdie to get to 1-under, but would fall back to even after taking bogey at the 14th.

White eagled the 15th and dropped his birdie chance at the 16th to quickly move to 3-under, but bogeyed the final two holes coming in to shoot 1-under par 71.

“My game’s been good; I was down in California all winter so my expectations were high coming in,” he said.

Brian Hills, a professional from Buffalo, Minn., began on the back nine Monday had a dream start to the qualifier with two early birdies at 10 and 12, tap-in birdies at 13 and 14 before draining a 40-foot birdie at the 16th to turn at 5-under par.

But Hills wouldn’t fare quite as well on the final nine, carding a double-bogey at the second before back-to-back bogeys at the fifth and sixth holes. He finished the day after a third bogey at the eighth to card and even par 72.

“I played better on my front nine than on my back nine, certainly. I had some well-hit shots and hit a couple close ones where I didn’t have to make much of a putt and didn’t make any mistakes. The front kind of flipped that—the rain came and I hit some squirrely shots. The weather played a factor but there was some misjudgment on my part.

“I felt comfortable throughout and didn’t have a stretch where I bogeyed a lot. I played really well and hit the ball well. I just had a couple of spots on the back where I didn’t get up-and-down.

Michigan professional Jay Jurecic claimed the fourth qualifying spot Monday as he began his round on the back nine, turning at 1-over with a lone bogey coming at the 13th.

Jurecic traded a birdie on the first hole with a bogey on the second before doing the same at the seventh and eighth holes to remain even on his back nine, shooting 1-over par 73.

Current Gopher teammates William Leaf and Jose Mendez both finished the round at 2-over par 74 Monday, needing a playoff to determine the final qualifying position with Leaf prevailing as Mendez finished as the first alternate. Drew Engelking, Edina, Minn., carded a 3-over par 75 and finished as second alternate.