College Teammates Advance in First Week of Local Qualifying

The first week of U.S. Open local qualifying has come and gone with 11 hopefuls advancing to 36-hole final qualifying. Only two qualifiers were held this past week – Deerwood Club in Kingwood, Texas (suburban Houston) and Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club.

In Texas, a pair of Sam Houston State players – Ting-Wei Hsieh, of Chinese Taipei, and Gene Chaikangwal, of Thailand – moved on, the former sharing medalist honors with veteran professional Rafael Campos, of Puerto Rico. Hsieh lost in the Round of 64 to Parker Coody in the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club.

Texas A&M graduate Matthew Van Zandt, who recently worked as a minister mentoring Houston-area college players through the College Golf Fellowship, advanced for the first time since 2016. The 37-year-old career amateur qualified for the first two U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships (2015-16) and competed in the 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur and 2013 U.S. Amateur. He helped the Aggies win an NCAA title in 2009.

In Charlotte, Hampton Roberts, a 17-year-old from Cary, N.C., who signed to play for the University of North Carolina in November and advanced to the Round of 32 in the 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur, carded a 5-under 66 to earn medalist honors.

Local qualifying picks up steam next week with nine sites on April 24, four more on April 25, three on April 26 and four on April 27.