Pain after the strain of US Open qualifying is worth it

Steve Elling elaborates on the challenging task that awaits those who make the US Open sectional cut for the qualifying spots.

Beau Hossler briefly led at the US Open two years ago, at age 17, and he was not even the youngest player in the field. Patrick McDermott / Getty Images

One of the great meritocracies in sport took place this week at 10 sites in the US.

The day-long dirge known as US Open sectional qualifying, wherein golfers of presumably sound mind and body sign up for a gruelling regimen that, in the best-case scenario, promises more punishment two weeks later.

It is akin to swimming across a moat, scaling an electrified fence, crawling over razor wire, slamming shut the cell door and ordering bread and water off the prison menu. This year, a record 10,127 golfers signed up for the reverse jailbreak, for the chance to eventually be tortured at the US Open, which brags about being “golf’s toughest major”.

Thank you, sir, may I have another?

The qualifying format lures thousands of entries from all over the world, drawing scratch-handicap amateurs and proven professionals, and the sectionals represent the last step in securing a foothold at one of the game’s majors. The British Open uses largely the same format.

It is both the coolest and cruellest culling process in the game, generating stories that can amaze and inspire. For instance, having made it to the US Open after surviving the qualifying process two years ago, Beau Hossler, then 17, briefly seized the second-round lead at Olympic Club. He was not even the youngest player in the Open field.

This week’s cast of sectional hopefuls included sons of famous golf fathers Johnny Miller, Bob Tway and Fred Funk. Major winners Vijay Singh, David Duval, Mike Weir, David Toms and Lee Janzen signed up.

Four sets of brothers entered, too. All were trying to land one of the 56 qualifying spots in the US Open, which begins next week at Pinehurst No 2 in North Carolina.

Sure, the odds clearly favour the established players.

Tour pros routinely claim the majority of the berths and top collegians, such as Cory Whitsett, a two-time NCAA champion from the University of Alabama who won his qualifier by five shots, mostly gobble up the rest.

Yet, the process seldom fails to provide wonderment, such as Will Grimmer, 17, a high-school player from Ohio who secured one of three spots in his qualifier.

Grimmer shot 59 at the Pinehurst Resort last year during a junior tournament, albeit on a different course than will be used for the Open.

“That 59 got a lot of attention, but this goes down as a much bigger accomplishment, being able to handle the nerves of trying to get into the US Open,” Grimmer said.

Grim and Grimmer? As a reward, he gets to endure it again next week at Pinehurst – and would not want it any other way.

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