Downingtown GC's Osberg tops U.S. Amateur Qualifier

  CONCORDVILLE, Pa.-Jeffrey Osberg of Downingtown GC only plays golf when he can, and that usually comes on the weekends.

  That would seem hard to tell as the West Chester, Pa., resident registered a 2-under-par 140 to earn medalist honors at Monday’s USGA Amateur Championship Qualifier at Concord CC (par 71, 6,732 yards) and the Golf Course at Glen Mills (par 71, 6,546 yards). Osberg spends his weekdays in the office working as a CPA for Cetrulo & Morgan in Wilimington, Del.

  “I’m a complete weekend warrior,” he said. “All year I’ve been playing pretty good, and every round I play, I play 16 good holes and two bad ones. This is probably the first two rounds all year that I’ve hung in there and pieced a lot of good golf together.”

  Osberg, 25, has tried to qualify for the USGA Amateur for the past four years. Though he considered the 36-hole qualifier to be “tough” (“I have blisters on my feet,” he said afterward.), Osberg kept it steady. He stood at even par entering his 33rd hole of the day. Osberg dialed in an eagle on No. 15 (par 5, 525 yards) at Glen Mills after drilling his 4-iron about 235 yards to the left of the green.

  “From tee to green, I played great,” he said. “I struck it really well out there. I really didn’t make too many mistakes. That’s the key. I hung in there.”

  Osberg, a Guilford College graduate, hopes to play well in the upcoming USGA Amateur, which will be held Aug. 24-30 at Southern Hills CC in Tulsa, Okla.

  “Hopefully, I’ll have a good showing.”

  Michael Kania of Overbrook GC also qualified after carding a 1-under-par 141. The soon-to-be freshman at the University of Kentucky set a personal bar high early by registering a 2-under-par 69 at Glen Mills.

  “I got off to a good start at Glen Mills. I hit a lot of fairways and greens,” he said.

  After making the turn at 1 under, Kania, of Haverford, Pa., ran into trouble on No. 12 (par 4, 446 yards) at Concord CC. He snapped his tee shot into the left-side trees. From about 176 yards out, Kania punched his 4-iron about 30 past the flagstick and two-putted for double bogey. His struggles continued on No. 13 (par 4, 441 yards) after his drive found the water. It could’ve unraveled even further, but Kania, 18, sunk a 20-footer for bogey.

  “It was definitely a big putt for me. It helped keep my emotions in check,” he said. “I had let my frustrations get to me. I definitely feel like toward the end, I made some tired swings, but I just tried to keep my head straight through all 36 holes.”

  Kania rebounded and finished his second round with back-to-back birdies. He crushed his drive on No. 17 (par 4, 333 yards) to about 45 yards from the flagstick. He then hit a wedge to about three feet. Kania’s approach hybrid found the green on No. 18 (par 5, 521 yards), and he two-putted for birdie.

  “It feels good to finish up that way,” he said. “I kind of felt the pressure. But I definitely knew that I had a lot of game coming in. I was still hitting good shots. It was one of my goals to hopefully qualify.”   This is Kania’s third attempt to qualify for the USGA Amateur. He will miss his first week of practice at Kentucky to compete in the tournament.   “I hope the coach doesn’t mind too much,” he said jokingly.

  Adam Cohan, 23, of Savannah, Ga., Armory Davis, 20, of Chadds Ford, Pa. and Travis Gahman, 20, of Souderton, Pa. also qualified surviving a five-man for three-position playoff.

  Cohan knocked his wedge from 110 yards out to five feet and cleaned up the birdie putt on the first sudden-death playoff hole (No. 1). This marks Cohan's third appearance in the USGA Amateur. He qualified in 2005 and 2006.

  This is Davis' second U.S. Amateur appearance. He played in the 2007 Championship at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif. The University of Virginia junior knocked a pitching wedge from 128 yards to 14 feet on the first playoff hole and drained the ensuing birdie putt.

  Gahman, 20, of Souderton, Pa., advanced with a par on the second playoff hole after two-putting from 30 feet. This will be Gahman's first U.S. Amateur Championship. He will be a sophomore at Bridgewater College.