Carpenter, Santi cap U.S. Open Local Qualifier at Applebrook GC

  MALVERN, Pa. — Gary Carpenter, Jr. of Crofton, Md. and Marcello Santi, a Carimate, Italy native, carded respective 4-under-par 67s to share medalist honors in a U.S. Open Local Qualifier administered by the Golf Association of Philadelphia Thursday at Applebrook GC (par 71, 6,799 yards).

  Both players led a field of 95 players vying to attain one of seven available qualifying positions. Also advancing were Eric Beringer of Delray Beach, Fla., Jonathan Rusk of Yardley, Pa., Billy Stewart of Devon, Pa., Michael Tobiason, Jr. of Wilmington, Del. and Chad Wilfong of Charlotte, N.C.

Gary Carpenter, Jr.

  “I stayed within myself,” Carpenter, 36, said. “I played very smart. I kept the ball in front of me, and my wedge game was really good. I had good confidence coming up here. I played here two years ago in the Eastern Four-Ball. I just had a personal liking for the golf course. It fits a lot of my game. I’m glad it worked out in the end. Being that it (the U.S. Open) is in my backyard at Congressional (Country Club) this year, I wanted to go after it.”

  Carpenter played a practice round yesterday to get re-acquainted with the Malvern, Pa. track. It paid off as such familiarity boosted his play.

  “I knew kind of what I wanted to do,” the Crofton, Md. resident said. “My caddie Devin (Traverso) and I did a great job of mapping it out. He had phenomenal reads on the greens and kept me in the moment. It was just a solid round of golf. There wasn’t anything flashy.”

  A hot start carried Carpenter throughout the day. He fired three consecutive birdies and settled into an immediate rhythm. On No. 1 (par 5, 519 yards), Carpenter stuck his lob wedge 62 yards to six inches. He knocked a GAP wedge 112 yards to 10-feet directly right of the hole location on the par 4, 366-yard 2nd hole and cleaned up the under-par chance. Carpenter capped his birdie surge by executing a four-footer on the reachable No. 3 (par 4, 308 yards) after drilling his lob wedge 80 yards.

  “You have to attack, whichever side you start on,” he said of the birdie streak. “That’s the way you can score. It was a nice start. These greens can get to you if you hit it in the wrong spots. It requires precise iron-play.”

  A three-putt bogey on No. 4 (par 4, 418 yards) threatened to halt Carpenter’s momentum, but he regained his balance on the monstrous par 5, 581-yard 8th hole. He whacked his wedge 135 yards to 18-feet and converted the left-to-right breaker.

  "It was another putt with perfect speed, just tumbling in at the last posssible drop," he said. "The goal today was to make sure we didn't leave ourselves with any knee-knockers, especially when we got it under-par."

  Carpenter also posted two red figures on his inward tour, thanks to sound wedge-play. On the strenuous par 5, 572-yard 10th hole, Carpenter combated a significant breeze and guided his pitching wedge 110 yards to nine feet. He completed his string of par 5-birdies by canning an uphill, left-to-right breaking 15-footer on No. 16 (578 yards) following a 112-yard pitching wedge set-up.

  Carpenter’s golf credentials weave through amateur and professional thoroughfares. He spent eight years “tour-chasing” and working at the University of Maryland as a golf professional. He was reinstated as an amateur in 2007 and has found considerable success since. He finished fourth in the 2009 Middle-Atlantic Golf Association Amateur Championship. Last year, Carpenter and his father, Gary, Sr., captured the 2010 National Father & Son Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

  “That’s what I hang my hat on. You can’t beat playing with dad,” he said.

  A liquor salesman by day, Carpenter plays golf when given the opportunity. He considers his game to be in suitable shape for Sectional Qualifying, where he’s been on three previous occasions. He'll head to Woodmont CC in Rockville, Md. next month.

  “I’m hitting it better now than I did my eight years professionally,” Carpenter said. “My life’s in order. I have a great family and a good job. It’s a lot easier to play golf when you know you have a great support system.”

  Carpenter and his wife celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary Thursday. What better way to rejoice.

  “I’m going to call her and let her know she had a nice little anniversary present today,” Carpenter said. “She let me come up and play. It’s a little emotional for me today.”

  A visit to friend and caddie Chris Jones of Berwyn, Pa. prompted Santi, a professional who played on the European Tour from 1993-2004, to head to Applebrook for qualifying.

  “It was a good opportunity to play again and to see my friend here again,” Santi, 41, said. “He told me I should come up here and try to qualify for the Open.”

Marcello Santi

  Santi’s sole hiccup came on the challenging par 3, 223-yard 15th hole. Standing in between clubs on the tee, he launched a 4-iron into the right bunker and failed to get up-and-down.

  “The pin was on the right side, and something you never want to do is go into the bunker because of its slope. It’s impossible to stop the ball,” Santi said. “Even though it was a good round, I made a couple of mistakes managing the golf course.”

  Santi quit the European Tour in 2004 to become a project manager for a golf course development firm. He currently organizes an annual tournament deemed the Friends Invitational Pro-Am to promote golf in the Cayman Islands.

  “I love Cayman. I love the people. I want to do something for golfing amateurs there,” Santi said.

  Santi will now head to Hawks Ridge GC in Ball Ground, Ga., though he isn’t particularly optimistic about his chances.

  “I don’t think I’ll be able to make it through the next stage, but we’ll see,” Santi said. “We’re definitely going to have fun.”

  The U.S. Open will be held June 16-19 at Congressional CC in Bethesda, Md.