114th U.S. Amateur - Sectional Qualifying - Lincoln,R.I.

Kirkbrae CC
Tuesday, July 15th

Final Results

By Paul Kenyon

 LINCOLN _ Bobby Leopold and Kyle Hoffman are both on hot streaks on the golf course and they are going to ride them all the way to the U.S. Amateur.
         Leopold, who last week won the 109th RIGA Amateur, and Hoffman, who earlier this summer combined with partner Ryan Pelletier to win the association Four-Ball, both earned berths Tuesday to play at the Atlanta Athletic Club next month.
        They were the only players able to break par at Kirkbrae in a 50-player field in which only two spots were available for the national championship. Hoffman shots round of 72-67 to earn the medal at 3-under 139. Leopold put together scores of 71-69 for 140.
       Three others tied at 142 for the two alternate spots. Kirkbrae member Mike Hamilton earned the first alternate spot on the third playoff hole, Bryant player McKinley Slade took the second spot and Connecicut’s Danny Guise, who plays for Wake Forest, was eliminated.
      The two qualifiers would love to continue to play as they are now when they head to Atlanta. Pawtucket’s Hoffman had a nice career at Bishop Feehan High and Bryant University but is now playing the better than ever.
     ``I don’t know what it is, but I’ve been playing better since I graduated from Bryant,’’ he said. ``I think I’m still getting better.’’
      He had the best round of the day, going out in 32 in the afternoon on the way to his 67. He was not sure where he stood, even though he was among the last players on the course.
     ``I didn’t know exactly where I stood until I got to the 18th green,’’ he related. By the 18th, he felt good because of huge putts on the previous two holes.
      ``I made about a 35 footer on 16 (for bird), then a 25-footer (for par) on 17,’’ he said.
      He will get his first chance to play in a USGA event. Leopold knows how much fun it is. He will be going for the fourth time in five years.  In each of his first three trips he earned spots in match play and twice reached the round of 16. The insurance man from Coventry rode the momentum from the victory at the RIGA Amateur last week.
      ``I played just about as well,’’ he said.
     ``I thought he played better,’’ said his caddie and father-in-law Scott Cooke. ``He only hit two bad shots all day. His score was about as high as it could have been.’’
      Leopold, one of the earlier starters, was not especially happy when he completed play. He had an eight-foot birdie putt do a horseshoe and spin out on the final hole. Even as he was signing his scorecard, he was shaking his head wondering whether the bad luck would cost him.
      ``That was the third time I had a horseshoe like that,’’ he said. ``I had plenty of chances.’’
     As it turned out, he did not need any of them. He is headed to Atlanta with Hoffman.