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U.S. Open Sectional Field Set

May 30, 2018

48 players head to The Bear’s Club in Jupiter, on Monday, June 4th, vying for their position in the 118th U.S. Open Championship at Shinnecock Hills, June 15-18.

The Bear's Club is nestled among 369 sandy acres near the Atlantic Ocean, 18-time major champion, Jack Nicklaus transformed the native environment into a championship layout that features 102 strategically placed bunkers, many of which are steeply flashed. The design were inspired by the bunkers at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia, which Nicklaus visited when he captained the 1998 United States Presidents Cup Team. A collection of medium-to-large greens demand precision, as many of the complexes are rounded off at the edges and feed into hollows and chipping areas. The Bear's Club has recently hosted the 2015 US Open Sectional Qualifier, 2012 & 2017 Florida Amateur Championships, and 2017 Southeastern Challenge Matches

Two of three players who punched their ticket at the Florida Qualifying site last year, Web.Com Tour Member Jack Maguire, of Saint Petersburg and Tyson Alexander, of Gainesville, return to the Jupiter area looking for the same success. Maguire also qualified at The Bear's Club in 2015 and went on to make the cut in both of his U.S. Open Appearances.

Some notable professionals at the Bear’s Club include PGA Tour Members Sam Saunders, Cameron Tringale, Nicholas Lindheim, and past PGA Tour Winners Alex Cejka and Robert Allenby. Saunders, the grandson of late great Arnold Palmer, has qualified for the 2011 & 2015 US Opens.

The field also includes past three FSGA State Amateur Champions: Jeff Dennis (2006), Gabriel Lench (2014) and Cristian DiMarco (2017).

Some notable players to watch include:

Tyler Strafaci - 2014 FSGA Boys' (13-15) Junior Champion and current Georgia Tech golfer, advanced to the Round of 32 at last year's U.S. Amateur

John Coultas - 2014 FSGA Boys' (16-18) Junior Champion and recent Florida Southern grad , previously earned the Phil Mickelson Award for Division II Outstanding Freshman, Jack Nicklaus Award as Division II National Player-of-the-Year, and was a selection on the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup Team.

Andy Zhang - Zhang became the youngest U.S. Open competitor ever when he got into the field in 2012 at The Olympic Club, after earning first alternate status at the Florida Qualifier at Black Diamond Ranch. Zhang just completed his sophomore season at University of Florida where he finished with an individual victory at the SEC Championship. He will look to take the next step in his career this summer by turning professional.

Sean Crocker - Former University of Southern California standout, who turned professional after the 2017 U.S. Amateur and has recently seen success on the European Tour.

Claudio Correa - Recent University of South Florida graduate who led the team with a 71.1 scoring average in his senior season, captured the American Conferece Individual Championship and alongside teammate Cristian DiMarco was named to the Ping All-Region Team

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