IRVINE – With one hole to play in Tuesday’s U.S. Open local qualifier at Oak Creek Golf Club, Joseph Chun was 3-under-par and in a perfect position to move on to the next round.
In the end, though, the Woodbridge sophomore lost a two-hole playoff and had to settle for being the first alternate for the June 8 sectional qualifying tournament, which will set the field for the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash.
“It is disappointing because I finished the whole round bad,” Chun said.
He was bogey free until he teed off on the 500-yard, par-5 18th, but he hit his approach into the water, put his fourth shot into a bunker against the back lip and eventually took a triple-bogey 8.
He finished with an even-par 70, putting him in a six-man playoff with four spots in the sectional qualifier on the line. He and Estancia grad and UCLA junior Jake Knapp bogeyed the first playoff hole, the 222-yard, par-3 No. 7, and moved on to the par-4 8th, which Knapp birdied, eliminating Chun.
Satoru Suzuki (Irvine), Luis Carrasco Jr. (Irvine) and Brian Gonzales also posted a 70 and earned a sectional tee time on the first playoff hole. Patrick Stople was the medalist, shooting a 1-under 69.
Contact the writer: ddottore@ocregister.com
