May 20, 2016
By Dan Colleran
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame men’s golfers Ben Albin and Davis Lamb have advanced through local qualifiers to sectional qualifying for the 2016 U.S. Open.
Albin, a rising sophomore, shot a two-under par 70 at the Ironwood Country Club (South Course) in Palm Desert, California on May 17. All five golfers who shot 70’s at Palm Desert advanced to sectionals and Albin was one of two amateurs in the group of advancing golfers. All told, 86 players teed it up at Palm Desert looking to secure one of the five bids to sectionals.
Lamb, an incoming freshman, shot a one-under par 71 at the Worthington Manor Golf Club in Urbana, Maryland on May 9. The field included 144 entrants, playing for eight sectional spots. With the 71, Lamb was forced into a playoff for the eighth spot but he prevailed on the first playoff hole.
It marks the first time in Irish Head Coach Jim Kubinski’s tenure that two Notre Dame golfers have advanced to U.S. Open sectional qualifying in the same year.
In addition to Albin and Lamb, rising senior Matthew Rushton just missed out on advancing to sectionals after reaching a playoff at nearby Morris Park Country Club (South Bend, Indiana), while rising sophomore Miguel Delgado missed a playoff spot by one stroke at his local qualifier.
In 2016, the USGA will host a total of 111 local qualifiers (18 holes) in 43 states to determine which players will advance to 36-hole sectional qualifying. Ten U.S. sectional qualifiers will then take place on Monday, June 6.
The 2016 U.S. Open will then be conducted for a record ninth time at the Oakmont Country Club from June 16-19 in Oakmont, Pennsylvania.
— ND —
Dan Colleran, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and men’s golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).