Golfweek - Golf News Magazine

By RON BALICKI
Senior Writer

RIVER HILLS, Wis. – Skip Berkmeyer is well acquainted with the qualifying process for USGA amateur championships.

For the past 15 years the 34-year-old from St. Louis, Mo., has gone through this process for a spot in the starting field at the U.S. Amateur. He’s made it seven times.

For the past nine years, he has done the same thing for the U.S. Mid-Amateur, making it to the championship proper five times.

“One of these days I would love to be exempt into one of these championships and not have to worry about qualifying,” said Berkmeyer, who, along with his father Rick, owns a trophy and awards company.

To accomplish that he would need to be a quarterfinalist or better to earn exemption for the following year.

He came up one match shy – his best-ever USGA finish – at last year’s U.S. Mid-Am when he lost to Scott Hardy in the Round of 16. His best showing at the U.S. Amateur came this summer at Pinehurst where he lost in the second round to Canada’s Graham Hill, 1 up.

“For some reason, I just can’t seem to get over that hump,” said Berkmeyer, whose mother Barbara was runner-up to Carol Semple Thompson at the 2002 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. “Maybe that will change this week.”

He’s on the right track at least following the 36-hole stroke play qualifying Sunday in the 28th U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Milwaukee Country Club and Brown Deer Park Golf Course.
 
Not only did Berkmeyer easily advanced to the 64-man match play field, but his 2-under 138 total earned him medalist honors. He shot 3-under 67 at Brown Deer Park, followed by a 1-over 71 at Milwaukee CC to finish one shot better than Tim Mickelson, the only other player in the field to break par.

First-round leader and two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur champ Tim Jackson followed his opening 65 at Milwaukee CC with a 75 and was tied with Derek Berg at even-par 140.

“My goal coming in was to make match play and I did that,” Berkmeyer said. “Now, to think there were 264 players and I had the lowest score, that’s pretty special.”

For Mickelson, the younger brother of PGA Tour star Phil, the day ended in disappointing fashion. He stood at 3 under for the tournament with two holes to play but three-putted both 17 and 18 for bogeys. At the par-3 17th, he left his 45-foot birdie putt 10 feet short and missed the next. At 18 he ran his 35-foot birdie try 4 feet past and lipped out his par try.

“It’s frustrating to end that way,” said Mickelson, a quarterfinalist in this event last year. “But I’m playing well, just not putting well. My mentality today was to make match play, whether it was No. 64 or No. 1, it didn’t matter. So in that respect I accomplished what I needed to accomplish. Now I just have to get my putter going starting tomorrow.”

Fifty players qualified for match play posting a score of 6-over 146 or better. There were 19 players that tied for the 51st and they play Monday morning in a playoff for the final 14 spots.

All five college coaches in the field advanced to match play – head coaches Mickelson, San Diego; and Josh Gregory, Augusta State (144); and Scott Hardy, St. Mary’s (146); and assistant coaches Jordan Byrd, Clemson (143) and Alan Bratton, Oklahoma State (146).

The oldest player to qualify for match play is Greg Reynolds, 61. The 2002 U.S. Senior Amateur winner tied for 14th at 143 after rounds of 72-71.

Only one player managed to break par the second round and it proved much needed. After opening with an 8-over 78, Skip Corneliussen shot 1-under 69 at Milwaukee Country Club to finish at 147 and join the playoff fray.

For Berkmeyer, his play has been a continuation of an impressive summer. He won the St. Louis Men’s District Championship and the Metropolitan Match Play Championship, and was runner-up at the Missouri State Amateur and St. Louis Metropolitan Amateur. He also was qualifying medalist at his U.S. Amateur qualifier, and tied for 13th at the Porter Cup.

“I’m pretty pleased with my summer play,” said Berkmeyer. “My game has gotten better as I’ve gotten older. I feel like I belong out here. This is my favorite event. This is what I play for.”

And maybe next time he won’t have to go through that qualifying process.

• • •

Ron Balicki is a Golfweek senior writer. To reach him e-mail rbalicki@golfweek.com.

---

Scores with relation to par from the stroke-play portion of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, played Sept. 7 at the par-70, 7,004-yard Milwaukee Country Club (m) and par-70, 6,728-yard Brown Deer Park Golf Course (b) in River Hills, Wis.:

1. Richard Berkmeyer	67b-71m--138		-2
2. Tim Mickelson	69b-70m--139		-1
3. Derek Berg	70b-70m--140		E
3. Tim Jackson	65m-75b--140		E
5. Scott Fawcett	66m-75b--141	+	1
5. Steve Wilson	71b-70m--141	+	1
5. Nathan Smith	70b-71m--141	+	1
5. David Noll Jr.	70m-71b--141	+	1
9. Andy Roberts	72b-70m--142	+	2
9. Jim Dunlap	71b-71m--142	+	2
9. Michael McCoy	71b-71m--142	+	2
9. Sean Knapp	68b-74m--142	+	2
9. Matthew Williams	70b-72m--142	+	2
14. Chris Noel	71m-72b--143	+	3
14. Randy Haag	67m-76b--143	+	3
14. Jordan Byrd	70b-73m--143	+	3
14. Greg Reynolds	72b-71m--143	+	3
14. Brad Nurski	70b-73m--143	+	3
19. Gene Elliott	68m-76b--144	+	4
19. Raymond Floyd	74m-70b--144	+	4
19. John Ehrgott	71m-73b--144	+	4
19. Scott Harvey	73m-71b--144	+	4
19. Jon Lindstrom	73m-71b--144	+	4
19. T.J. Shuart	71m-73b--144	+	4
19. Michael Muehr	69m-75b--144	+	4
19. Matt Behm	70b-74m--144	+	4
19. Josh Gregory	71b-73m--144	+	4
19. Nathan Colson	70b-74m--144	+	4
19. Steve Galko	70b-74m--144	+	4
19. Jason Oien	73m-71b--144	+	4
31. Michael Stamberger	74m-71b--145	+	5
31. Matthew Clarke	73m-72b--145	+	5
31. Chris Lange	71m-74b--145	+	5
31. Brian Haskell	69m-76b--145	+	5
31. Brooks Freeman	71b-74m--145	+	5
31. Jimmy Chestnut	74b-71m--145	+	5
37. Scott Hardy	76m-70b--146	+	6
37. Adam Dooley	71m-75b--146	+	6
37. John Bearrie	76m-70b--146	+	6
37. Jack Kearney	72m-74b--146	+	6
37. Gene Gizzarelli	73m-73b--146	+	6
37. Ted Moloney	72m-74b--146	+	6
37. Alan Bratton	73m-73b--146	+	6
37. Ryan Mcdonald	72b-74m--146	+	6
37. Austin Eaton III	72b-74m--146	+	6
37. Ricky Jones	71b-75m--146	+	6
37. Ty Cox	71b-75m--146	+	6
37. Steve White	71b-75m--146	+	6
37. Ron Ewing	73b-73m--146	+	6
37. Jeff Williams	74b-72m--146	+	6
51. Todd Mitchell	73m-74b--147	+	7
51. Chris Hall	73m-74b--147	+	7
51. Howie Knodt	72m-75b--147	+	7
51. Stephen Sharpe	72m-75b--147	+	7
51. Michael Harrington	74m-73b--147	+	7
51. Michael Hyland	73b-74m--147	+	7
51. Garrett Morrison	74b-73m--147	+	7
51. Andrew Davis	75b-72m--147	+	7
51. Scott Kammann	74b-73m--147	+	7
51. Gary Young	74b-73m--147	+	7
51. Carlton Forrester	72b-75m--147	+	7
51. Richard Burgess Jr.	72b-75m--147	+	7
51. Mark Scheibach	75b-72m--147	+	7
51. Saxon McFarland	75b-72m--147	+	7
51. Skip Corneliussen	78b-69m--147	+	7
51. Thomas Gramigna	72b-75m--147	+	7
51. Jeffrey Wilson	71b-76m--147	+	7
51. Eric Spencer	71b-76m--147	+	7
51. Dan Horner	73m-74b--147	+	7
• • •
Missed the cut
70. Glenn Smeraglio	75m-73b--148	+	8
70. Zachary Lese	74m-74b--148	+	8
70. Marc Chandonnet	75m-73b--148	+	8
70. Joe Bendetti	76m-72b--148	+	8
70. Lee Palms	70m-78b--148	+	8
70. Randy Nichols	76m-72b--148	+	8
70. Dave Shillinglaw	78m-70b--148	+	8
70. Thomas Brennan	74m-74b--148	+	8
70. Jeffrey Scohy	75m-73b--148	+	8
70. Kevin Marsh	75b-73m--148	+	8
70. Danny Green	70b-78m--148	+	8
70. G. Davis Boland	69b-79m--148	+	8
70. Justin Heimer	74b-74m--148	+	8
70. Joseph Wall	74b-74m--148	+	8
70. Touraj Jason Vedadi	70b-78m--148	+	8
70. Dan Whitaker	76m-72b--148	+	8
70. Gregory Wolfe	76m-72b--148	+	8
70. Jimmy Brandt	74m-74b--148	+	8
70. George Marucci Jr.	75m-73b--148	+	8
89. Jarrett Grimes	72m-77b--149	+	9
89. Brian Sparrow	75m-74b--149	+	9
89. Doug Hoey	78m-71b--149	+	9
89. Wes Leith	74m-75b--149	+	9
89. Jeff Storrs	73m-76b--149	+	9
89. Greg Stebbins	76m-73b--149	+	9
89. Daniel Metzendorf	76m-73b--149	+	9
89. Adam Thomas	73m-76b--149	+	9
89. John Dowdall	74b-75m--149	+	9
89. Brad Niemann	72b-77m--149	+	9
89. Chris Kuhlke	75b-74m--149	+	9
89. Erik Martin	74b-75m--149	+	9
89. Jeff Belk	78b-71m--149	+	9
89. Kenneth Weixel	75b-74m--149	+	9
89. Scott Davenport	72m-77b--149	+	9
104. James Camaione	76m-74b--150	+	10
104. Michael Castleforte	77m-73b--150	+	10
104. Kyle Wesolowski	73m-77b--150	+	10
104. Kirk Siddens	76m-74b--150	+	10
104. Eric Fiskum	74m-76b--150	+	10
104. Dave Womack	76b-74m--150	+	10
104. Michael Barbosa	75b-75m--150	+	10
104. Richard Ross	76b-74m--150	+	10
104. John Urquhart	72b-78m--150	+	10
104. Kevin Hammer	76b-74m--150	+	10
104. Brian Higgins	74b-76m--150	+	10
104. Don Bell	72b-78m--150	+	10
104. Joe Cunningham	75b-75m--150	+	10
104. Nicholas Brown	77b-73m--150	+	10
104. Marion E. Williams III	72b-78m--150	+	10
104. James Kieserman	74b-76m--150	+	10
104. Scott McGihon	76b-74m--150	+	10
104. Jack Allara II	75b-75m--150	+	10
104. David Brown	72b-78m--150	+	10
104. Todd Strible	74b-76m--150	+	10
104. James Volpenhein	71b-79m--150	+	10
104. Todd Burgan	73b-77m--150	+	10
104. Marc Mandel	73b-77m--150	+	10
104. Jerry Hudgins	74b-76m--150	+	10
104. Scott Micklewright	75b-75m--150	+	10
104. William Hadden	79m-71b--150	+	10
130. Edward Gibstein	76m-75b--151	+	11
130. Joseph Alvarez	78m-73b--151	+	11
130. Casey Baker	77m-74b--151	+	11
130. Bill Cunningham	75m-76b--151	+	11
130. Grady Brame	73m-78b--151	+	11
130. David Foley	76m-75b--151	+	11
130. Ben Cavey	75m-76b--151	+	11
130. Keith Kinsel	76b-75m--151	+	11
130. Andy McCabe	76b-75m--151	+	11
130. Tim Fisher	73b-78m--151	+	11
130. Jason Cage	78b-73m--151	+	11
130. Kevin Atamian	74b-77m--151	+	11
130. Aaron Hickman	72b-79m--151	+	11
143. Kevin Tassistro	77m-75b--152	+	12
143. Tim J. Murphy	77m-75b--152	+	12
143. Doug Gradwell	77m-75b--152	+	12
143. Steven Hudson	76m-76b--152	+	12
143. Mark Sider	76m-76b--152	+	12
143. Steven Brame	80m-72b--152	+	12
143. Justin Sharaf	78m-74b--152	+	12
143. David White	76m-76b--152	+	12
143. Andy Achenbach	74b-78m--152	+	12
143. Kevin Burnett	78b-74m--152	+	12
143. John Vaccaro	78b-74m--152	+	12
143. Bowen Osborn	79b-73m--152	+	12
143. Derek Meinhart	80m-72b--152	+	12
143. Robert Bird	76m-76b--152	+	12
157. Joey Nichols	78m-75b--153	+	13
157. Steve Bendt	83m-70b--153	+	13
157. Mike Bell	80m-73b--153	+	13
157. Andrew Demore	75m-78b--153	+	13
157. Humberto Castellanos	75m-78b--153	+	13
157. Erin McDonald	78m-75b--153	+	13
157. Robert Funk	77b-76m--153	+	13
157. Tim C. Thompson Jr.	73b-80m--153	+	13
157. Philip Slovitt	75b-78m--153	+	13
157. Ronald Kilby	73b-80m--153	+	13
157. Matthew Ion Young	76b-77m--153	+	13
157. Richard Kerper	74b-79m--153	+	13
157. Bill Hermanson	74b-79m--153	+	13
157. Jonathan Orchin	73m-80b--153	+	13
171. Tyler Shelton	79m-75b--154	+	14
171. Chester Guzek	74m-80b--154	+	14
171. Norman Swenson	73m-81b--154	+	14
171. David Bartman	79m-75b--154	+	14
171. John Fulkerson	77m-77b--154	+	14
171. Jason Bittick	75m-79b--154	+	14
171. Jim Doing	80b-74m--154	+	14
171. Jason Rudquist	75b-79m--154	+	14
171. Scott Almquist	75b-79m--154	+	14
171. Tommy Miller	75b-79m--154	+	14
171. Ben Lowery	75b-79m--154	+	14
171. Jonathan Kalmink	75b-79m--154	+	14
171. Brian Harris	74b-80m--154	+	14
171. Matt Adcock	75b-79m--154	+	14
185. Mark Bemowski	79m-76b--155	+	15
185. John Staehler	80m-75b--155	+	15
185. Trent Booher	80m-75b--155	+	15
185. Brad Penfold	77m-78b--155	+	15
185. Jack Anthony	77m-78b--155	+	15
185. Tony Shuman	74m-81b--155	+	15
185. Peter Keller Jr.	76m-79b--155	+	15
185. Jeffrey Fujimoto	76m-79b--155	+	15
185. Dave Nocar	75b-80m--155	+	15
185. Tony Perino	78b-77m--155	+	15
185. Edward Parnell	75b-80m--155	+	15
185. Duke Delcher	78b-77m--155	+	15
185. Matthew Horwitch	82b-73m--155	+	15
185. Larry Elbaum	78m-77b--155	+	15
185. Blake Holcomb	81m-74b--155	+	15
185. Mark C. Miller	80m-75b--155	+	15
201. Steve Johnson	79m-77b--156	+	16
201. Corey Matthews	79m-77b--156	+	16
201. Nathan Wilson	83m-73b--156	+	16
201. Eddie Cho	77m-79b--156	+	16
201. Jeffery Lister	82m-74b--156	+	16
201. Ron Glennie	77m-79b--156	+	16
201. Tony Brown	82m-74b--156	+	16
201. Patrick Dougherty	77b-79m--156	+	16
201. Michael Samp	78b-78m--156	+	16
201. Brad Riles	79b-77m--156	+	16
201. Mark Hannon	75b-81m--156	+	16
201. Chris Mitchell	76b-80m--156	+	16
201. Eddie Podzemny	77m-79b--156	+	16
201. Brian Swenson	80m-76b--156	+	16
201. Brandon Sigmund	77m-79b--156	+	16
201. Robert Eberle	76m-80b--156	+	16
217. Steven Tasho	80m-77b--157	+	17
217. John Kollus	77m-80b--157	+	17
217. Michael Rowley	78b-79m--157	+	17
217. Bill Albers	81b-76m--157	+	17
217. Patrick Nealon	78b-79m--157	+	17
217. Greg Sullivan	77b-80m--157	+	17
223. Timothy Moylan	80m-78b--158	+	18
223. Bob W. Smith	81m-77b--158	+	18
223. Adam Cranford	78b-80m--158	+	18
223. Wes Brown	76b-82m--158	+	18
223. Justin Honea	78b-80m--158	+	18
223. Matt Lindley	82m-76b--158	+	18
229. Johnny Holmes	80m-79b--159	+	19
229. Cliff Martin	78m-81b--159	+	19
229. Zac Burton	80m-79b--159	+	19
229. Robert Hakes	77b-82m--159	+	19
229. John Halverson	81b-78m--159	+	19
229. Dirk Curtis	84b-75m--159	+	19
229. Noah Yano	80b-79m--159	+	19
229. Brett Blease	79b-80m--159	+	19
237. Brian Foley	80m-80b--160	+	20
237. Rick Lehew	84m-76b--160	+	20
237. Michael Quinlan	79b-81m--160	+	20
237. John McClure	82b-78m--160	+	20
237. Craig Davis	82b-78m--160	+	20
237. Jim Blythe	77m-83b--160	+	20
237. George Zahringer	80m-80b--160	+	20
244. Michael Caprio	80m-81b--161	+	21
244. Greg Sato	76b-85m--161	+	21
244. Michael Frederick	83b-78m--161	+	21
244. Ira Flood	78b-83m--161	+	21
244. Bradley Rock	79b-82m--161	+	21
244. Thomas McGraw	79b-82m--161	+	21
250. Steven Galing	80m-82b--162	+	22
251. Gary Wilks	85m-78b--163	+	23
251. Richard Feldman	82m-81b--163	+	23
251. Tom Norys	78b-85m--163	+	23
254. Daryl Schomer	84m-80b--164	+	24
254. Donn Berdahl	87m-77b--164	+	24
254. Andy Bernatovicz	80b-84m--164	+	24
254. Dave Macke	83b-81m--164	+	24
258. Richard Teders	83m-83b--166	+	26
259. Patrick Griffin	82m-86b--168	+	28
260. Mike Pinkney	88b-86m--174	+	34

Posted: 9/7/2008

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