LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KTSM) – The 43rd U.S. Senior Open golf tournament will be held June 29-July 2 at Sentry World in Stevens Point Wisc. On Wednesday in Las Cruces, a local qualifying tournament was held for the U.S. Senior Open at the New Mexico State University golf course.
Dozens of golfers descended upon Las Crucesfor one of 33 U.S. Senior Open qualifying events. The top two golfers from each regional qualifier automatically move on to the main event, with the next two finishers behind them waiting in the wings as alternates.
The Las Cruces regional featured multiple former PGA pros, including Kent Jones, Chris DiMarco and Notah Begay. Begay is a New Mexico native and was Tiger Woods roommate at Stanford. He now plays on the Champions Tour and works for the Golf Channel.
“It’s a big opportunity for a lot of people from the region to play their way into the U.S. Senior Open, one of the biggest tournaments on the Senior PGA Tour,” said Begay. “A lot of familiar faces and the course was pretty challenging, but I managed to sneak in there with a three-under 68, so hopefully that’s good enough.”
Unfortunately for Begay, his score didn’t quite meet the mark to advance. He went to a four-hole playoff with two other men; Juan Quevedo and Micah Rudoski got the best of him and secured the two spots at the U.S. Senior Open. Begay was third and Brad Larden fourth.
Those two are the alternates from Las Cruces if Quevedo and Rudoski can’t go.
