Road to the U.S. Open: Georgia

The Course: 

The Piedmont Driving Club (sounds so fancy) is a Reese Jones design built in 2000. The 7,200 yard course has 74.9 rating and a 149 slope. It has hosted U.S. Am qualifying and Georgia Mid-Am qualifying, and now hosts its first U.S. Open final qualifier. 

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The Highest Ranked Player in the field: 

‍Aldrich Potgieter- The LONG-hitting South African is coming off of a T6 at Colonial. Prior to that he had missed seven of the last eight cuts after his second place finish in Mexico earlier in the year. Exactly a year ago, I played in his group at the BMW and the speed is really impressive to watch. At times in that event he struggled with course management. He is currently ranked 127th in OWGR. 

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Other Recognizable names in the field: 

‍Jackson Koivun- The University of Auburn sophomore was just named SEC Player of the Year for the second straight year. He had also already earned his PGA Tour card through PGA Tour U when he decided to turn pro. On top of his collegiate success this year, Koivun made the cut at both the Farmers and Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour. 

‍Jackson Buchanan- Another college standout who just completed his senior year at the University of Illinois. Buchanan is currently ranked 11th in WAGR and was named to first team All-Big Ten. As he begins his pro career, Buchanan looks to earn a spot in the Oakmont field. 

‍Oliver?- I have never seen Ollie Schniederjans listed by his full name (I’m not sure I knew it was his full name), but he and his brother Luke are both in the field. Ollie has made a comeback this year after a long injury battle. He won on the Asian Tour and has filled in during two LIV events, with a best finish of 30th. 

Others: JB Holmes, Jason Dufner, Christo Lamprecht, KJ Choi. 

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Stories You might not have heard of: 

‍Jacob Harper- A mini-tour legend who has at least 20 wins on the Emerald Coast Tour has the talent to get to Oakmont. He has shot 59 in tournament play and is a legend in the ‘Bama big money games. The big lefthander often shows up with shirt untucked and his Atlanta Braves hat on backwards and then takes everyone’s cash. He made two of six cuts so far this year on the Americas Tour. 

‍Fredrik Lindblom- Shoutout Dunning. Although he is often behind the camera and caddying for his fiancé, Lindblom has plenty of game himself. He looks to get into his first U.S. Open.

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Russell Makepeace- Don’t know much about him, but I love the name. 

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Scoring: 

https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/5000370

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