Road to the U.S. Open: New Jersey

Host Courses: Both the North and South courses at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, New Jersey, play host for this qualifier. The courses are tightly tree-lined, require accuracy off the tee, and deft touch around the greens. This site attracts many top amateurs and club pros from the northeast and has 78 starting players in the field.

Notable Players:

Michael Thorbjornsen: Ranked 132nd in the OWGR, this former Stanford star earned his PGA Tour card by topping the PGA Tour U rankings in 2024. Thorbjornsen was medalist in the 2023 sectional qualifier at Canoe Brook with scores of 66-68 to earn his third start in a U.S. Open. He finished 2nd at the Corales Puntacana Championship this year, and his team finished T-4 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. 

Chris Gotterup: Ranked 93rd in the FedEx Cup standings, the 25-year-old broke through last year when he won the Myrtle Beach Classic on the PGA Tour. This season, he’s made nine of 17 cuts with a best finish coming unsurprisingly at Myrtle Beach, where he finished T13.

Jim Herman: The 47-year-old is a three-time PGA Tour winner who has played in six U.S. Opens, including last year’s at Pinehurst. Herman’s best finish is T-47 in 2010.  He earned his spot by finishing in the top-four at this site last year.

‍Andrew Svoboda: The three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner is now the head pro at Butler National in Chicago and finished 2nd in the 2024 PGA Professional Championship. Svoboda qualified for the U.S. Open last year at Pinehurst, where he shot 75-76, missing the cut. Svoboda has qualified for six U.S. Opens, and looks to make it seven this year.

James Nicholas: The Yale graduate has posted three top-25 finishes on KFT this season, including one top-10. Nicholas is a great follow on social media, taking followers inside his grind and adventures. Don't be surprised if this New York native plays well across the border in Jersey.

Brandon Matthews: The 2023 PGA Tour member has only played two PGA Tour events and seven KFT events this season, with one cut made on each tour. Matthews and his wife, Danielle, host a charity pro-am event every year to raise funds for local charities. While injuries have held Matthews back in recent years, he's still one of the longest hitters in the game, a talented player and a good guy. If he can find fairways, watch out!

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Stories You Might Not Heard About:

Scott Kalamar: The long-hitting former professional baseball player shot one-under at GreatHorse in Mass., in local qualifying to advance. Kalamar played baseball at Seton Hall and was signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014. He spent a season playing for their minor league teams before becoming a long drive competitor. Kalamar has made three appearances in the World Championships, where his longest recorded drive is 456 yards. 

‍Alex Higgs: The younger brother of PGA Tour member Harry, Alex also played college golf at SMU before turning to caddying for his brother. Alex is now a club pro. One year Alex caddied for Harry at the U.S. Open and gave up chance to play in the USGA Four-ball Championship to do so.

Andre Chi: Most of you may know his story by now, but Chi played D3 golf at Methodist and has dreamed of playing on the PGA Tour. While working as a club pro he would spend his winters in Florida chasing his dream. Earlier this year he Monday Q'd for the Valspar and we helped raise nearly $50,000 for him. He also qualified for the PGA Championship and looks to get into his second ever Major.

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Scoring: 

https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/5188057

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