Gordon Sargent, Stewart Cink survive golfâs longest day
Gordon Sargent is a 20-year-old amateur golfer. Stewart Cink is a 50-year-old who’s been a professional golfer since 1995 and counts the 2009 British Open among his victories.
But on Monday, Sargent and Cink were on equal footing and shared an accomplishment.
On golf’s longest day, the two Alabama golfers were among the 645 players in 10 36-hole tournaments seeking the final 45 spots in the 2023 U.S. Open.
A Vanderbilt sophomore, Sargent is a former Mountain Brook standout. He earned his first appearance in the U.S. Open by capturing medalist honors at 13-under par in the tournament on Monday at Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Georgia.
An alumnus of Bradshaw High School in Florence, Cink earned his 23rd appearance in the U.S. Open by tying for third at 9-under par in the tournament on Monday at Brookside Golf and Country Club and the Lakes Golf and Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. Cink had his best U.S. Open finish in 2009, when he placed third.
At the tournament in Columbus, where 11 of the 103 golfers qualified, Lee-Scott Academy alumnus Davis Thompson finished as the runner-up at 10 under and Huntsville native and Alabama golfer Nick Dunlap also advanced at 8 under, but he had to survive a playoff for his U.S. Open spot.
At the tournament at the Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach, Florida, where three of the 51 golfers earned U.S. Open spots, Auburn’s Brendan Valdes advanced as the runner-up at 3 under.
In an earlier qualifying tournament, Auburn’s Jacob Solomon carded an 8 under at Northwood Club and Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas on May 23 and advanced from a playoff to the U.S. Open.
The longest-day qualifiers join the field for the 123rd U.S. Open, which will be contested on the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club on June 15-18.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.