Detroit's Mark Sommerfeld qualifies for U.S. Amateur Golf Championship

Aug. 7, 2006

Syracuse, N.Y. - This time, Mark Sommerfeld made sure. He was an alternate a year ago and never made the national tournament field but, last week, the University of Detroit Mercy junior won a local qualifier held in Syracuse, NY, to land a berth in the 2006 U.S. Amateur Golf Championship.

The 106th U.S. Amateur will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club - site of the 1970 and 1991 U.S. Opens - in Chaska, Minn. The 2006 U.S. Amateur field will play 18 holes each at Hazeltine National and the Chaska Town Course on Aug. 21-22. The top 64 qualifiers will advance to match play one day later, with the national champion decided on Aug. 27. The US Amateur is the USGA's oldest event.

The 2006 Horizon League Player of the Year, Sommerfeld won his 36-hole qualifier at Radisson Greens Golf Club in Syracuse with a five-under-par total of 139. That was good enough for a one-shot edge over N.C. State freshman Brad Revell as both college golfers moved on to the national tournament.

Sommerfeld is the second straight Titan, and third in the last five years, to qualify for the U.S. Amateur. He follows current teammate Kyler Murphy (2005) and Adam Walicki (2002).

The U.S. Amateur will be the third national competition for Sommerfeld this summer. He played at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in Bremerton, WA in July, having finished second in a local qualifier and then missing match play at the USAPL by just two strokes. Along with Murphy, he'll also compete at the Canadian Amateur Championship, Aug. 13-18 in Mississauga, Ontario. It will be Sommerfeld's third straight appearance in the Canadian Am, and he reached the Round of 32 in match play last summer.

Titan freshman David Byrne (Essex, ON/Essex) is also in national competition this week as he began play Monday at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship in Sussex, NB. Byrne finished 33rd at the Canadian Junior a year ago, and recently came in 10th at the 2006 Ontario Junior.

Story provided by University of Detroit Mercy Office of Sports Information