Troy’s Buente wins U.S. Amateur qualifying tourney

ALTON – Blaine Buente of Troy is heading to the 2017 U.S. Amateur in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Bunte defeated Sam Migdal of Ballwin, Mo., by a stroke to win the U.S. Amateur qualifying tournament at Spencer T. Olin Golf Course at Gordon Moore Park Tuesday, firing a two-day total of 8-under 136, a stroke better than Migdal's 7-under 137 on the par-72, 6,414-yard Arnold Palmer-designed layout; Bunte shot a 5-under 67 on the day to add to his 3-under 69 Monday for to win the tournament.

Spencer T. Olin Golf Course General Manager Mary Campbell said the U.S. Amateur golf tourney was “very exciting for the golf course and significant exposure for the area.

Curt Rohe tourney director for the event at Spencer T. Olin is a great person to work with, Campbell said. Rohe is executive director of the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association.

“Rohe is great to work with and he keeps bringing me tournaments like these,” Campbell said. “Over the past four years, our relationship has grown. He brought me two amateur golf tournaments four years ago and now we are averaging between two to four tournaments a year. This year we had five of these tournaments. We are looking forward to seeing what else he can bring me. Having some type of larger qualifier would be great exposure for the course, the community."

Legendary golfer Arnold Palmer designed the Spencer T. Olin Course. Spencer T. Olin Golf Course has a long reputation of hosting big tourneys. Some of the more notable tourneys were the 1996 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Link Championship and the ESPN televised 1999 U.S. Men’s Amateur Public Links Championship. Palmer and Spencer T. Olin, founder of Olin Industries, were life-long friends.

Migdal also advanced to the U.S. Amateur at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, which will be held Aug. 14-20 with two days of stroke play followed by match play for the top 64 golfers after stroke play. The matches are all 18 holes except for the final, which is a one-day, 36-hole match.

Wesley Hunter of Mobile, Ala., took the third qualifying spot in a playoff over Brad Carpenter of Washington, Mo., and Crimson Callahan of Chesterfield, Mo.; the trio tied for third with 1-under 141s over the two days. Carpenter will be the first alternate and Callahan the second alternate.

Edwardsville's Joshua Kleinheider finished in a tie for 23rd with a two-day, 3-over 147, firing a 6-over 78 on the day, while Glen Carbon's Marco Tallerico finished tied for 28th with a two-day 5-over 149; his Tuesday round was a 4-over 76. Alton's Brian Gebben finished tied for 50th with a two-day 9-over 153, carding a 7-over 79 on the day.

The U.S. Amateur will be televised by Fox and FS1 as part of their contract with the USGA for the Amateur, U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open.

Brent Feeney also contributed to this story.

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