“The Stars of Tomorrow.”
That’s what they billed the U.S. Junior Amateur when it came to Bremerton’s Gold Mountain Golf Club in 2010.
I’ve mentioned this before, but Gold Mountain’s had its share of young stars pass through over the years, whether it was a USGA national event (Junior Am or 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links) or NCAA tournament (Husky Invitational or NCAA regional).
By my count, there’s 11 players left in the field of 75 at the U.S. Open who have competed at Gold Mountain, including co-leader Jordan Spieth, the 2010 U.S. Junior Am champ, and Troy Kelly, the Central Kitsap grad and former UW golfer now living in Steilacoom.
The others: Dustin Johnson, Jamie Lovemark, Beau Hossler, Cheng-Tsung Pan, Luke Donald, Billy Horschel, Kevin Chappel, Keegan Bradley and Morgan Hoffman.
Kelly, by the way, tees off at 8:47 a.m. on Saturday. He carded rounds of 72-73 and made it into the field with 15 others when amateur Nick Hardy bogeyed his final hole on Friday. It’s the first time Kelly has made a cut in a major. He played previously in the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst and at the 2012 British Open.
Kelly has been playing on a major medical exemption for most of the last three years. He has seven PGA Tour starts left after the US Open and unless he changes plans, he will play at the July 2-5 Greenbrier Classic, where he lost a three-hole playoff to Ted Potter Jr. and placed second in 2012.
