Golf’s longest day of the year is the day of nation-wide US Open qualifying across the country from Florida to Oregon at all points in between.  It’s a day of stress and grinding as amateurs and professionals alike try to conjure up a great round to participate in the sport’s most prestigious event.  Over 700 players competed over 10 qualification sites across the country for 43 spots to compete for the US Open at Shinnecock Hills.  Tour players such as Max Homa, Brent Snedeker  and other PGA tour players were competing with a host of collegiate amateurs for the coveted spots at Shinnecock this coming week.  Billy Horschel made it through at the Springfield, Ohilo site  It has to be a real mental test for the PGA professional who has been a tour winner to have to hunker down and compete against a bunch of upstarts from the collegiate and amateur ranks just to qualify for the Open Championship.  The longest day is always characterized by a number of playoffs with extra holes as the players grind through the putts and chips required to make it into qualifying

Enter Matthews Robles from Santa Clara University’s golf .team competing for a spot in Sacramento, California.  Matt was the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year in the 2024-2025 season and has been a consistent steady hand for the Bronco squad coached by Andrew Larkin.  He carded six under 136 for the 36 hole qualifying event to tie for second place at the  Del Paso , Country Club.  I played a round with Andrew this past Sunday at MPCC, and now he is on his way to Shinnecock to caddy for Matt.  Matt will join fellow Santa Clara alum Matt McCarty who has proven to be a consistent performer and winner on the PGA Tour.  Matt McCarty has had a long road practicing significant patience and persistence from toiling on the Korn Ferry tour to finally qualify for the PGA Tour and experience victory on that tour.

The Broncos will have the two Matts competing this week and will be playing practice rounds together.  These are significant achievements for both guys but I’m sure Matt Robles exceeded his expectations as he climbed up that leader board on Monday afternoon.

In Cresswell, Oregon, I watched David Putnam and Spencer Tibbits go at in extra holes to reclaim the second spot available.  It was pure agony as one player would make a mistake and then recover while the competitor missed very makable putts to win the spot.  Both players seemed to do this interchangeably and darkness fell on Monday after six playoff holes.  Eventually David Putnam broke this string on the 9th playoff hole on Tuesday morning finally draining a par putt to claim the spot.

Golf’s longest day is an exciting and a horrendous grind as the level of competition presents a daunting challenge with a number of disappointments and adulations.  For Matt Robles, it is a fantastic achievement at his age and experience irrespective of what happens in Long Island this coming weekend, it’s the beginning of a really promising career.