This is a huge day for Spencer Tibbits. One of the most successful Oregon State Golf history, Spencer will tee off at the 119th U.S.Open this afternoon at Pebble Beach. No doubt a dream come true for the Fort Vancouver High School grad who has just finished his Sophomore year in Corvallis. He will be in the last group teeing off this afternoon but he is playing in a major and his childhood hero...some guy named Tiger Woods will be there. Tiger playing in his 83rd major....for Spencer it of course is #1!!
Here is the official release from OSU about Spencer:
Spencer Tibbits finished in a tie for second place at a sectional qualifier on Monday and earned a spot in the 2019 U.S. Open Championship.
Tibbits shot a 7-under 67-70--137 at the Wine Valley Golf Club during the 36-hole day of competition. The top three golfers at the sectional qualifier in the 55-player field advanced to the U.S. Open. Tibbits qualified for sectionals by taking medalist honors at a local qualifier in Bremerton, Wash., with a 7-under 65 at the Gold Mountain Golf Course on May 7.
Only 500 of the 8,602 competitors advanced through the local qualifiers, while 927 golfers competed for 75 spots at the sectional qualifiers.
The 119th U.S. Open is scheduled for June 13-16 at the par-71, 7,075-yard Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif. It will include 156 of the best players in the world with a prize purse of $12 million.
“I’m so happy for Spencer,” Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn said. “He works so hard and it was only a matter of time before something like this happened for him.
“To qualify for the U.S. Open is one thing. To do it at Pebble Beach is amazing. It is going to be such a great experience for him. I know he will be going there with the mindset that he can compete with anyone.”
Anthony Arvidson and Nick Sherwood are the only Oregon State golfers who have played in the U.S. Open. Arvidson advanced in 2003 and finished with a 75-78--153at the North Course of Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., while Sherwood qualified in 2012 and shot a 78-80--158 at the Lake Course at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif.
The U.S. Open is the national championship of men's golf in the United States, "open" to both professionals and amateurs. It’s the second of golf's four major championships on the annual calendar, following the Masters in April and played before the British Open in July andPGA Championshipin August.
Tibbits finished his sophomore campaign at Oregon State with a scoring average of 71.65, the sixth lowest in program history. He fired 15 sub-par rounds, with six of those in the 60’s, including a career-best 6-under 66 in the second round of the Showdown In The Rockies.
A native of Vancouver, Wash., Tibbits became the first Oregon State golfer to receive All-Pac-12 honors since David Fink in 2014. He also earned Pac-12 All-Academic recognition in his first eligible year for his 3.27 cumulative GPA in university exploratory studies.