Hubbard survives ‘the longest day’

Hubbard among select few to qualify for U.S. Open on final day

By Jim Bebbington

Mark Hubbard is making a habit of this.

For  the second time the Denver native qualified for the U.S. Open Monday by dominating the final qualifier held in Canada. Playing at the Lambton Golf & Country Club, in Ontario, Canada, Hubbard shot two rounds of 64 and 70 to finish among the top seven players. He moves on to the U.S. Open June 12 to 15 at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.

He won the final Canada qualifier in 2024. This will be Hubbard’s third time playing in the U.S. Open. He finished tied for 50th a year ago and missed the cut in 2020.

Another Colorado native had a near miss at one of the more star-packed qualifiers. Jim Knous, who now works for Ping and lives in Arizona, is a Basalt native and graduate of the Colorado School of Mines who played several years on the PGA Tour. He shot a 4-under par Monday over two rounds at Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club in Columbus, Ohio – a finals location that also included Max Homa, Rickie Fowler and Padraig Harrington.

Knous had a hole-in-one in the first round on the par 4 fourth hole, shooting a 68 in the morning. But he bogeyed the final hole of the second round to finish one shot out of a playoff for the final qualifying spot.

Fowler and Homa were among five players who did make the cut and had to play in a five-for-one playoff duel for the final slot from the Columbus location. The playoff was won by PGA Tour pro Cameron Young, knocking Homa and Fowler out.

Other Coloradans who played in the U.S. Open final qualifiers Monday included:

Canoe Brook Country Club (North & South Courses), Summit, New Jersey

Collin Engelhardt of Castle Rock

Reid Howey of Littleton

Duke University Golf Club, Durham, North Carolina

Zach Gomez of Westminster

Emerald Dunes Golf Club, West Palm Beach, Florida

Benjamin Simpson of Golden

Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club, Columbus, Ohio

T- 11 – Jim Knous, Basalt

T-38 – Charles Soule, Denver

Lambton Golf & Country Club, York , Ontario, Canada

Mark Hubbard, Denver

Springfield Country Club, Springfield, Ohio

T-18 – Derek Fribbs, Aurora

T-31 – Charlie Tucker, Castle Pines

Valencia Country Club, Valencia, California

T-27 – Ty Holbrook, Boulder

79 – Finn Olson, Lone Tree

Wine Valley Golf Club, Walla Walla, Washington

T-19 – Gage Messingham of Arvada

T-13 – Hunter Swanson, Denver

Woodmont Country Club (North Course), Rockville, Maryland

Jason Preeo, Littleton

Derek Tolan, Boulder