U.S. Am qualifier: Summer visitor cashes in

A pair of University of Louisville teammates were central characters to a U.S. Amateur qualifier at Berkshire Hills CC in Pittsfield, Mass., Tuesday. The competitor who lives in Amesbury, Mass., Chris Francoeur, shot 70-68 and at 6-under 138 came up one agonizing stroke shy. But if settling for first alternate had to be disappointing, seeing his teammate and friend, Jiri Zuska of the Czech Republic, come in as medalist had to be a bit of a thrill for Francoeur. He has, after all, been hosting Zuska at his home in Amesbury the past three weeks as the golfers with pro aspirations have been making the rounds.

As he had done at the Sunnehanna Amateur (T-4) and Northeast Amateur (T-15), Zuska posted impressive numbers at Berkshire Hills. Only this time his 68-66 for 10-under 134 was good enough to win the top spot. Brandon Parker (71-66) of Worcester and James Imai (66-71) of Brookline finished at 137 to get the other two qualifying spots into the national amateur, which will be contested Aug. 15-21 at Ridgewood CC in New Jersey.

U.S. Amateur qualifier: Valois co-medalist

Longtime Rhode Island standout Brad Valois shot 135 at Valley CC in Warwick, R.I., and shared medalist honors with Matthew Lowe of Farmingdale, N.Y. They grabbed the only two spots available into the national amateur. Weston Jones of Sudbury, a sophomore-to-be at Rutgers, stormed home with a second-round 66 – 138 to get into a three-way tie for third. But he was defeated in a playoff for first and second alternate by two Rhode Islanders – Bennett Masterson of Westerly and Michael Hamilton of Lincoln.

PGA Tour Canada: Brian Carlson wins

The PGA Tour was in Connecticut a few weeks ago, and so, too, was its developmental circuit, the Korn Ferry Tour in Maine. Moving a little further north, and across the border, the PGA Tour Canada stopped in for its Prince Edward Island Open and while it’s not New England, a New Englander did win. Brian Carlson of Madison, Conn., who played his collegiate golf at Purdue, shot 19-under 269 for his first win on the Canadian Tour. Joe Highsmith, a heralded player at Pepperdine, posted 70-67-69-67 and tacked a T-4 onto the T-2 he had a few weeks earlier so his pro career is off to a productive start.