Former Spruce Creek golfer Austen Truslow qualifies for next week's U.S. Open
Austen Truslow, who played his junior golf in New Smyrna Beach and was part of Spruce Creek High’s 2010 state championship team, qualified Monday for next week’s U.S. Open.
There were long odds but, in the end, little drama. With just three spots available for a field of 51 at Boynton Beach’s Pine Tree Golf Club, Truslow shot 66-69 and was medalist at 5 under par, two shots better than Orlando’s Brendan Valdez and three better than Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz, a LIV Golf member who won a three-man playoff to secure his Open berth.
“It’s been a dream of mine my whole life to play the U.S. Open,” Truslow told Golf Channel after the 36-hole qualifier.
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Monday’s final qualifying — dubbed “Golf’s Longest Day” — featured 645 golfers at 10 U.S. sites competing for just 45 available spots in next week’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Monday’s entry list was dramatically trimmed, through local qualifying last month, from over 10,000 original entries.
The qualifiers round out a final field of 156, most of whom earned automatic exemptions into the 123rd edition of American golf’s national championship.
“Today is the ultimate Monday qualifier,” said Truslow, who has been playing 18-hole Monday qualifiers in an effort to make the field in PGA and Korn Ferry Tour events the past year as he continues recovering from two surgeries on his left wrist.
He qualified for a pair of PGA Tour tournaments this year — the Sony Hawaiian Open and Texas Opens — but missed the 36-hole cut in both.
“I didn’t play well in those events but I learned a lot and hope to carry over those leessons to the U.S.Open,” he said.
Monday at Pine Tree, Truslow was even par through four holes before putting together a stretch of 15 holes at 8 under par. On the final hole of that run — the par-4 first hole, which was his 10th hole of the second round — he holed a wedge from 111 yards for eagle was seven shots ahead of second place.
Without scoreboards in the qualifier and without checking live scoring on his phone, Truslow said he was unaware of his exact situation, but given the course's difficulty, especially in increasing northern gusts, he suspected he was in very good shape.
He played the final eight holes in 4-over, and reflecting on things Tuesday morning, said the late-round challenges were a combination of calculated avoidance of risks, along with nerves.
"I haven’t been in that type of position before, where you can kinda coast in," he said.
Truslow, who now lives in Tampa, lived in New Smyrna Beach from the age of 6 months. After two years of high school at Spruce Creek, including the state title in his sophomore year, he completed his high school golf at Lake Mary Prep before signing with the University of Virginia, where he left during his freshman year.
He turned professional shortly after that while completing his college education at Rollins in Winter Park.
He’d earned full-time status on the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA Tour’s feeder circuit, in 2020 and was gathering momentum — a third-place and runner-up finish over a four-week run — before his initial wrist injury sidelined him.
“It’s been very difficult,” he told Golf Channel Monday. “I didn’t know whether I’d be playing competitive again.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: U.S. Open qualifying: NSB native Austen Truslow survives the long day
