UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Former Penn State men’s golf student-athlete Travis (T.J.) Howe qualified for his first U.S. Open on Monday (June 6) during sectional qualifying, while three other Nittany Lions narrowly missed the cut.
Howe, who played at Penn State from 2007-11, shot a 7-under-par 137 to place second at the Royal Oaks Country Club in Vancouver, Wash. He earned one of three spots among the 55 competitors at Royal Oaks for the 116th U.S. Open, to be held June 16-19 at Oakmont Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh.Originally from Osceola, Howe won the U.S. Open local qualifier May 19 at the Huntsville Golf Club in Dallas, Pennsylvania. Howe, who resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, is playing on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada this summer. He played in the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship last year, has qualified for several PGA Web.com Tour events, and was among the top money winners on the eGolf Tour the past two years.A 2010 Penn State graduate, Howe was a 2010 Golf Coaches Association of America All-American, a three-time GCAA All-Region selection and a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.Three other current and former Nittany Lions narrowly missed the cut during Monday’s U.S. Open sectional qualifying and an incoming Penn Stater also participated.Former Nittany Lion Kevin Foley shot a 5-under 139 at Canoe Brook in Summit, New Jersey, missing the cut by one stroke. The 2010 Penn State graduate tied for seventh place and is a first-alternate for the U.S. Open. The low six players among the 98 competitors qualified for the U.S. Open, with the last four all shooting 6-under.Cole Miller (New Tripoli), a rising junior at Penn State, and JD Dornes (Lancaster), a May graduate, both shot 4-under 140 at the Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland, to tie for seventh. Only three of the 55 competitors at Woodmont advanced to the U.S. Open, with the last two qualifiers shooting 6-under.Also playing in Rockville was J.D. Hughes (Carlisle), a transfer who will be a sophomore at Penn State in 2016-17. Hughes shot a 5-over 149 during Monday’s U.S. sectional qualifying.Also on Monday, Dornes earned his third consecutive PING All-Region honor and Miller garnered his second consecutive All-Region recognition. They helped the Nittany Lions, coached by Greg Nye, to their 22nd NCAA championship regional appearance in May.