Making Their Way to the U.S. Amateur and Women's Amateur Four-Balls in 2025!
Eureka, MO - It was a nice autumn day at The Legends Country Club for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Qualifiers. Temperatures were comfortable with sunny skies. Play began at 8:30am with the women followed by the men. Play concluded at 6:33pm. Scores were collected at the turn. The course played to a par 72 for the women and a par 71 for the men. There is one qualifying spot available for the women and two qualifying spots available for the men.
The women kicked off the day early and held a tight race. Sarah Hyten of Edwardsville, IL and Eva Brown of St. Louis, MO took the lead through the first nine holes and kept pushing forward. Hyten and Brown - Father McGivney High School and Mehlville High School students, respectively - found themselves in the lead by one-stroke at the turn with a score of three-under (-3) par. Just in front of them was the pairing of Iowa Hawkeye collegiate golfers, Maura Peters of Bettendorf, IA and Ximena Benites of Iowa City, IA. Peters and Benites made the turn at two-under (-2) par. Following behind were Kallie Harrison and Brooke Cusumano of St. Louis, as well as Bella Simoes of Lake Worth, FL and Lily Wachter Saint Augustine, FL at one-under (-1) par.
Things picked up on the back nine for the ladies. Peters and Benites came into scoring first with the then current low round of four-under (-4) par, setting the score to beat. The pair then had to wait for the groups behind to finish, but not for long. Directly behind them were Hyten and Brown with the side of Anna Bell of Poplar Bluff, MO and Sarah Bell of Jackson, MO. The Bells made a run for it on the back nine by carding five birdies to tie Peters and Benites at four-under (-4) par. Hyten and Brown kept their hopes alive by carding a second nine of three-under par. This brought Hyten and Brown to a total of six-under (-6) par and safely secured them the qualifying spot with medal honors. By way of being the only team present, the Bells took the first alternate spot and Peters and Benites would settle for the second alternate spot.
As the women were finishing up, the men were in full swing and the battle was close. At the turn, Joe Migdal of Ellisville, MO and Sam Migdal of St. Louis, MO carded the low front nine score of five-under (-5) par. Though this put them on top, Richard “Skip” Berkmeyer of Town and Country, MO and Brad Nurski of St. Joseph, MO were close behind at four-under (-4) par after nine. Neither team was in the clear just yet, as four teams sat at three-under (-3) par and eleven teams sat at two-under (-2) par at the turn. The four teams at three-under were Tyler Parr of England, AR and Caleb Miller of Cabot, AR, Matthew Rison of Oklahoma City, OK and Stafford Gray of Lonoke, AR, Dustin Sloat of Charleston, IL and Tyler Comerford of Glen Carbon, IL, and Corey Choate of Eureka, MO and Jason White of St. Charles, MO.
As scores started pouring in and players waited, the leaderboard continued to remain stacked. Berkmeyer and Nurski came into the clubhouse and broke away from the pack. With a back nine of seven-under par, the pair finished with a total of eleven-under (-11) par. Separating themselves from the group, Berkmeyer and Nurski sat firmly on the top of the leaderboard. As more scores were returned, we had an interlude where the next best score was five-under (-5) par. The side of Brendan Bargetzi of Highland, IL and Cameron Lauchner of Edwardsville, IL along with the side of Kyle Hosick of Carmi, IL and Jeff Gray of McLeansboro, IL had to play a waiting game to see if their scores would be beaten out.
Directly behind Hosick and Gray was the side of Tyler Parr and Caleb Miller. Parr and Miller would take the hope of a qualifying spot from the five-under crew by carding a final score of eight-under (-8) par. Parr and Miller seemed to be in a comfortable spot, but the Migdal brothers had other ideas. Sam Migdal’s birdie on the 17th hole would push the Midgals ahead and continue to add to their impressive front nine score to finish the day at nine-under (-9) par. A few groups still remained on the course as daylight was fading, and the side of Ryan Eckelkamp of Washington, MO and Tony Gumper of St. Charles, MO had one final blow to deliver to the group sitting at five-under. Eckelkamp and Gumper had made the turn at two-under par, but without giving up, they carded a back nine of four-under to push into fourth at six-under (-6) par. The day would finish with Skip Berkmeyer and Brad Nurski on top in the medalist honors qualifying spot, and Joe and Sam Migdal earning the second qualifying spot. Parr and Miller would take the first alternate position and Eckelkamp and Gumper would take the second alternate position.
Next year, Sarah Hyten and Eva Brown will make their way to Oklahoma for the 10th U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club from May 10-14. The week after, Skip Berkmeyer and Brad Nurski, alongside Joe Migdal and Sam Migdal, will visit Plainfield Country Club in Edison, NJ for the 10th U.S. Amateur Four-Ball from May 17-21. The first alternate for the women is Sarah Bell and Anna Bell with the second alternate being Maura Peters and Ximena Benites. The first alternate for the men is Tyler Parr and Caleb Miller with the second alternate being Ryan Eckelkamp and Tony Gumper. The completion of this qualifier concludes the USGA Qualifiers in this region held during the 2024 season.