Storylines For The 2009 U.S. Amateur Public Links

Zach Barlow, age 22, of Percy, Ill., is a senior at the University of Illinois and winner of the 2008 Illinois State Amateur.  He also played in 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur.  Barlow suffers from Scoliosis, which he had corrected in 2005 through surgery to place two rods and 20 screws in his back.

Brent Booth, age 22, of Los Altos, Calif., is a senior at U.C. Davis.  He made a 20-foot eagle putt on the last hole to qualify for the 2009 U.S. APL.  He suffered a broken foot about six weeks earlier and was not sure he would be able to play in the qualifier.

Austin Bowman, age 23, of Pryor, Okla., was a three-time Oklahoma state champion in high school.  He won ESPN’s “America’s Best Twosome” competition with his brother in 2007.

Joshua Brock, age 20, of Wilmington, N.C., qualified for 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park.  He shot 83-79 to miss the cut.

Jon Brown, age 41, of Urbandale, Iowa, is a three-time representative of Iowa in the USGA Men’s State Team (2003, 2005, 2007).  He is an area sales manager for Union Bank & Trust Co., and won the 2006 Iowa Amateur championship. He is also a seven-time winner of the Des Moines City Championship.

John Chin, age 22, of Temecula, Calif, was the runner-up in 2008 U.S. APL.  He is a senior at U.C. Irvine and was is a two-time Big West Conference Player of the Year (2008, 2009).

Craig Cyr, age 25, of Austin, Texas, won the New Hampshire Amateur in 2005.  Nicknamed “Oreo,” Cyr wears one black shoe and one white shoe on the golf course.

Tim Fisher, age 28, of Statts Mills, W.Va., is a two-time West Virginia Amateur winner (2005, 2008).  He was named West Virginia player of the year in 2008 and works for Verizon.

Rickie Fowler, age 20, of Murrieta, Calif, is the winner of the 2008 Ben Hogan Award and 2008 Phil Mickelson Award, and was a first team All-America in 2008 and 2009.  Fowler was a winning USA Walker Cup team member in 2007 and returned a 72-hole score at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He is a junior at Oklahoma State University.

Danny Green, age 52, of Jackson, Tenn., is the oldest player in the field.  Green is a prolific competitor in USGA championships.  He was a 2001 USA Walker Cup Team member and was the 1999 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion.  Green will be inducted into Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in November.

Josh Gregory, age 34, of Augusta, Ga., is currently the men’s golf coach at Augusta (Ga.) State University.  He was the head coach of Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Japan in 2003.

Maximilian Greil, age 21, of Nordhorn, Germany, recently completed the Los Angeles Marathon in May in a time of 3:32.01.  Born in Germany, Greil has lived most of his life in Italy, and is now a sophomore at U.C. Irvine.

Cason Hammock, age 24, of Columbus, Ga., was a semi-finalist in 2008 U.S. APL.  He is now a senior at Columbus (Ga.) State University.

Brian Haskell, age 43, of St. Joseph, Mo., has qualified for his first U.S. APL championship after seven attempts.  He has played in two U.S. Mid-Amateur championships and was recently a semi-finalist in the Missouri Amateur.

Brad Hastings, age 34, of Easton, Md., represented Maryland in 2007 USGA Men’s State Team championship.  He is a two-time winner of Maryland State Amateur (1999, 2007).

David Johnson, age 22, of Palm Bay, Fla., was a semi-finalist at the 2008 U.S. APL.  He was recently a semi-finalist at the North & South Amateur in Pinehurst and was named the 2008 Florida State Golf Association player of the year.

Ricky Jones, age 37, of Thomaston, Maine, twice represented Maine in the USGA Men’s State Team (2003, 2005).  Jones has played in the U.S. Amateur, the U.S. Mid-Amateur, and the 2008 U.S. APL.  He is a two-time winner of the Maine Amateur (2003, 2004) and winner of the 2006 Maine Open.  Jones works as the controller of cement manufacturing company.

Sihwan Kim, age 20, of Buena Park, Calif., won the 2004 U.S. Junior Amateur.  He was twice a quarterfinalist in the U.S. Amateur (2007, 2008).  Kim qualified for the 2009 U.S. APL at Los Serranos G. & C.C. in Chino Hills, Calif.

John Lee, age 15, of Los Alamitos, Calif., is the youngest player in the field, aged 15 years, eight months, seven days when the championship begins.  He was the MVP of his high school league in Los Alamitos, Calif.

Brian Marchiori, age 34, of San Antonio, Texas, finally qualified for the U.S. APL in his 10th effort.  He advanced at Pecan Valley G.C. in San Antonio, Texas, site of the 2001 APL.

Braxton Marquez, age 22, of Scottsdale, Ariz., qualified for the U.S. APL on Father’s Day, which was especially meaningful as his father died from cancer three months earlier.  He won the Pac-10 championship with Arizona State and uses a silver dollar enclosed with some of his father’s ashes as a ball marker.

Jon McCaslin, age 25, of Olympia, Wash., is a plumber who operates a family-owned plumbing business.  He cites qualifying for the 2009 U.S. APL as his most memorable experience in golf.

John Mlynarski IV, age 19, of St. Michaels, Md., once played 219 holes in one day to raise $10,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Cancer Research.

Corey Nagy, age 20, of Charlotte, N.C., is a returning semi-finalist from the 2008 U.S. APL.  Nagy is a three-time All America for UNC-Charlotte.

Matt Nagy, age 20, of Buena Vista, Ga., qualified for 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park, where he shot 76-80 to miss the cut.

Eddie Olson, age 21, of Las Vegas, Nev., has played in four U.S. Amateur championships (2005-2008), advancing to match play in each.  Entering his junior year, Olson is a two-time All America at UNLV.

Brent Paladino, age 22, and Cody Paladino, age 20, are brothers from Kensignton, Conn.  Cody was the runner-up at the 2007 U.S. APL.  This is the third USGA championship where both brothers have played simultaneously (2007 APL, 2007 U.S. Amateur).

Cameron Peck, age 18, of Olympia, Wash., is the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, having won at Shoal Creek in 2008. He will be a freshman at Texas A&M this fall.

Kyle Peterman, age 21, of Springfield, Ill, played in 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park.  He shot 81-75 to miss the cut, but qualified by winning 3-man playoff in sectional qualifying.

Storylines compiled by David Normoyle. Contact him with questions or comments at dnormoyle@usga.org.