Deadlines approach for Open qualifiers

Entry deadlines for the first USGA qualifiers of the year are approaching, with U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open applications due this month.

Hawaii has two local 18-hole qualifiers for the U.S. Open, at Hoakalei Country Club in Ewa Beach and at King Kamehameha in Wailuku. Entry deadline is April 23 at 11 a.m.

This year’s U.S. Open Championship will be June 12-15 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Pinehurst No. 2, in North Carolina.

For the first time, the U.S. Women’s Open will be at the same course, from June 19 to 22. Hawaii’s 36-hole sectional qualifier is at Waialae Country Club. Entries close April 30. Qualifiers from this site advance directly to the national championship, with the number of qualifiers dependent on the number of participants.

Deadline for the final U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links is May 14. Hawaii qualifiers will be at Wailua and Ewa Beach. The national championship will be at The Home Course, in Dupont, Wash., July 14-19.

The U.S. Amateur Public Links entry deadline is May 28. Hawaii has four local qualifiers, at Hilo Muni, Ala Wai, Kauai Lagoons and Waiehu. The national event will also be July 14-19, at Sand Creek Station Golf Course, in Newton, Kan.

All registration must be done online at USGA.org.

Big West Conference women tee it up

Hawaii tees off in the Big West Women’s Golf Championship on Sunday at San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Country Club.

The Rainbow Wahine will bring four freshmen and sophomore Nichole Cruz to the three-day event. Cruz was 32nd individually last year, when the Wahine took eighth.

Freshmen Izzy Leung and Raquel Ek have Hawaii’s top scoring averages at 75.3 and 76.8.

UC Davis has won the past four BWC titles and holds the highest Golf Week ranking at No. 41. Long Beach State (75), UC Irvine (83) and Cal State Fullerton (84) are the only other schools in the top 100. Hawaii is No. 112.