Corey, Curtis Earn U.S. Senior Amateur Spots at Red Rock CC Qualifier

James Corey and Brett Curtis shared medalist honors at the 2023 U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifier. They both shot three-under-par 69 totals and now advance to the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship which will be held Aug. 26-31, 2023, at Martis Camp Club in Truckee, CA. The one-day qualifying event was held July 17, 2023, at Red Rock Country Club.–by Bill Bowman, Las Vegas Golf Insider

The first alternate will be Kelly Knievel while Chip Nelson is the second alternate.

For Corey, it was a strong start and an even stronger finish that paved the way for him to move on while Curtis played a steady final 16 holes in four-under-par to advance.

Corey, who lives in Las Vegas and runs the Charles Schwab investment branches in Vegas and is a member at Red Rock, birdied two of his first four holes but then had three bogeys over the next nine holes.

But four birdies over the final four holes vaulted him up the leaderboard and into the Senior spotlight next month.

“I started off well but then kind of lost it,” he said of his stretch where he had three bogeys in a nine-hole stretch. “I missed a few putts for birdie and had a three-putt and it wasn’t looking good through 13 holes.”

He then missed another birdie on No. 14 before finishing with the four straight birdies.

“It was one of those rounds where you just have to keep going and play your game,” he said.

He hit his stride starting on the 15th.

“Those last four holes were perfect,” he said. “Every time I had a number into a green it was perfect. I was never between clubs.”

He then had four straight one-putts to seal his spot in next month’s U.S. Senior Amateur.

“I thought 69 would be good enough to qualify,” he said. “And I started off toward that with two birdies in the first four holes. I thought if I could get to three-or-four under at the turn I would be OK because the back nine is tougher.”

But he wound up stuck in neutral and was one-over-par with four holes remaining.

“I never gave up,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had four birdies in a row and those came at the perfect time.”

Now it’s on to the national spotlight.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “This is the first year I tried to qualify for the U.S. Senior Amateur. In fact, I haven’t been to a USGA championship since I was a junior golfer in 1984.”

He’s got a simple game plan going forward.

“I got the best advice,” he said. “And that is just stick to your game. Someone else is going to hit it further than you and a lot of them will have national championship experience. Just take it one step at a time. The first step is making the cut…give myself a chance.”

Curtis got off to a solid start in earning co-medalist honors…for one hole.

He birdied his first hole but quickly ran into trouble with a double bogey on the par-5 second hole.

He spent the final 16 holes clawing his way back into contention and a birdie on the final hole sealed his spot in next month’s U.S. Senior Amateur.

“I got stuck in the rocks on the second shot and it wasn’t a good feeling,” said Curtis who owns a janitorial company just outside of Seattle. “I putted it through the rocks and out of the mess it was in. I just didn’t have a swing. Only club I could use was a putter. I advanced it about 15 yards down the hill but no closer to the hole. Then I had a bad chip and three putted from there. I blew it up on one hole.”

But he didn’t give up.

“I tried to stay focused and just put my head down and moved ahead,” he said. “I made some good putts along the way and had five birdies and that made all the difference.”

He said the shot he’ll remember the most is his iron shot into the 18th.

“I stuffed it to about two feet,” he said. “It was just a great feeling knowing I gave myself a chance.”

Then it was a waiting game.

“It was a long, long two hours,” he said of his scoreboard watching. “My first step was to go get my brother (Dirk). He was supposed to caddy for me but Las Vegas got to him last night. He didn’t exactly answer the bell this morning. Now he needs to hydrate.”

In the end, Curtis said his brother wanted to be quoted anyway.

“He said ‘I certainly knew how to motivate my horse,’ ” Brett Curtis said with a laugh.

Now comes a chance to play on his biggest stage.

“I really don’t have any goals,” he said. “I didn’t start golf until after college and this has been a great journey. We’ll just see what happens next.”

2023 U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifier

James Corey, 69

Brett Curtis, 69

Kelly Knievel, 70

Chip Nelson, 71