Michael Block can defy all odds once again, but he will need his son’s help.
Two weeks after the club professional from Southern California electrified golf with a hole in one and a 15th place finish at the PGA Championship he will try to qualify for U.S. Open on Monday.
Dylan, his 18-year old son, will also be there.
The Blocks are among the more than 500 golfers who will compete for 60 final qualifying spots for the U.S. Open in Los Angeles, scheduled for June 15-18. The qualifying competitions will be held at 10 different sites. Each site will host a 36-hole event.
Michael Block, 46, said, “If the stars aligned like they did a few weeks ago, and my son and I were both playing at the U.S. Open it would probably be the most amazing experience of my lifetime and outdo Oak Hill, the site of the PGA Championship this year.”
Where will Michael Block and Dylan Block perform?
According to the U.S. Golf Association, there are six instances where fathers and their sons have played together in the same U.S. Open. Golf Association.
Michael and Dylan both had a scheduled match at Hillcrest Country Club, Los Angeles. However, Michael chose to play in the final qualifier at the RBC Canadian Open which starts on Thursday. This was because he has a sponsor exemption.
Val Block, Michael Block’s wife, and Dylan Block’s mother will be in Los Angeles.
She said, “I will be a complete train wreck trying both to follow my husband on my phone while being there for Dylan.” Both of them want it so much. “My heart is already beating hard.”
How rare is a father-son combination?
Michael Block is trying to become the sixth player to play the U.S. Open alongside one of his sons.
- Jack Nicklaus, his son Gary Nicklaus, and their friends played at the Congressional Country Club Bethesda in Maryland in 1997.
- Gary Player and Wayne Player played at Pebble Beach in California, 1982.
- Jay Haas, his son Bill and their father Bill are the only father and son combos to have done it twice. They both made the cut at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 2004, and at Olympia Fields Country Club in 2003.
- Willie Hunter, his son Mac and Joe Kirkwood all did it at St. Louis Country Club Clayton in Missouri in 1947. Joe Kirkwood also did it at Riviera Country Club Los Angeles in 1948.
- In 1903, Tom Anderson Sr. played alongside his sons Tom and Willie in the U.S. Open at Baltusrol Golf Club Springfield in New Jersey.
How did Blocks arrive here?
Michael Block, a former U.S. Open participant who finished tied for second in the PGA Professional Championship on May 3 in New Mexico, was exempted from local qualifying. Top 20 finishers received exemptions.
MORE The top storylines at the U.S. Open Qualifying
Dylan Block, who just graduated high school, needed drama to make it through local qualifying. Dylan Block, a recent high school graduate from Mission Viejo in California where his father is a head professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, eagled a par-5 on the 18th hole to get inside the cutline during a local qualifier held May 3.
Michael Block said: “I caddied for him last year (at a local U.S. Open qualifying event) and he did really well. I misclubbed him a little bit on the back nine so he missed out on it. I was proud that he had made it this far while still in high school. It’s better than anything I have ever done in my life. I am really happy for him.”
Dylan remembered his celebrations with Johnny Binnquist after making a putt of 35 feet on the 18th.
He said, “We made the loudest supersonic hand clap I’ve heard.” It was straight boom.
Another hole-in one?
Michael’s hole in one at the PGA Championship is probably well-known to you. The hole-in-one happened during the final round, when Michael aced the 151-yard par-3 15th with his 7 iron.
You probably didn’t hear about Dylan’s hole in one, which he claimed occurred Friday during a Hillcrest Country Club practice round. He claimed to have done it using a 9 iron on the second-hole.
“One of my family members texted me asking, “What the (expletives) is in Block household water?” Dylan said he had been playing golf with a member of the club at the time. This was his third hole in one. “Yes, I am trying to catch up with my father. He has four.”
He’s also trying to do other things.
“Right away, I am known as Michael Block’s son.” “I want my father to be known by Dylan Block as Dylan Block’s Dad.”
Who else will be playing on Monday?
The final round of qualifying, dubbed “Golf’s Longest Day,” will consist of 36-hole competitions at 13 sectional qualifiers. Three of these have already been held. The U.S. Open field includes more than half players who have earned exemptions in a variety of ways. For example, winning the U.S. Open within the past 10 years or winning another major.
Sectional qualifiers will begin Monday, with nine taking place in the United States of America and one in Canada.
Webb Simpson who won the U.S. Open in 2012 is back to qualify because his 10-year exemption as a winner has expired. Lucas Glover will also be competing, having won the U.S. Open in 2009.
Jaden Soong will play at Hillcrest on the same field with Dylan Block. He is a 13-year old, who is 5-2 and weighs 115 pounds. He can throw the ball up to about 280 yards.
There’s also:
- Jay Jurecic is 52 years old and lives in Caspian, Michigan. He was a math teacher of sixth-and seventh-grade students for 21-years. He left his job two years ago in order to pursue golf full-time.
- Ryan Wilkins is a 32-year-old Woodstock, Georgia resident who was a pitcher for the 2013 College World Series North Carolina State team.
- Matt Parziale is a 36-year-old former firefighter from Brockton in Massachusetts. He’s trying to qualify for his third Open.
The process began with over 10,000 entries, and local qualifying was held on 109 courses. After the last day of qualifying the field of competitors was narrowed down to fathers and their sons, ex-firefighters, former champions, and…
Julia Pine, Director of Championship Communications at the USGA said, “It’s a great snapshot of the U.S. Open’s meritocracy.”
