Two area golfers gave it their all at the St. Louis U.S. Amateur Qualifying Tournament on July 21-22.

Wesley Hillen of Columbia finished the tournament with a 142, just one spot out of qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Hillen, a Columbia High School graduate, went to a four-person, five-hole playoff. He finished third of that group, just missing a date in the championship in August.

The tournament took place in Ballwin, Mo., at Meadowbrook Country Club.

“He did very well,” Steven Souchek, a Gibault graduate, said. “He was under par on 36 holes at that golf course. That’s pretty good.”

Souchek also competed in the tournament, finishing with a 145 — just three shots shy of qualifying for the playoff. Souchek and Hillen competed many times against each other in high school.

“We battled it out quite a bit in high school,” Souchek said. “Once I went to college, we haven’t been able to play each other too much.”

Souchek attends SIU-Carbondale and has one more year at the school. He studies business marketing.
Two years ago, Souchek finished in the top four of the St. Louis U.S. Amateur Qualifying Tournament.

This year, he thought his play struggled down the stretch.

“I put myself in position, especially on the front-nine the second day. I made a few birdies early, but coming down the stretch on the back nine, I kept putting myself in positions but couldn’t get anything to fall,” Souchek said. “That’s pretty much how golf goes. If they’re going in, you can usually get it done.

But when they’re not falling, it’s tough to get in those top spots.”

The competition was particularly hard.

“The field was very good. Usually, St. Louis has a tougher field than most. This year there were a lot of big names that ended up trying to qualify out of St. Louis,” Souchek said. “That was cool to see. When you want to qualify for the U.S. National Tournament, you want to play the best and beat the best.”

Souchek said he usually plays in up to eight tournaments during the summer. He has one more left this year: the Metropolitan Amateur Championship.

Once he graduates, Souchek said he will try professional golf.

“I think I’ll try that for a year or two,” Souchek said. “But at this point, I’ll give professional golf a shot and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll go and get a job.”

The Metropolitan Amateur Championship is July 30-Aug. 1 at Boone Valley Golf Course in Augusta, Mo.