Kyle Sterbinsky sets Cedarbrook course record with 63, leads U.S. Amateur qualifying

Troubles off the tee had hounded Kyle Sterbinsky for more than a year, something that prevented him from making the starting lineup this spring on a very competitive Wake Forest team.

However, after a so-so opening round in a 36-hole qualifying event Monday for the U.S. Amateur, Sterbinsky found a groove off the tee and rode it to a Cedarbrook Country Club course-record 9-under-par 63 to finish as the medalist for next month’s championship at Pinehurst, N.C.

Sterbinsky, 22, of Yardley, who is entering his redshirt senior season at Wake Forest in the fall, completed 36 holes at 8-under 136. Dawson Anders, 20, of Telford, who will be a junior at Temple, picked up the other available qualifying spot with rounds of 70 and 68 for 138.

Sterbinsky had a tap-in eagle at the par-5 second hole and backed that up with seven birdies. He ended the round with a 9-foot par putt for a sand save, which allowed him to break the course record of 65 set by former Temple star Brandon Matthews at the 2013 Patterson Cup.

“In the afternoon, I kind of found something off the tee which allowed me to hit a bunch of fairways,” he said. “That was pretty much the key, the tee ball.

“When you have it, it’s really, really nice. It frees everything up. I haven’t really had that freedom off the tee in a while. So this feels really, really good to have that tee ball back.”

This will be the third U.S. Amateur for Sterbinsky, who made his first in 2013 as a 16-year-old from the Peddie School. He will play a course with which he is very familiar, with Wake Forest and Pinehurst being separated by about 100 miles.

“I’ve played it a bunch,” he said. “One of my good friends and teammates lives down there, so we get down there a few times a year. Then with the whole team, we get down there probably once a year. It’s a great spot. “

Anders posted seven birdies in his afternoon round, three coming on his second nine, where his short game left him with putts of 6 feet or less. That enabled him to edge out Matthew Mattare (68-71 —139) of Jersey City, N.J., by one stroke for the final qualifying berth.

“Six-under was my goal actually because I knew the course was gettable,” Anders said. “But the greens are pretty tough, so I just knew I needed to make a lot of birdies and hit my wedges well.”

Like Sterbinsky, Anders struggled with his game during the spring and could not crack his team’s lineup. He said his game has come together in the last few weeks, enabling him to qualify for his first U.S. Amateur.

“I guess my swing clicked, and my mental game has been a lot better the last few weeks,” he said. “I’m trying to go out there and go low, nothing about what could happen or what bad things I could do. I just focus on hitting good shots.”

Two holes-in-one were made Monday. Cal Buonocore of Newtown Square aced the 165-yard 16th hole in the morning and Steven Kluemper of Bethlehem holed out a 195-yard shot at the fifth in the afternoon.