Old Wellingtonian Ryan Lumsden qualifies for the US Open

Ryan Lumsden (Bn, 2015) has won through local and sectional qualifying to reach the US Open at Shinnecock Hills from 14th – 17th June. He shot six under par total to qualify alongside Major winners Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley, who had to endure the gruelling 36-hole qualifying event in Columbus, Ohio. He joins the world’s leading players for his first major championship. After a potentially catastrophic double bogey on the 14th hole of his 2nd round, he birdied both the 16th and 18th to qualify, demonstrating the sort of skill, determination and resilience that have enabled him to achieve several top five finishes in NCAA Division1 golf, and to become Scotland’s number-one golfer.

Ryan was a member of the most successful golf team that Wellington has ever seen, alongside Edoardo Lipparelli (L, 2015) and Daniel List (M, 2016). For two years, they won every major event in the UK except the HMC Foursomes, including a record-breaking win in the National Championships at Royal St George’s in 2015. Ryan’s handicap reduced from 6 to +3 in his four years at Wellington, and he then won a place on the team at Northwestern University in Illinois, where he has enjoyed the combination of a great academic education and a world-leading golf programme, under Pat Goss and David Inglis.

This combination of sport and academics was what attracted Ryan to Wellington in the first place, and the competing demands are clearly not mutually exclusive, as Ryan has made the Dean’s List in each of his three years so far. The balance continues even now: after a 6-hour drive back to Northwestern last night, he had end-of-year exams on each of the next three days before going to Shinnecock to prepare for the US Open. We wish him the very best of luck.