Monday Qualifiers: Safeway Open

Kevin Dougherty of Murrieta, California, who followed the large footsteps of his good friend Rickie Fowler all the way to Oklahoma State, shot 67 and was among the four Monday qualifiers for this week’s Safeway Open at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa. Kurt Kitayama (65), Dino Giacomazzi (67) and former PGA TOUR pro Steve Allan (68) of Australia were the others who made it through the qualifying, in which 65 players competed (four withdrew) at the 7,104-yard, par-72 Bayonet and Black Horse – Bayonet course. Renowned for his putting prowess, Dougherty has always been a late-bloomer, his junior golf career finally taking flight as he grew and got stronger. He bogeyed the eighth and ninth holes and turned in 1-over 37 in his round at Bayonet on Monday, but shot a 6-under 30 on the back. He played for OSU Coach Mike McGraw and has said Fowler is “like a brother to me.�   Web.com Tour player Kitayama, of Chico, California, made an eagle at the par-5 opening hole and chased it with six birdies and a bogey. The 24-year-old played for UNLV, where was an all-Mountain West and PING All-West Region selection. He still lives in Las Vegas, but now heads back to Northern California, where he tied for 20th at the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae over the summer. Giacomazzi knows golf on the Monterey Peninsula perhaps better than most. He lives in Salinas, and won the 2010 Monterey City Amateur at Del Monte G.C. At Bayonet, one of the tougher tracks in the golf-rich region, he went bogey-free with a 4-under 32 on the front nine. Allan, 43, is perhaps the best known of the four. An Australian whose parents emigrated from Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1970, Allan scored his biggest professional victory at the Holden Australian Open. He played briefly on the PGA TOUR and was headed for what seemed like a certain victory at the 2004 Reno-Tahoe Open, but double-bogeyed the 72nd hole to fall into a sudden-death playoff. Vaughn Taylor won. The T2 finish tied his career best on TOUR (2003 Greater Milwaukee Open). Allan also shot an 8-under 62 in the second round of the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii, but faded on the weekend and tied for 27th.

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