Casey 9th In Amateur Golf Championship Sectional

Close, but not close enough.

Conor Casey of Madison turned in a top 10 finish in sectional play but missed qualifying for the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship by a scant four strokes.

The 22-year-old from Madison Golf Club on Thursday shot a 72-72-144 on the par-71, 6,903-yard course at Battleground Country Club in Tennent, N.J. He finished tied for ninth in the one-day two-round event, five strokes off the low score of 139 carded by John Foster of Concord, Ontario (Canada), and behind the 140 shot by Anthony Aloi of Plainsboro and Richard Jung of Toronto.

The trio qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship, the latter two in a playoff, to be contested at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisc., Aug. 22-28. Two alternates also were chosen.

Nicholas Lamberti, also of Madison, shot a 75-78-153 to finish in a tie for 33rd.

Casey, who captained the golf team at Villanova University, had four birdies in the first round Thursday and followed that up with three more birdies in the concluding round. He shot 39 on the front nine in both rounds.

Earlier this month Casey tied for 16th at the 91st New Jersey Golf Association Open Championship at Hollywood Golf Club in Deal.