Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Harvey, Louden earn spots in U.S. Amateur

Tuesday, Aug. 11, 1998 | 11:58 a.m.

BRIAN HILDERBRAND is a Las Vegas Sun sportswriter. His golf column appears Tuesdays. He can be reached on the Internet at bh@lasvegassun.com

If the local sports books were to put up a line on this week's Nevada State Amateur Championship, Billy Harvey and Mike Louden certainly would have to be listed as the co-favorites to win the title.

Harvey and Louden capped an outstanding week of golf Monday by qualifying for the 98th United States Amateur Championship, to be played Aug. 24-30 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.

Harvey, a Bonanza High product who attends BYU, won medalist honors with a 7-under-par 137 -- including a final-round 67 -- during Monday's 36-hole qualifying tournament at the Las Vegas Paiute Resort's Snow Mountain course.

Louden, a Green Valley High graduate who attends Fresno State University, captured the second and final qualifying spot with a 2-under-par 142 total.

Last week, Harvey and Louden teamed with Las Vegan Brady Exber to capture the prestigious Pacific Coast Amateur team championship in Eugene, Ore.

"Today, I took from what I learned last week (in Eugene)," Harvey said. "I hit the ball well with my woods all last week and the final nine, I had a one-shot lead and I knew it, and I started hitting it everywhere.

"I figured out after the round that I just got real quick. So the last nine today, I just concentrated on taking it real slow and it helped a lot because I really didn't miss a fairway or a green pretty much the whole back nine."

Harvey opened with a 2-under 70 in the morning round, then blistered the Snow Mountain course in the afternoon. He was the only player to break par during the second round.

Like Harvey, Louden opened with a 70 in the morning round. He cruised around in even-par in the afternoon round.

Coincidentally, Harvey and Louden are paired together in the opening round of the Nevada State Amateur, which begins Wednesday at the Las Vegas Paiute Resort.

* LIFE OF RILEY: Former UNLV All-American Chris Riley shot 12-under-par 272 and finished tied for third place in last weekend's Nike Tour event in Omaha, Neb. Riley, who graduated from UNLV in 1996, sandwiched a pair of 5-under 66s between two 70s and earned $14,125. Riley has earned $69,744 this season and ranks 21st on the Nike Tour money list. The top 15 money winners from the Nike Tour earn limited exempt status on the PGA Tour the following season. Another product of the UNLV golf program, Las Vegas resident Ted Oh, recovered from a third-round 75 and shot a 7-under 64 Sunday -- the low round of the day -- and tied for 38th place. Oh, who turned professional after his sophomore season at UNLV, earned $1,100.

* AROUND THE GREEN: One of two teams representing Southern Nevada captured the 1998 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship last week at Eugene (Ore.) Country Club. The trio of Billy Harvey, Brady Exber and Mike Louden posted a 72-hole score of 576 and defeated a team from the Pacific Northwest by three shots. Harvey paced the Southern Nevada 2 team with a four-round score of 287 and finished in second place in the individual standings, one shot behind the winner. Exber shot 292 and tied for eighth place and Louden shot 304 and tied for 37th. Another team from Southern Nevada finished 25th in the 26-team tournament. Scott Piercy of Las Vegas shot 301 and tied for 25th place in the individual standings. Frank Acker (314) and Al Kuykendall (324) also played for Southern Nevada 1. ... UNLV graduate Bill Lunde jumped to ninth in the latest Golfweek/Titleist men's amateur rankings. UNLV senior Chris Berry is ranked 37th and incoming freshman Adam Scott of Australia is ranked 47th. Randy Creighton of Las Vegas is ranked 21st in the boys' poll.

* UPCOMING EVENTS: The 79th PGA Championship, the fourth and final major of the year, will be held this week at Sahalee Country Club in Redmond, Wash. Davis Love III is the defending champion and Mark O'Meara will attempt to capture his third major after winning the Masters and the British Open. TBS will televise Thursday and Friday and CBS will cover the final two rounds. ... The Senior PGA Tour is in Ada, Mich., for the First of America Classic at Egypt Valley Country Club. Gil Morgan won last year's tournament; there will be no live television coverage. ... Many of the LPGA Tour regulars will be in England this week for the Weetabix Women's British Open at Royal Latham & St. Annes Golf Club. Karrie Webb is the defending champion; there will be no live television coverage. ... The state's top amateur golfers will converge on the Las Vegas Paiute Resort Wednesday through Friday for the 54-hole Nevada State Amateur Championship. Both the Sun Mountain and Snow Mountain courses will be utilized and tee times will run from 6:30 to 9:57 a.m. all three days.