Blake Adams to represent area in U.S. Open

Friday, January 1, 1904

Blake Adams will be the only golfer with Chattanooga-area ties participating in the 2012 U.S. Open, which begins next Thursday at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Adams is a PGA Tour professional who spent part of his childhood in Dalton and took lessons from Lowell Fritz at Dalton Golf and Country Club.

Adams shot a 6-under-par 135 to finish runner-up in the Columbus (Ohio) sectional qualifier Monday.

Seven other golfers with area ties, including former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout Jonathan Hodge, were in sectional qualifiers Monday.

"It's tough to get through a U.S. Open qualifier because there are a lot of good players, PGA Tour players, who aren't exempt," said Hodge, who fell short at Suwanee, Ga., where Jason Bohn was medalist. "It's impressive that Chattanooga had so many players reach this stage, because we're not a golf-destination city like Orlando."