Pirate Alumnus Joey Herrera to Play in US Open

When the best golfers in the world tee up on Thursday in the first round of the 125th United States Open Golf Championship at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, PA, there will be a Pirate among them. Ventura College alumnus Joey Herrera '18 qualified for the field in the National Championship on June 2 and will be among the competitors seeking the championship trophy and the Jack Nicklaus medal.

Herrera will make his first U.S. Open start after surviving a 2-for-1 playoff for the final spot at the Valencia Country Club qualifier. Herrera got to final qualifying after shooting a 69 at the Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif., on May 12. He is the first former Pirate to qualify for the US Open since VC Hall of Fame inductee Mark Singer '87 played in the national championship in 1993.

A St. Bonaventure High School graduate, the Fillmore native was the Western State Conference Co-Most Valuable Player as a freshman in 2017. He placed second in the season-ending, 36-hole WSC Tournament and was also the 3C2A State runner-up, leading the Pirates to a program-best third place finish at the state championships.

As a sophomore, Herrera dropped his stroke average from 74.44 to 74.10 and earned All-WSC honors for the second straight year. He was the individual medalist at the WSC Championships before finishing 23rd at the state tournament.

Herrera transferred to Cal State East Bay and his stroke average of 72.93 was the best on the team as a senior in the 2019-20 season. He was a two-time all-conference selection in his two seasons at East Bay.

Without any full-time status, Herrera competes on a variety of mini-tours, including the All Pro Tour and Asher Tour. 

Herrera is scheduled to begin play on Thursday June 12 at 2:42 pm EDT (11:42 pm PDT) on the first hole with Grant Haefner and George Kneiser. Coverage of the first round on Thursday will be on the USA Network from 3:30 am until 2:00 pm and streaming on Peacock from 2:00 pm until 5:00 pm local time.

The trio will then begin on hole No. 10 for Friday's second round at 8:57 am EDT (5:57 am PDT) with coverage all day streaming on Peacock.