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NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Converting their respective birdie chances on the final hole Monday, John Brellenthin and Joel B. Johnson both carded rounds of even par 72 at Willinger’s Golf Club to share medalist honors as well as a spot in the field at the 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur at Baltimore Country Club.
Brellenthin advances for the second consecutive season, and while it’s Johnson’s first trip to the U.S. Senior Amateur, he’ll make his sixth appearance at a USGA championship next month in Maryland.
“It’s never easy to qualify for a USGA championship,” Brellenthin said after earning his spot Monday. “The golf course was very, very difficult because there’s not a lot of room to hit it. The pins were really hard, which they should be, you’re qualifying to play in a national tournament. Played really well and hit some very good shots—very happy with how I played and I’m ecstatic that I qualified.
“Hoping that I’ll do better this year than I did last year. I was disappointed because I didn’t play very well.”
A steady front nine saw Brellenthin turn in 1-under before taking bogey at the par-4 12th. He’d take advantage of a birdie opportunity from 15 feet at the 14th but ran into trouble with a double-bogey at the par-4 16th.
A two-putt birdie from 20 feet at the 18th earned Brellenthin a spot in the national championship for a second straight season.
“I need to prepare a little differently. The course was difficult, but it was very fair, I just wasn’t comfortable and made a couple of double-bogeys, which I normally don’t do. I have a tendency to overprepare and play two or three practice rounds. You’ve got to hit the ball in the fairway, get it to the green and be patient, which I was today.”
Brellenthin, 62, won the Minnesota Senior Open at Hastings Golf Club in 2018 and then claimed the Minnesota Golf Association Senior Amateur on his home course at The Minikahda Club in 2021.
He earned MGA Senior Player of the Year honors in 2022, and with partner and former University of Minnesota teammate Tim Peterson, has collected four consecutive wins at the MGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
Johnson, who won his 13th state title earlier this season at the MGA Mid-Players’ Championship at Royal Golf Club, looks to make the cut for the first time in his six appearances at a USGA event.
“Played in a lot of USGA events lately but haven’t made the cut, so hopefully we can get to match play this year,” Johnson said. “The courses at USGA championships are usually pretty hard, so I’m going to have to get the putter a little more dialed in and more consistent. I’m excited, can’t wait.”
“Play of the tee was the toughest part—I didn’t hit a driver today, left it in the car. Just tried to keep the ball in play at not do anything stupid. Iron game was really good, and the wedge game was good."
Playing his opening nine in even par Monday, Johnson moved into red figures at the 12th with a birdie from inside of eight feet but would give two shots back with bogeys at the 14th and 16th holes.
Left with six feet for birdie at the last, Johnson dropped his birdie putt to return to level par, joining Brellenthin in the clubhouse with a 72 to punch his ticket.
Johnson, 55, qualified for the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, where Farmington, Minn., native Sammy Schmitz defeated Marc Dull in the final match at John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Fla.
He qualified in back-to-back seasons for the U.S. Senior Open in 2022 and 2023, while also advancing to the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2023. The following season he qualified for his second U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot, Va.
Winner of the 2024 MGA Amateur Championship, Andrew Dallas, from Lakeville, Minn., finished as first alternate Monday, while 2017 MGA Amateur champion Dave Carothers, of Buffalo, Minn., finished as second alternate.
Last year, Iowa’s Mike McCoy, who captained the 2024 U.S. Walker Cup team to victory in Scotland at The Old Course at St. Andrew’s, became the first player in USGA history to win both the U.S. Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Senior Amateur, defeating Greg Sanders, 3 and 2, at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas.
Minnesotans Tim Peterson, Jay Coatta and Brellenthin advanced from the qualifier at Forest Hills Golf Club a year ago, but all three would miss the cut for the match play.
Opened in 1898, the A.W. Tillinghast designed Baltimore Country Club was one of the first 100 clubs to open in the United States. This year’s championship marks the fifth USGA event contested at the club, most recently, the 1988 U.S. Women’s Open won by Liselotte Neumann.
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