Nathan Sutherland could feel his round slipping away in the U.S. Open local qualifier yesterday at Tom's Run Golf Course in Blairsville after he had bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes.

He knew he had to make something happen when he reached No. 18, a 521-yard par 5.

"I told myself I had to make a birdie or eagle," said Sutherland, who lives in Reading and recently completed his freshman year at Miami (Ohio).

He laced his drive, stuck a 6-iron and calmly rolled in a 16-footer for an eagle and a 3-under 68 to grab medalist honors and a spot in the sectional qualifier, most likely June 2 in Columbus, Ohio. The ultimate goal is to join the field for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines June 12-15 in LaJolla, Calif.

"That eagle," he said with a smile, "is what I'm going to remember most about this round."

Sutherland and Mike Van Sickle, a graduate of Pine-Richland High School and a senior in the fall at Marquette, were the two qualifiers from among a strong field of 27 that included Bob Ford and Nathan Smith, who both shot 71 along with Grant Sturgeon.

"The scores were a little higher than I thought they would be," Sutherland said. "I actually thought it would take 66 or 67 to get in. I was thinking 68 would be borderline."

Sutherland wasn't completely satisfied with his 68.

"It should have been four or five shots lower," he said. "I had a few iron shots that made me feel good, but I didn't make a lot of putts."

Sutherland held his hands about 2 feet apart and said, "I three-putted from that distance on No. 3." He added with a laugh, "And I was nervous on the last one because I didn't want to four-putt."

Unlike Sutherland, who reached a sectional qualifier for the first time, Van Sickle is looking forward to a return trip to Columbus, where he came within a stroke of making the playoff in last year's sectional. Van Sickle made the drive to Columbus yesterday afternoon to join his Marquette teammates who will be competing in the NCAA Division I championships this week.

Van Sickle elected to play in the local qualifier at Tom's Run because he set the course record there with a 60 at the 2007 Tri-State Amateur.

"It put me in a good mind-set to play a course where you know you can go out and have your way," he said. "I did a pretty good job blocking out [the 60] and just focusing on this round. That round was in the past, but I kind of had in the back of my head that I once shot 60 here."

Other than 10 strokes, what was the difference between the 60 and 70?

"I definitely putted better [in the 60]," he said. "I hit all 18 greens. I certainly didn't come close to doing that today. I putted adequate, making a few and missing a few. I was striking the ball a little better, in general, but my bad shots today weren't too bad and I'm still able to score reasonably well."

Van Sickle played in the first group, long before the wind picked up to bring in rain. He said the highlights of his round was driving the 314-yard 12th hole and reaching the 554-yard 13th in two. He two-putted both for birdies.

"I didn't expect a 70 to hold up. I thought I could leave as soon as there were two lower scores, but I ended up sticking around a lot longer. I was thinking it would take 68 or 69 to qualify. Maybe there was a little advantage getting off first because the greens are in a little better shape and we played fast, that was nice."

NOTE -- Four players advanced in local qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open. Tessa Teachman led the qualifiers with a 1-under 71 at the 6,484-yard Sewickley Heights Golf Club. Emma Jandel (74) and Jenny Suh and Natalie Sheary (77s) also advanced.