Golfers everywhere can appreciate what Mike Van Sickle went through last week at the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Columbus, Ohio.

A senior-to-be at Marquette University and a Pine-Richland High School graduate, Van Sickle shot consecutive rounds of 75 in the 36-hole qualifier Monday and finished back in the pack.

He needed to shoot a score of 139 and even that wouldn't have guaranteed him a spot in the Open field June 12-15 at Torrey Pines outside San Diego, Calif. Eleven players tied with that score at Columbus, but only six earned places in the Open.

Rocco Mediate, a Greensburg, Pa., native who lives in Naples, Fla., was one of the lucky ones at 139. Carl Pettersson won the qualifier with a 131.

It was a different situation than a year ago when Van Sickle just missed getting into a playoff for a spot in the U.S. Open by one stroke.

What's interesting is that Van Sickle wasn't all that disappointed in his sectional score.

"I hit the ball well," he said. "I just didn't score well. That happens."

It doesn't happen a lot to Van Sickle.

Last summer, he won the Pennsylvania State Open and came up with a round of 60 en route to winning the Tri-State Amateur. He lost the West Penn Amateur in a playoff.

In March, he had consecutive sub-70 rounds in winning the Ron Smith/USF Invitational for the second year in a row and, in the process, paced Marquette to a second-place finish. Last month, he was second in the U.S. Open regional qualifier at Tom's Run in Blairsville, Pa.

This weekend he is at the 55th Sunnehanna Amateur in Johnstown, Pa., which concludes today.

Even though he didn't score well at the Open sectional, Van Sickle took something away from the experience.

"It's always good to get an opportunity to play with Skip Kendall," he said of his partner, a PGA Tour pro and Milwaukee native. "It's always an education just watching him."

While Van Sickle gets locked in on his own game in any tournament he plays, he said he does pay attention to what others around him are doing.

"You do notice how other guys are hitting the ball or what they are doing in certain situations," he said. "Last year at the sectional, I paid attention to how Marc Wilson was chipping because he seemed to be holing out all the time. You file it away."

Van Sickle has been pleased with the way he is playing, although he continues to work on things. He has spent time lately with Joe Boros, director of golf at Treesdale Golf & County Club, working on his short game. Van Sickle wants to be more consistent with his shots in the 20- to 80-yard range.

"I've been trying to apply the things we've done in practice into tournaments," he said. "So far, it has worked out."

Like all golfers, Van Sickle doesn't always enjoy the drudgery of practice. But he understands that in order to improve and reach the ultimate goal of a spot on the PGA Tour, it has to be done.

"I pretty much enjoy practice," he said. "You get days when it happens, when you don't want to be out there putting in the time. But then you think you could be [working] in a cubical somewhere and not out in the fresh air doing something you enjoy."

Van Sickle has been on his own this weekend at the Sunnehanna. He is usually accompanied by one of his parents, but his mother, Betsy, had some family matters to attend to. Like most college students, he enjoys the freedom.

"It's nice. You get to do what you want to do when you want to do it," he said.

He played a practice round Wednesday afternoon and then planned to relax. For him that usually involves taking a walk at the nearest mall.

He will have a busy summer and plans to play in a number of tournaments, including the Pennsylvania State Open and the West Penn Amateur.

Last year, he worked as an umpire for Little League games. He has been called once so far this summer to work games but couldn't make it because of prior commitments.

"They haven't called back and that has given me a little more time to work on my game," he said.