Hagestad returns to Big Canyon for U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying

Stewart Hagestad’s love for golf started at Big Canyon Country Club. He grew up there and it’s the place he calls home.

Hagestad is making an important return to Big Canyon on Monday and with a great deal of fanfare. He was the Silver Cup winner for being the low amateur at the Masters. Hagestad will be among an impressive field of 103 players in the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying event, 36 holes, 18 at Big Canyon and 18 at Newport Beach Country Club. They’ll be vying for five spots to qualify for the U.S. Open to be played June 12-18 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.

“I’ve accomplished a lot of life goals in the past six months, but I have a lot more, obviously,” Hagestad said in an interview with BZA Public Relations a week after the Masters.

Hagestad, the reigning Big Canyon men’s champion, has kept himself busy with amateur events after his remarkable run at the Masters, which ended April 9, the day before his 26^th birthday. He said he had never experienced the immense pressure he did when he played practice rounds with Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar and Thomas Pieters.

“I was just terrified – indescribably petrified,” said Hagestad, who is on a leave of absence with a real estate finance firm as a financial analyst. “Playing in front of 25,000 people that are all simultaneously judging you. Just terrifying.”

But Hagestad settled down when the Masters began because he said he, “could put the blinders on, get selfish and get into my own space.”

Four days later, after he shot 74-73-74-73 at Augusta National to finish tied for 36th, he sat for a nationally televised interview in Butler Cabin alongside newly crowned Masters champion Sergio Garcia.

Hagestad, who played for USC, had finished three shots lower than Curtis Luck, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. It capped a memorable week that included lunch with Phil Mickelson and Condoleezza Rice and playing 18 holes with two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw and his longtime caddie Carl Jackson.

“There was something that happened every day that I’ll be able to talk about the rest of my life,” Hagestad said.

Hagestad is one of several familiar names in Monday’s U.S. Open Qualifying field in Newport Beach, including Costa Mesa’s Jake Knapp, who made it to his first U.S. Open out of this qualifier two years ago.

Knapp, 23, who medaled at the U.S. Open local qualifier on May 16 at Ironwood in Palm Desert with a 68, displayed great confidence when he finished tied for second at the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifier two years ago. His confidence is now on a higher level.

The former Estancia High standout who played for UCLA grabbed his first professional win in March with a victory that earned him exempt status on the PGA Tour Canada Mackenzie Tour in 2017.

He’ll be working on a tight schedule coming in to Newport Beach on Monday. He finishes play in the Freedom 55 Financial Open in Vancouver on Sunday. He hopes for no flight delays as his tee time is 7:40 a.m. on Monday on No. 10 at Big Canyon.

Qualifying for the U.S. Open two years ago was special for Knapp, who shot 10-under 61 at Newport Beach to win the U.S. Open local qualifier in 2012. Qualifying on Monday would be just as great, if not greater, as his father, Bob, grew up in Wisconsin.

Max Homa of Corona del Mar is also attempting to qualify for his second U.S. Open. The former All-American out of UC Berkeley has won twice on the Web.com Tour.

Beau Hossler, who is also from Orange County, is in the field and is trying to qualify for his fourth U.S. Open. Hossler, an All-American and two-time Big 12 Conference Player of the Year at the University of Texas, qualified for the U.S. Open two years ago out of Newport Beach.

Champions Tour players Paul Goydos and 2015 Toshiba Classic champion Duffy Waldorf are also in Monday’s competition. Goydos, who has two PGA Tour wins and four Champions Tour victories, has competed in 10 U.S. Opens with his best finish a tie for 12^th in 1999 at Pinehurst No. 2.

Waldorf, who has four PGA Tour wins and two Champions Tour victories, has competed in 13 U.S. Opens, including a tie for ninth in 1994 at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.

steven.virgen@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveVirgen