First Round: July 10

Second Round: July 11

BREMERTON, Wash. - Xavier senior John Streibich will begin his quest for a United States Golf Association (USGA) title and a possible spot in the 2007 Masters when the 81st U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship begins Monday morning at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.

You can follow Streibich's progress throughout the Championship right here at GoXavier.com, which will feature daily recaps and journals.

Streibich is one of 144 sectional qualifiers in the field of 156 (12 earned sectional byes), shooting a five-under 139 at Hueston Woods Golf Course in Oxford, Ohio on June 21st. The USGA held sectional qualifying with 4,739 entrants at 35 sites across the country in mid-June.

Following Sunday's practice rounds, play begins Monday at 7 a.m. PT (11 a.m. ET) on the 7,061-yard, par-72 Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club. Streibich tees off Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. ET) and Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. PT. He'll play both days with Brian Carroll of Crystal Lake, Ill. & Andrew Sledge of Houma, La.

Stroke-play qualifying will take place both Monday and Tuesday with 18-holes each day. The field is paired down to the 64 lowest-scoring players and seeded in a bracket based on their performance in the qualifying rounds (similar to the NCAA basketball tournament). Five rounds of a match-play tournament over the next three days narrows the field to two for a 36-hole championship match Saturday.

Clay Ogden, the winner of last year's Amateur Public Links at nearby Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio, will be play seven groups ahead of the Xavier senior. Odgen eliminated Michelle Wie on his way to the 2005 title. This year's APL field also includes Tadd Fujikawa and Billy Horschel, who both played in the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

The APL champion receives:

Past winners of the APL include such notable PGA players as Billy Mayfair, David Berganio Jr., Tim Clark and Trevor Immelman, who won Sunday's PGA Tour Cialis Western Open.

On the heels of the Musketeers' NCAA at-large berth, Streibich continues a successful summer for head coach Doug Steiner's program. Sophomore Kyle Hodges earned an alternate spot into the APL as he fired a two-under par 142 at Hueston Woods. Senior Jason Kokrak earned the first alternate spot to play in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot by finishing third overall in the sectional qualifier outside Cleveland with a four-under 140. He was the co-medalist at the local qualifier in Cincinnati, firing a 68 at Maketewah Country Club. Senior Andy Pope carded an even par 72 at Maketewah to earn the second alternate spot for the U.S. Open sectional qualifier.