The 2004 Aragon High and recent Notre Dame de Namur graduate shot a 3-under par 69 to earn medalist honors Tuesday in the first round of U.S. Open qualifying at Mayacama Golf Course in Santa Rosa. With his performance, Storer advanced to the final stage of qualifying June 2 at Lake Merced, which will be a grueling 36-hole round.

If the 5-foot-11, 155-pound Storer finishes in the top five, he will be competing in the U.S. Open, to be played at Torrey Pines in San Diego starting June 12. Storer was coming off a subpar senior college season, and hadn’t been playing particularly well. But for one magical round in Santa Rosa, everything came together. Not that it was a fluke. Storer, 22, shares the Peninsula Golf Course record of 63. He’s broken 70 on several occasions.

“I was thinking 1-under or even-par would be a great round,” he said. “Sixty-nine wasn’t exactly in my mind. It just kind of happened.”

That’s golf in a nutshell. Storer got on a roll and played one of the best rounds of his career. He sank a 40-foot putt to birdie the first hole, and that settled his nerves and paced him to a stellar round. The putt was a huge psychological boost, considering Storer is notoriously streaky with his putter.

“Making that shot kind of let me know it would be a good day,” he said. “Any time you can get in red numbers right away it keeps the confidence up. Especially for me because there are periods where I make every putt, but also period of weeks when I make nothing. I’m pretty excited about this. Just making it to sectionals is a pretty big accomplishment for amateurs.”

At Lake Merced Storer is hoping to be paired with one of the more high-profile PGA Tour players who are not exempt for the U.S. Open. While Storer was pleasantly surprised with his 69, he wasn’t shocked. After all, good things have been in store for Storer ever since he started playing the game regularly as a freshman at Aragon.

Storer is the classic late-bloomer. Unlike a lot of top golfers, he didn’t spend his youth hitting shots at a country club. He rarely played in junior tournaments, focusing on high school events instead. Storer started to develop confidence in his game in his senior year, when he finished third in the Peninsula Athletic League tournament and tied for fifth in the Central Coast Section championships.

He didn’t receive any scholarship offers but had a chance to play for either St. Mary’s or NDNU. He chose NDNU because of the opportunity to play on the team from the get-go (at St. Mary’s he would have to redshirt his first year). With each passing year, Storer’s game improved, and as a junior he won the Pac West Conference championship and was named its player of the year.

However, Storer didn’t play as well in his recently completed senior season. But that didn’t prevent him from shooting a clutch round in what could be a harbinger at Lake Merced. Storer’s greatest strength is his accuracy off the tee. His drives average 285 yards, but the fact that he splits the fairways more often than not has been critical to his success.

Storer is 36 holes from qualifying for the U.S. Open.

The thought alone makes him excited and nervous at the same time. Storer will have a familiar person on his bag. His dad, Randy, has been caddying for his son for a couple of years. Win or lose, they’ll enjoy their time and embrace the moment of trying to qualify for one of golf’s most prestigious majors. Storer noted the fact that the U.S. Open takes place on Father’s Day weekend.

“That would be the best Father’s Day present for him,” Kory said. “Hopefully I can make it happen.”

Emanuel Lee can be reached by e-mail: emanuel@smdailyjournal.com, or (650) 344 5200, ext. 109.