Matthew Robles chips the ball onto the green during the regular season. (**Courtesy of Santa Clara Athletics**)

Santa Clara men’s golfer Matthew Robles ’28 punched his ticket to the 126th U.S. Open, which will be held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York, from June 18-21.

The rising junior advanced through both stages of the U.S. Open qualifying process to earn his spot in the championship field.

During local qualifying at Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton, California, on May 5, Robles fired a 2-under par 70 to finish tied for third. The 18-hole stroke-play event advanced the top five finishers, including Robles, to final qualifying, commonly known as “Golf’s Longest Day,” held June 8 at Del Paso Country Club in Sacramento, California.

At the 36-hole final qualifying event, Robles finished at 6-under par 136, climbing 11 spots with an impressive 5-under 66 in the afternoon round to tie for second on the leaderboard.

Robles credited his success to the work he put in leading up to sectional qualifying.

“I had a higher quality of practice and I was starting to focus on better things,” said Robles. “I was getting more confidence in my swing, and it was allowing me to be able to put in extra time in other places that I thought my game needed the work in.”

Robles finished tied with fellow amateur Eric Lee of Oklahoma State University and one stroke behind PGA Tour professional Taylor Montgomery, who finished first at 7-under par.

“My mind shut off,” said Robles, on what he felt after finding out that he qualified for the U.S. Open. “Once I found out, that was such a surreal moment. To be able to get on some of the calls afterwards with my parents, family, coaches, and supporters, it was an amazing feeling.”

Robles is one of 20 amateurs in the U.S. Open field and will compete against many of the world’s top golfers. Among them is fellow Bronco alumnus and current PGA Tour pro Matt McCarty ’21, who is set to make his third U.S. Open appearance.

Matthew Robles, Andrew Larkin, Devrath Das and Matt McCarty (from left to right) pose for a photo at the U.S. Open during their practice round on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (**Courtesy of Fernando Robles**)

Robles played a practice round Tuesday alongside McCarty, whose caddie is fellow SCU alumnus Devrath Das ’20.

“They’re both such down-to-earth people,” said Robles. “To be able to play with them was probably the best group I could have gotten for the practice round. To see how they prep is the biggest thing I learned.”

When asked whether there would be any competition between the two Broncos this week, Robles did not hesitate.

“Yeah, there will be,” he said.

Robles’ main goal for the week is to finish as the tournament’s low amateur. Shinnecock Hills is expected to play quite difficult, with wind gusts projected to exceed 30 miles per hour.

“It’s the U.S. Open. It’s going to be hard,” Robles said. “I just got to accept that, and I’m going to try and hit every shot to the best of my ability.”

Beyond the competition itself, Robles views the week as a learning experience.

“To be able to have this opportunity going into my junior year of college is going to help fast track what I’m doing in the next few years before I try and play professionally,” he said.

Robles is proud to represent Santa Clara on one of golf’s biggest stages, wearing Broncos gear throughout the week.

“I’ve already had a few people out there that have said, ‘go Broncos.’ It’s cool to see how far the SCU network travels. I’m in New York on the opposite side of the country, and there’s people that know who the Broncos are.”

Robles is scheduled to tee off in the first round on Thursday, June 18, at 11:42 a.m. PT and in the second round on Friday, June 19, at 5:47 a.m. PT.