PORTLAND, Or. - Chad Fribley, the 50-year-old Director of Instruction at Persimmon Country Club in Gresham, Oregon (and a Tualatin, Oregon native), qualified for his first U.S. Senior Open Championship, the 46th edition, to be held July 2-5, 2026, at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.

He advanced through both stages of the USGA qualifying process: local and final qualifying. Local qualifying was on April 27, at Willamette Country Club, in Canby, Oregon where Fribley shot a 73, getting him into final qualifying.

The final qualifying was on May 18, at Oakbrook Golf & Country Club, Lakewood, Washington, where he shot a 3-under 68 (solo third place). This earned him the final qualifying spot. Medalist honors went to Matthew Daniel (Canada) and Warren Pineo (Palm Desert, CA), who both shot 4-under 67. Fribley finished two shots clear of a playoff.

“I drove up and back from Tualatin on Saturday before the qualifier to get in a practice round,” Fribley said. “Then I had to get up at 2:30am on Monday and drive back to Tacoma for my 7:40am tee time. while not ideal this was what I had to do to meet the needs of my work schedule and family needs. After the early wake up call and drive, I felt really good and had a nice warm up session.”

Fribley got off to a blazing start at final qualifying, going 5-under through his first five holes including a chip in for eagle on the first hole.

“I got off to a dream start by chipping in for eagle on the first hole. Then I birdied #2, #4, and #5, to start -5 through 5 holes. This was probably my best start ever in a tournament,” Fribley said. “After the 6th hole, I started to have a little trouble keeping my mind in the present as I started to think about who was going to be the first phone call I make after I qualified. Struggling to stay focused led me to having to really fight on the back nine to maintain my position. The weight of the moment was made more difficult by increasing winds.”

He birdied the 10th to reach 6-under before bogeying four of the last six holes (shooting 2-over on the back nine).

“Eventually, I made some better swings on my last 4 holes but still could not avoid a couple late bogies,” Fribley said. “After I finished at -3 (68), I took my first look at the online scoring and saw I was tied for third. Two players had finished 1 shot better than me and the player I was tied with is a NW golf legend (Jeff Coston).

“I was immediately sick to my stomach thinking that I had let my chance slip through my fingers. Over the next hour my caddie Chris and I nervously watched for scoring updates to see if you were going to be in a playoff for the last spot.”

But he would go on to finish in the third spot after the closing groups had difficult finishes as well, with the pressure of the event in full view.

His reaction to finally reaching this milestone was heartfelt.

“I immediately raised my arms and fell off the wall I was sitting on. My first phone call was to my wife,” Fribley said. “My second call was to my mom, and that was where the emotions finally hit. Talking with my mom brought me to tears as I wished I could have been able to share this moment with my dad. He is the one who introduced me to golf but sadly passed away 10 years ago. My parents have always supported my entire golf career and this moment was as much for them as it was for me.”

Fribley has a strong competitive background as a former collegiate player at New Mexico State and mini-tour competitor (NGA Hooters Tour, Cascade Tour, etc.). He has reached U.S. Open final qualifying five times and attempted PGA Tour Q-School five times before transitioning primarily into teaching roles (including at notable venues like Kapalua Resort and PGA West).

“Qualifying for this years event marks the biggest event I have ever competed in. Everything will be bigger, bigger event, best players in the world over 50, more spectators than I have ever played in front of,” Fribley said. “So immediately after qualifying I was flooded with emotion. One emotion was the feeling of finally realizing a dream that I have had for 40 years. That emotion was then followed by the thought of "oh great now I have to get ready to hit a tee shot in front of hundreds or even thousands of people". Each day since qualifying has been great to realize what is coming in a few short weeks and the excitement is just building.”

He has also worked at notable places such as Kapalua Resort, PGA West and La Quinta Country Club but the members at Persimmon have supported him during this special moment in his career.

“The member response at Persimmon has been amazing,” Fribley said. “The people up there have always supported me since I started my instruction business 3 years ago. Currently I have have a GoFundMe page going for donations to help with the expenses of taking my family and I to this event. We have almost reached our donation goal with the majority of money coming from Persimmon members.”