Having tried three times to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship only to come up short at Oak Valley Country Club in Advance, Kevin O’Connell decided this year he’d try a different route.

When he discovered a sectional qualifier would be played at Salisbury Country Club in Midlothian, Va., a course on which he won a junior event a few years ago, he decided that was the place he’d give it a go.

“Having fond memories obviously helped,” said O’Connell, the 2007 NCHSAA 4-A state champion as a senior at Green Hope High. “It was the same golf course. Nothing’s changed. You see a course you’ve won at before and it’s outside North Carolina, it was a nice fit.”

The move paid off.

O’Connell shot a competitive course-record eight-under 64 in the first round on Aug. 4 and a three-under 69 in the second the following day to win the sectional qualifier by five strokes and advance to the U.S. Amateur, which will be played at Pinehurst Resort next week.

“There was nothing stressful about the rounds up there in Virginia,” O’Connell said. “It was nice to get out of North Carolina and go where I didn’t really know anybody. It was just a quiet three days. I got to go up there by myself and do my own thing. I hit the ball like I usually do and just made a couple more 10-15-foot putts. That’s really all it was.”

O’Connell, a rising sophomore at North Carolina, has been on a tear since his spring season in Chapel Hill. Though he didn’t win a tournament, his 71.66 stroke average led the UNC golf team. He had seven top 10 and nine top 20 finishes in 11 tournaments. He was the ACC Freshman of the Year and a third-team All-American.

In July, he was the MVP of the Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship in Tokyo. He won all three of his matches and had the best three-round score in the field.

He attributes the surge in his game to two things: greater distance off the tee and more consistent putting. O’Connell said he’s hitting roughly 15 yards farther with his driver than he was a year ago. The distance might not seem like much but it makes a big difference by the end of a round.

But he’s doing the most damage with his putter. Last spring, O’Connell met twice with noted sports psychologist Dick Coop, who is a professor of educational psychology at UNC-Chapel Hill.

“When I go out and practice my putting, there’s actually a purpose to it now instead of just going out and by trial and error figuring out my putting stroke,” O’Connell said. “He gave me some great drills. We created a routine I do every time. That has just led to better putting.”

The drills have also allowed O’Connell to adjust mid-round. At the N.C. Amateur Championship in June, his putter abandoned him and the rest of his game crumbled. He was six-under through two rounds but shot 10-over-par the next two, going from first place to sixth in the process.

In the second round of last week’s qualifier, he was three-under par through the first four holes but made the turn at even par. This time, he didn’t let it bother him. He refocused and shot three-under on the back nine, making 25- and 30-foot putts along the way.

Now O’Connell returns to where his game began to take shape. He took his first lessons at Pinehurst in his early teens. In 2006, he and his teammates at Green Hope won the state championship on the No. 6 course. Earlier this summer, he reached the semifinals of the North & South Amateur on the same courses that will be used next week.

The U.S. Amateur will be contested first over 36 holes of stroke play on the Nos. 2 and 4 courses. The top 64 players will then advance to match play, which will be played exclusively on No. 2.

Though he’s been playing well as of late, he’s hoping he hasn’t peaked just yet.

Said O’Connell, “I would like to peak at the biggest amateur tournament in the world.”