Brownstown native Chris Baker wasn’t playing a lot of golf over the past couple of months, but he made his return last week in an attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open.

Baker played in the final qualification for the U.S. Open at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland last Monday. There was no rust for the 35-year-old, as he went out and shot a -5 across 36 holes and qualified for the U.S. Open for the first time in his career.

Baker is a 2004 graduate of Brownstown Central High School, where he made the state finals three times. He was inducted in the Brownstown Central High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

He went on to play collegiately at Iowa State University from 2005 to 2008.

The former Brave and Cyclone turned pro in 2008, and he has enjoyed a fair share of success since then.

He won on the NGA Hooters Tour on two different occasions, and then he added a third professional win on the European Challenge Tour in 2010 (Moroccan Golf Classic). He also lost a playoff to Andrew Putnam in the Nationwide Tour’s 2017 Panama Claro Championship.

Baker will tee off at 9:56 a.m. (6:56 a.m. PDT) Thursday. He is grouped with J.J. Spaun from the United States and Fabian Gomez from Argentina. He is one of the first groups to tee off Thursday morning at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California, for the U.S. Open.

“Golf has been amazing to me. I’ve traveled the world, met a lot of cool people and done things I didn’t think I would ever do,” Baker told The Tribune two weeks ago. “It has given back to me so much. It’s a game that just keeps giving. It’s a great game and something that has been great to me. I want to send out a huge thank you to my family, friends and community for all of the continued support.”