The Knoxville Open qualifying round took place Monday and a Lenoir City man has clinched a spot in the Open.
Matt Mincer shot a -5 (66) at the Links at Kahite Monday to ensure himself a berth in the Knoxville Open, which runs through Sunday.

Mincer was one of seven men to qualify at Kahite.  He was tied with four others at five under par and finished behind Zoran Zorkic of Humble, Texas (-6), Chad Cocco of Bend, Ore. (-6) and Jeff Wood of Sacramento, Calif. (-7).

Mincer birdied his first two holes of the day and then hit par on three straight.  He moved to -3 on hole six and then continued to par the next five consecutive holes.
He hit a two-shot birdie on 12, shot par on 13-14 and then two-shot birdied 15.  He bogeyed 16, but followed that up with a par on 17 and a birdie on 18 to seal the -5 score.

Mincer wasn't the lone Lenoir City resident to take part in the qualifying for the Knoxville Open, as James Reeves of Lenoir City also took part.
Reeves shot one under par (70), but it wasn't enough to qualify.  Reeves struggled on holes 8-12, bogeying three of the five holes, but he also birdied six holes to secure the -1 score.
Reeves birdied holes one, five, six, 13, 15 and 18 on his way to his final score.

The Knoxville Open, part of the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA)'s Nationwide Tour, will be played at Fox Den Country Club in Knoxville.  
The Open will begin Thursday and last through Sunday.
The Knoxville Open has been in existence since 1990 and has crowned numerous winners, including PGA Tour member Jeff Maggert and Hunter Haas.

Maggert was the initial Knoxville Open winner in 1990 and Jarrod Lyle won it last year.
The Knoxville Open is the 15th of 30 Nationwide Tour events, marking the midpoint of the season for the golfers.

The purse for the event is $525,000 and the winning share is $94,500.