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Summertime and, for High Point golfer Drew Weaver, the living is anything but easy.

Weaver already had planned for a busy summer of golf — six tournaments in two months — in his bid to make the U.S. Walker Cup team. That schedule became even more hectic Monday after Weaver qualified for next week's U.S. Open at Bethpage.

Weaver put together rounds of 69 and 70 for a 5-under-par 139 total that put him in a playoff at a sectional qualifier in Rockville, Md. Pars on the first two playoff holes earned him one of the seven berths up for grabs among 71 golfers at Woodmont Country Club.

Weaver is the second Triad golfer to qualify for the U.S. Open. Andrew McLardy, a South African who plays largely on the European PGA Tour but lives in Greensboro, qualified last week in England.

Weaver is three-fourths of the way to playing in his own Grand Slam — he's already competed in the British Open and the Masters as 2007 British Amateur champion — so he could be excused for not getting excited about next week's tournament at Bethpage Black. Weaver dismisses such foolishness.

"It's just as exciting because it really validates the extra work I've put into my game lately," he said by phone Tuesday. "I know what I can do, and if I go out and do it like I did (this week) I can see the success from it."

Weaver has been working with Jim Brotherton, director of golf at Willow Creek in High Point, on his swing for the past two weeks to erase a slight fade from his drives, and with another coach in Sea Island, Ga., on his putting.

"Everything's coming together at the right time," Weaver said.

Weaver, who graduated from Virginia Tech in May, packed his car last week with two months worth of clothes and clubs for what will certainly be a grueling summer of golf.

He's in Johnstown, Pa., for the Sunnehanna Amateur, one of the summer's top amateur tournaments, before heading to Long Island for next week's U.S. Open. Then it's five more weeks of golf.

Weaver wants to turn professional and will try to earn his PGA Tour card in the fall. But for now, he dearly wants to earn a Walker Cup spot. The amateur event, which pits a squad from the United States against the best amateur golfers from England and Ireland, will be held this year at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.

"It's my last chance before I (turn professional)," Weaver said. "I want to put everything I've got this summer into making that team."

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com