They're doing something they love, and yet they still act as if they're filing their taxes.

One golfer procrastinated so badly he entered with only 56 seconds remaining before the deadline last Wednesday. But Keith Stone of Chelmsford, Mass., hit the button soon enough to be among the 8,390 players who have signed up to try to qualify for the 108th U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

The entries were the second-lowest amount received in the past decade.

According to the U.S. Golf Association, 92 percent of the total entries were received online, including 1,192 in the final two days and 102 in the last hour.

The youngest golfer to enter is 12-year-old Rico Hoey of Rancho Cucamonga; the oldest is 79-year-old Harris Moore Jr., a professional from Los Angeles. The USGA received entries from golfers in all 50 states – the most coming from Californians – and 68 foreign countries.

There are sons of at least seven PGA Tour winners who paid the $150 for qualifying. The entries include the father-son combos of Mark O'Meara, a winner of the Buick at Torrey Pines, and his son, Shaun; and Olin Browne and Olin Jr. Former U.S. Open champion Larry Nelson has two sons trying to qualify, and the sons of Greg Norman, John Cook, Joey Sindelar and Tom Weiskopf also are entered.

Fifty-eight pros have already earned exemptions, with another 25 likely to gain spots sometime in May. That would leave about 8,330 competing for just over 70 spots.

There will be 111 local, 18-hole qualifiers played beginning in early May, followed by 14 sectionals. The 36-hole California sectional will be played Monday, June 2, at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City.

College golf kudos

It has been an amazing run, likely unprecedented for college golf in San Diego. In the span of the past two weeks, three teams have won either their conference or region tournament and had a player on the squad capture the individual title.

“I'll tell you what, there's some pretty good golf going on,” said Ben Foster, in his 34th season as the Point Loma Nazarene men's coach.

USD won its first West Coast Conference title two weeks ago, with Torero Jake Yount earning medalist honors in a sudden-death playoff. Last week, PLNU extended its school record for tournament wins to six in taking the NAIA Region II tournament, as junior Sam Cyr led with his personal victory. And individual champion Carly Ludwig powered the Cal State San Marcos women to their second straight NAIA Region II title.

The victory made USD an automatic qualifier for the NCAA West Regional next month, while PLNU and CSUSM will compete in the NAIA National Championships. The San Marcos women host the nationals at Lake San Marcos Country Club on May 19-23.

Any of the teams would probably need a miracle performance to win a national title, but they all have gathering momentum on their side.

The six tournament wins for PLNU this season are not only unprecedented for the Sea Lions, it may be a record for any San Diego golf team. Foster doesn't remember any of his squads winning more than three times in a year.

“It's pretty hard to win a tournament any time,” Foster said. “A lot of things really have to fall into place, and we've had a great year.”

Cyr, a junior from Hawaii, recorded a school-record season average of 72.32 last year, and he's beating that by about a stroke this season. He already has been selected to represent the U.S. in the World University Games, but his repeat Region II victory last week was his first of this season.

The Sea Lions have excelled because they are deep, with five scorers placing in the top 13 in the Region. Joel Salmond, a freshman who won the first college event he played in, finished fifth, and the only senior, Brandon Kelley, was sixth.

In the Golfstat.com head-to-head rankings for NAIA as of April 23, PLNU was ranked second in the country behind Oklahoma Christian.

“You hope to go to the national tournament and have a shot,” Foster said. “If we play some of our very, very best golf, we'll be in the hunt.”

At Cal State San Marcos, coach Fred Hanover was thrilled his Cougars women took their second Region II title.

“That was fantastic,” he said. “I have the greatest bunch of women you could ask for. They show up early, they stay late, they make good grades. They have the desire to compete and play well.”

Indicative of that attitude, Hanover said, is Ludwig, a senior who hadn't won this year until the Region.

“This semester she has been absolutely fantastic,” Hanover said. “She has taken her game up two or three notches in the spring.”

Ludwig was sick with a cold, but still managed to shoot 76-78 to take the individual Region title, beating teammate and runner-up Adriana Bormann by 10 shots.

In hosting nationals last year, the Cougars finished ninth. They'd like to improve on that, but a title seems far out of reach, with perennial power Oklahoma City averaging six shots a round per player better than the Cougars.

Open exhibit at Hall

A U.S. Open exhibit, featuring Open memorabilia from San Diego champions Billy Casper, Gene Littler and Scott Simpson, opens today at the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.

The exhibit is sponsored by the USGA Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History. It will be open through Nov. 1.

The Hall's Sports at Lunch event on May 8 will feature Casper, Littler, Simpson and City Golf Manager Mark Woodward. For reservations, call (619) 699-2309.

Pelz clinics

The Dave Pelz Scoring Game School returns to Maderas Golf Club on May 6-10. The six-hour clinics are $375 per person. For information, call (512) 263-7668, or visit www.pelzgolf.com.

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Tod Leonard: (619) 293-1858; tod.leonard@uniontrib.com