Qualifier Miller has unique U.S. Open preparation

• By Ryan Ballengee
• Jun 11, 2012 3:13 PM ET

The day after Dennis Miller qualified for the U.S. Open in fading daylight at the Columbus sectional, reality set in for the 42-year-old.

As the director of golf at Mill Creek Metro Parks in Youngstown, Ohio, Miller had to make arrangements with his day job to make the trek to San Francisco.

"Reality sets in Tuesday morning when you figure out you have to make all your arrangements," Miller said on Monday. "I still have a job to do back in Mill Creek. We actually had a Chamber of Commerce golf outing Wednesday, had 300 golfers out there, I worked about 14 hours that day. That was my preparation up to this week."

The physical preparation may have been limited, but Miller did reach out to several friends and mentors for their advice.

Four-time PGA Tour winner Jerry McGee, Miller's instructor and former U.S. Open contestant Rick Jones and 2003 and 2005 Walker Cup captain Bob Lewis all briefed Miller on what to expect.

Like with Scioto CC in Columbus, Miller had never seen The Olympic Club before this week. He does have a practice round scheduled for Tuesday, however, with a two-time U.S. Open winner.

"I did sign up with Retief Goosen tomorrow morning," he said.