UR-Golf Blog IS BACK- Updates!

Where Have I Been!

It’s been a while, but I am excited to be back! The last couple of weeks have been unreal. It all started towards the end of May during our conference final. This was my final year competing in college, and what was supposed to be my last college tournament. To extend our season and make it to the NCAA DIII National Championship, we needed to win our conference championship or count on getting one of the eight “at-large bids” into the tournament. We weren’t in any position to get a bid into the tournament, so it was sumple: win or go home. Our biggest obstacle was Kenyon College–a team we hadn’t beaten all year. In fact, I can only remember beating them once in the last two years.

This is where golf amazes me. I would have given anything to win that championship. I would have loved nothing less than to beat every guy on the Kenyon golf team, but at the same time, I loved playing with them. Golf has introduced me to some great people, and even with everything on the line, there’s a unique respect and camaraderie that makes this game so special. We’re all out there grinding to extend our season, but we still find ways to grind through the competition

Fortunate for us, we were able to win and punch our ticket to the National Championship for the fourth consecutive year. It truly was the most satisfying day of my college career.

A week later, we made our way to Rochester, New York, to play Midvale Country Club and Cobble Stone Creek Country Club, the sites for the DIII National Championship. Despite the weather, the golf courses were incredible. Each course’s unique vibes of both classic golf and a more modern aspect of the game. Our team persevered to finish 16th out of 48 teams, and we made the cut. I ended up birdieing my like 2 holes of my college career to finish t-27, and my second top-30 finish at the National Championship.

The last 4 years have been incredible, with so many ups and downs. I was so proud of how I stuck with it and kept grinding my heart out. I had a hard time adjusting my first year, but I kept playing, I kept practicing, and I couldn’t be happier for both my accomplishments and my teams accomplishments.

The Memorial Tournament

The following week was the Memorial Tournament, also known as “My Super Bowl.” Growing up in Dublin, I am fortunate enough to attend the Memorial each year, so I made sure to spend as much time as I can out there and watch the best in the world compete.

If you haven’t heard anybody say this yet, but Scottie is on pace to be the next Tiger, except he’s making it look way easier. Scottie is incredible as he’s won 19 times in 40 months, including three majors, and he makes it look so easy. He is the epitome of fairways and greens, and if he gets out of position, his short game is elite! ELITE! His control over the golf ball is so good because even when he misses a shot, it’s still in position for him to make par at worst.

So my pick to win every tournament for the rest of the year is Scottie Scheffler.

Except for this week in Canada, I’m riding Sungjae Im.

The Longest Day in Golf

Final qualifying for the U.S. Open qualifiers took place yesterday as 732 professionals and amateurs competed for 47 spots in the U.S. Open. I drove over to Springfield Country Club yesterday to caddy for a buddy, and boy, they don’t exaggerate when they call it “the longest day in golf.” Nobody talks about how hard it is on the caddies! I had a great time being a part of it. It is such a grueling day. The course set up was so difficult that you almost had to play perfect golf to get out because the competition is so elite. There have been so many comments about Oakmont playing so hard, I was starting to wonder why anybody would be looking forward to qualifying for it! All foot and back soreness aside, it was a great day and a grind, and I look forward to competing for a spot in my near future.