Drew Kittleson (left) competes on the Masters.
Getty Pictures
Drew Kittleson’s golf life will be traced via his nicknames.
Earlier than he was Bridges Cup competitor Drew Kittleson, he was U.S. Newbie runner-up Drew Kittleson. He earned that title again in 2008, as a 19-year-old at Pinehurst No. 2. Kittleson was only a freshman at Florida State College then, however he climbed via a subject of older and extra battle-tested gamers to achieve the ultimate match of probably the most vaunted novice golf occasion within the sport. You may not bear in mind his position in that occasion — Kittleson misplaced to one of many few youthful gamers within the subject within the finals, 18-year-old Danny Lee, who grew to become the youngest U.S. Newbie champ ever. However the ’08 U.S. Am was, he says now, the launching off level for an novice golf profession that carried him farther than he’d ever dreamed.
“I feel I’ve performed eight or 9 USGA championships now,” he says with a chuckle. “Yeah, it’s fairly cool.”
Amongst these USGA championships are two different nicknames, U.S. Open competitor Drew Kittleson, and Masters competitor Drew Kittleson. Kittleson’s stints in these occasions — at Augusta Nationwide and Bethpage Black in 2009 — have been short-lived. He missed the lower in each begins — the primary and final two main appearances of his profession.
“I believed to myself, you understand, I’m gonna play in 20 of those,” Kittleson says with amusing. “I want I’d have stopped to odor the roses.”
Nonetheless, the recollections from every of these begins stay near the floor.
“All of the tales you hear concerning the little allures of Augusta Nationwide, they’re all true,” Kittleson says, reminiscing on his time within the membership’s amateur-only Crow’s Nest. “It’s like staying in your personal private 4 Seasons.“
After faculty, he tried out the title professional golfer Drew Kittleson for some time, taking part in on varied feeder excursions within the early 2010s, however one thing was amiss. He was greater than gifted sufficient, however he may by no means fairly seize the identical magic he’d taken to Pinehurst within the U.S. Am. He gave up golf and bought into personal jet gross sales, then branched out to start out his personal kitchen and bathtub enterprise within the Scottsdale space.
Via his golf connections, he joined Whisper Rock, a widely known personal membership within the Scottsdale space, and shortly, he’d tried out the only nickname of all: golf lover Drew Kittleson.
“Now we have this saying at Whisper Rock, ‘it’s all concerning the hold,’” Kittleson says. “‘The hold’ side of golf is probably the most particular half to me. You get to know anyone, get to satisfy anyone, get to be with individuals you want, get to compete just a little bit. My method to the sport has modified in each means potential since golf was a job, and it’s opened extra doorways for me than I may have ever imagined.”
It was at Whisper Rock that Kittleson started to fall in love with golf once more. And it was at Whisper Rock that he discovered himself first saying one thing shocking: he needed to start out competing on the novice circuit once more.
As he tells it, two of his buddies had simply completed within the quarterfinals of the U.S. Newbie 4-Ball, which had brought on Kittleson and one other buddy, Drew Stoltz, to snort.
“We have been simply giving them a tough time,” Kittleson says. “We have been like, ‘effectively, for those who guys can do this, then we might kill you guys.’ So the following yr, Drew and I went and performed the qualifier, after which the entire sudden, we have been the runners-up, after which the following yr we have been runner-up, too.”
After notching his second and third runner-up finishes in USGA championships, Kittleson had the aggressive bug once more. He certified for the U.S. Mid-Am and made it to the semifinals on his first strive, and parlayed that right into a slot within the U.S. Am in Denver — giving Kittleson the rarest form of full-circle skilled second.
Quickly after his Newbie return, Kittleson had one other invitation ready: the Bridges Cup, an annual Ryder Cup-style, high-level novice occasion between U.S. and Worldwide squads. (GOLF’s holding firm, 8AM Golf, hosts the occasion yearly.)
After two profitable runs with the Individuals, Kittleson can be again on the U.S. aspect this week in Korea. He says the occasion is one among his favourite weeks of the yr — not only for the competitors, however for the camaraderie.
“Golf has opened extra doorways for me than I’d have ever imagined,” Kittleson mentioned. “I met a few of my finest pals on this planet via the sport, and nonetheless proceed to satisfy nice individuals and have these superb experiences. I’m ceaselessly grateful.”
