Drew Kittleson (left) competes on the Masters.
Getty Pictures
Drew Kittleson’s golf life may be traced by his nicknames.
Earlier than he was Bridges Cup competitor Drew Kittleson, he was U.S. Beginner 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 by a subject of older and extra battle-tested gamers to achieve the ultimate match of probably the most vaunted newbie golf occasion within the sport. You won’t keep 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. Beginner champ ever. However the ’08 U.S. Am was, he says now, the launching off level for an newbie 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 — had been short-lived. He missed the minimize in each begins — the primary and final two main appearances of his profession.
“I assumed to myself, you understand, I’m gonna play in 20 of those,” Kittleson says with amusing. “I want I’d have stopped to scent the roses.”
Nonetheless, the recollections from every of these begins stay near the floor.
“All of the tales you hear in regards to 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 individual private 4 Seasons.“
After school, he tried out the title professional golfer Drew Kittleson for some time, enjoying on varied feeder excursions within the early 2010s, however one thing was amiss. He was greater than proficient sufficient, however he might by no means fairly seize the identical magic he’d taken to Pinehurst within the U.S. Am. He gave up golf and obtained into personal jet gross sales, then branched out to start out his personal kitchen and bathtub enterprise within the Scottsdale space.
By 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 in regards to the hold,’” Kittleson says. “‘The hold’ facet of golf is probably the most particular half to me. You get to know anyone, get to fulfill anyone, get to be with individuals you want, get to compete slightly bit. My method to the sport has modified in each approach doable since golf was a job, and it’s opened extra doorways for me than I might 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 stunning: he wished to start out competing on the newbie circuit once more.
As he tells it, two of his buddies had simply completed within the quarterfinals of the U.S. Beginner 4-Ball, which had induced Kittleson and one other buddy, Drew Stoltz, to snigger.
“We had been simply giving them a tough time,” Kittleson says. “We had been like, ‘properly, when you guys can do this, then we’d kill you guys.’ So the following 12 months, Drew and I went and performed the qualifier, after which the entire sudden, we had been the runners-up, after which the following 12 months we had 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 Beginner return, Kittleson had one other invitation ready: the Bridges Cup, an annual Ryder Cup-style, high-level newbie occasion between U.S. and Worldwide squads. (GOLF’s holding firm, 8AM Golf, hosts the occasion yearly.)
After two profitable runs with the People, Kittleson might be again on the U.S. facet this week in Korea. He says the occasion is one in all his favourite weeks of the 12 months — 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 greatest mates on the earth by the sport, and nonetheless proceed to fulfill nice individuals and have these wonderful experiences. I’m perpetually grateful.”
