Berberian’s wild ride still going
With a marriage, new job and playing in seven events on the PGA Tour, Rich Berberian Jr. has had quite the 2017 for himself.
That whirlwind shows no signs of letting up either as he will play in the New England PGA Championship next week before representing the United States at the PGA Cup, a biannual event like the Ryder Cup for club professionals against Great Britain and Ireland, at Foxhills Club and Resort near London Sept. 15-17.
It was his success last year that put the Hooksett, N.H., resident in position for a busy 2017, winning the PGA Professional Championship. Among the perks that go with the win was a spot in last year’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol and six exemptions in PGA Tour events for the current season.
He said that when it came to selecting the six events he was going to play in, three had to be from the four events played opposite of a World Golf Championship stop or the Open Championship. This led to him committing to the Puerto Rico Open in March, the Barbasol Championship last month and the Barracuda Championship earlier this month.
For the three open events, he chose the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Open in February and the Shell Houston Open at the end of March.
“I contacted one of the guys who won (the PPC) one of the previous years and he gave me a solid list of where he had gone before and what would be some good courses for me,” Berberian said of his selections. “How could you say no to Pebble Beach?”
Berberian, 29, made the cut in three of the six events, earning a little more than $26,000. His best finish was a tie for 66th place at Pebble Beach.
He also extended his time with the tour players an extra week with a T5 as the defending champ at the PPC, earning a return spot at last weekend’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Even though he missed the cut at 79-74, Berberbian had good company at 12-over including Phil Mickelson, John Daly and Davis Love III.
“I think I learned that I’m not as sharp as a lot of the guys out there are because I don’t spend all my time playing and practicing. I put in plenty of effort to play and practice, but nowhere near what those guys probably do,” said Berberian, whose father Rich Sr. was the longtime pro at Hoodkroft CC in Derry, N.H. “I know even when I don’t putt well or don’t hit it well I can still make a cut and I can still compete with those guys.” While the tour pros are out beating balls on the range all season, as a club pro Berberian shows others how to do it. Earlier this year, he joined Vesper CC in Tyngsboro as the director of instruction. He gives a lot of credit to head pro Stephen Doyle for helping to make a memorable and hectic year work so smoothly. “I told him before I got there it’s going to be one of the busiest years of my life, I don’t even know how much I’m going to be around,” said Berberian. “I got married this year (in May to Morgan), played in six tour events, had the PPC to play in, then qualified for a major so that was unexpected and that’s another tournament I got into. Coming this September, I’m going to the PGA Cup in England so I’ll be gone for another week. “I don’t know what was going through his mind when he accepted me to teach there, but I can’t thank him enough.”
Next up on the tournament docket is the NEPGA Championship at Renaissance GC in Haverhill and Turner Hill GC in Ipswich beginning on Monday. He was sixth a year ago at Pinehills GC and won the Skip Wogan Player of the Year Award given to the top player in the section, and is wellpositioned to do once again.
This is the first time Berberian has made the PGA Cup, which is chosen in similar fashion to the Ryder Cup with a points system over the previous two years with 10 players on each side.
“Everyone that has played in it, can’t rave enough about it,” he said, adding that everything is done in a first-class manner.
Joining him on this year will be Omar Uresti, who won this year’s PPC and made the cut at Quail Hollow, and South Hadley native Adam Rainaud. PGA of America President Paul Levy will serve as team captain.
Great Britain & Ireland are the defending champions having won the 2015 event 131⁄2-121⁄2 at CordeValle in California.