PSU sophomore shoots 67
One of 4 players to gain a berth in sectional event
David Ross is a sophomore in Penn State’s golf management program, but has no desire to play on the university’s golf team or even if he wants to become a PGA professional.
Ross, of Alexandria, Va., likes to play golf, but mainly for fun. He prefers a stressfree round with friends over playing competitive tournament golf just about all the time.
“I’d rather wake up and play with my buddies and have a blast than be stressed out continually,” Ross said. “I like the way it is now.”
But there is always that moment when he tees it up in a tournament just to test his game.
And he picked a good time to pass that test in impressive fashion.
Ross looked as if he was playing with his buddies rather than against a field of 70 players in an 18-hole U.S. Open local qualifier Wednesday at Butler Country Club, posting a bogeyfree 3-under 67 to grab medalist honors on a course he had never played before.
He grabbed one of the four spots available into the sectional round of qualifying, beating PGA Tour Canada member Jake Mondy of Blacksburg, Va., by two shots. They were the only players to finish under par.
Curiously, one of the qualifiers Ross beat by three shots was Penn State assistant coach T.J. Howe (70), a former Nittany Lions player. Howe and Robert Morris junior Kyle Grube of Indiana survived a threeman playoff with Oakmont professional Devin Gee to grab the other two qualifying spots.
But what could have been a nice audition in front of a Penn State coach did nothing to make Ross change his mind about competing.
“I like to enjoy golf and college at the same time,” said Ross, who played on a golf team in high school. “I don’t have any desire to play college golf or be a walk-on. I look at golf as more of a recreational thing.”
Unlike Ross, Mondy played a practice round Tuesday at Butler after making the six-hour drive from Blacksburg.
He chose to qualify here because he said he loves northern golf courses where hitting the fairway is such a premium. That is a curious paradox for someone who played collegiate golf at Auburn.
“It’s the way the game is supposed to be played,” Mondy said. “If you miss the fairways, you’ll be handcuffed.”
Mondy didn’t do a whole lot of that, making birdies on the only two par-5 holes on the course — Nos. 2 and 12 — and adding another with a kick-in from a foot at the 369-yard 11th. It was all part of a chaotic back nine that began with a bogey at No. 10 and another from the middle of the fairway at the 450-yard 13th.
But it was enough to advance him into the sectional round for the first time. The 118th U.S. Open is June 1417 at Shinnecock Hills in Long Island, N.Y.
“I won the first tournament I ever played in at Auburn,” said Mondy, who graduated in 2016. “It’s my one and only win.”
The second and final local 18-hole qualifier will be Wednesday at Quicksilver GC in Midway, Washington County. A field of 35 players will vie for two spots.