TEEING OFF
James Yodice looks at the state of golf in NM, including Twin Warriors’ ties to the U.S. Open
ERIN, Wis. — Sometime Sunday night, it ends here. What you probably don’t know is that it began the second day of May, on the Santa Ana Pueblo, 1,350 miles away.
If you were inclined to scour the fine print of the 156-man field for this U.S. Open, in search of anything that might vaguely hint of a strong New Mexico tie, you’d be hard pressed.
Yeah, world No. 10 Jon Rahm won the NCAA Albuquerque Regional 13 months ago with Arizona State at the University of New Mexico Championship Course. And someday, if and when Rahm wins a major, we can talk of those days that he breezed through our city.
It won’t be this weekend, though.
In truth, plenty of first-rate talents in this field have made cameos in New Mexico, nearly all of them in UNM’s Tucker Invitational. Or perhaps one of the state’s professional tournaments.
Paul Casey, Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar have played the Tucker. Adam Scott and Charley Hoffman were teammates on that UNLV team that won an NCAA title in Albuquerque in 1998.
Two of last year’s Ryder Cup stars, Ryan Moore and Phil Mickelson, have played the Tucker, although both withdrew and are noticeably absent at Erin Hills. Mickelson won an NCAA individual title at the UNM Championship course in 1992; Moore won the 2004 Tucker at UNM.
No, the most significant link is the start of the yellow brick road that brought everybody here to the rolling Wisconsin countryside.
And that is Twin Warriors Golf Club, which hosted the first local qualifier for Erin Hills. Sort of like the New Mexico Bowl of local qualifiers. Out ahead early.
Actually, the early start date at Twin is more a result of having to accommodate the area’s amateur association schedule, said the pueblo’s director of golf, Derek Gutierrez.
Still, first is first, and Twin’s tiny local qualifier marked the opening steps in this march.
Unfortunately, neither of the men who advanced to sectionals from Twin Warriors — Tony Mike Jr. of Kirtland and Colorado amateur Greg Condon — parlayed that into a berth at Erin Hills.
But then, New Mexico is not exactly amid a golfing boon. These have been some lean years, indeed.
Notah Begay III, a four-time PGA Tour winner and former Presidents Cup member, is retired from competitive golf, although he is a prominent announcer on Golf Channel and NBC.
Tim Herron, a former Lobo, is long past his prime. UNM product Spencer Levin, who battled UNLV’s Moore repeatedly in college, has not seen his career blossom the way Moore’s has — although Levin did have that memorable top-15 finish at Shinnecock Hills in 2004, which included a hole-in-one. And to be fair, Levin has carved out a very prosperous career. He has competed in eight majors, including four U.S. Opens, and he’s pocketed nearly $8 million in earnings since turning pro. But he, and we, expected a PGA Tour victory or two by now.
Wil Collins of Albuquerque, part of the UNM fraternity, won the local U.S. Open qualifier in El Paso, but that was as far as he got. Albuquerque’s D.J. Brigman had a terrific 2007 U.S. Open at brutal Oakmont, where he tied for 30th place, and he has played in three U.S. Opens total. But he hasn’t teed it up in a U.S. Open since 2008.
Charlie Beljan also has played three U.S. Opens (he was top-20 at Chambers Bay two years ago), and he has a PGA Tour victory under his belt from five years ago. He’s not here, either.
Look, it ain’t easy getting to a U.S. Open, which is golf’s equivalent of a root canal. And it’s not supposed to be. But New Mexico is stuck in a golfing lull.
Maybe former Rio Rancho High standout Tim Madigan, who is a member of the Web.com Tour, will start reaching U.S. Opens one of these years.
Maybe current Lobo standout Andrej Bevins, who hails from the same hometown as Levin (Elk Grove, Calif.), will find the type of PGA Tour success that has largely eluded other Lobos.
For now, New Mexico’s most prominent relation to the U.S. Open remains Twin Warriors, which was also the first Open qualifying site last year.
Erin Hills, as you may already have heard, is a ginormous piece of land. Doing a 10K would probably be the best approximation of what it is to walk this joint. It is to Milwaukee, in distance and isolation, what Cochiti Lake Golf Course is to Albuquerque. Only much greener.
Twin Warriors is a huge golf course. It is spread out over 400 acres. And yet, that is still 250 fewer acres than Erin Hills. (FYI: Twin Warriors and 150-acre Santa Ana Golf Club combined would both easily fit inside Erin Hills’ mammoth dimensions.) But Twin is a big course in a big state that is glad to have a small piece of this road to the U.S. Open.
At the moment, it’s New Mexico’s only real piece of the pie. An actual, and regular, human presence would be a welcome addition.