Cheshire’s Deitrich still grinding
A year ago, Cheshire’s Eric Dietrich was in the midst of qualifying for his first U.S. Open championship, the only Connecticut resident to play for the national championship.
Then Dietrich got to play one of the country’s most iconic golf courses, Pebble Beach Golf Links, with a number of family members and friends making the 3,000-mile trip to the West Coast to watch. He got to play a few holes of a practice round with Justin Rose, a former No. 1 ranked player and past U.S. Open champion.
Dietrich failed to make the 36-hole cut. But at least he had a chance.
Dietrich and many others won’t get the chance this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 18, the United States Golf Association decided to eliminate qualifying for all four of its remaining national championships, including the U.S. Open.
“It was devastating. Now I know I can do it. I made it to sectional qualifying two or three times before and never got that close,” Dietrich said. “I was looking forward to this year, it being in New York, I knew I would get (fan) support being from Connecticut.”
The U.S. Open, normally held the third week in June, was pushed back to Sept. 17-20 due to the pandemic. It will be held at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
Local and sectional qualifying for these national championships require a lot of sites used and a lot of travel during a time where travel is down nationwide considerably.
There was more bad news for Dietrich, 25, on
May 29. The Mackenzie Tour — PGA Tour Canada, where he finished 71st in the Order of Merit rank last year — canceled its entire season. Due to border restrictions and for people entering the country having to quarantine for 14 days, canceling the 13-event season — the most the tour has ever had — was the end result.
“I don’t think any of us were surprised, Dietrich said. “It makes it tough to host a golf tour when so many people are coming in internationally.”
Dietrich is currently in Florida playing on the Minor League Tour, a group of either one- or two-day events. He had been assessing his career and how much longer he wants to give his ultimate dream a go.
The ultimate dream is reaching the PGA Tour. With no status on any tour, Dietrich said the only way he feels he can get there right is to try to get through as a Monday qualifier at either PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour events, then perform well upon qualifying.
“It would be 21⁄2 years if I take the conventional route, if everything goes right, to have status on the PGA Tour,” Dietrich said. “This was a very quick decision. I look at it that I’m 25 years old, am I willing to do this for another 21⁄2 years to have the opportunity to advance? Basically, the decision was yes. I think my game is more than capable of competing at the highest level.”
Dietrich said this summer, he could travel to different parts of the country for different tournaments to “play against the best players for the most money possible.” When he returns to Connecticut this month, he has the Travelers Championship pre-qualifier penciled in on June 17 and qualifying for the Connecticut Open in July.
The pre- and open qualifiers for the Travelers Championship will be held at Ellington Ridge CC, where Dietrich once shot an 8-under-par 64. He played plenty of times there while playing collegiately at UConn under head coach Dave Pezzino. He graduated from UConn in 2017.
The Huskies’ golf program is one of the varsity sports that could be eliminated due to necessary sports budget cuts at the university. Final decisions will be made later this month. Dietrich, for one, feels for his former mentor, especially if the axe comes down on the program.
“He makes you his family. He cares about you in the same way he cares about his own kids,” Dietrich said. “He is focused on making sure everyone is doing well in school, staying healthy, eating right, working out, doing everything you can to better yourself on the course and off the course to turn yourself into the type of man you want to be.”
The feeling about Pezzino go well beyond the Storrs campus.
“I’ve played golf with a lot of college golfers, a lot of people who were not fans of their own coach or don't love their coach,” Dietrich said. “A lot of people have said they wished they played for Pezzino. He has put his heart and soul into the program. My devastation (if the program is eliminated) would be angled toward him. I'd be completely devastated for him.”