The better you get, the steeper the learning curve.
So goes golf these days for Erick Justesen. We remember his All-American career at Cal State Stanislaus, a run ended a year ago when he fell one stroke short of an NCAA Division II title. Since then, he’s, well, paying dues. All young pros, at least the ones not named Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, pay dues. Justesen arrived in Modesto just in time Monday to compete in U.S. Open Local Qualifying at Del Rio Country Club. He wasn’t among the top six to advance to the Sectional &mdash a good start downsized to a 71 &mdash but that wasn’t the golf that will stick in his memory bank. The ex-Warrior appeared in his first Nationwide Tour event, the BMW Charity Pro-Am, last week in South Carolina. Though he shot 5 under par, he missed the 36-hole cut by two. “I’ve been working on a few things and having some swing problems,” Justesen said. “My short game has been keeping me under par.” Justesen plans to flipflop between the Canadian and Nationwide tours this year. He gained conditional status on the Nationwide, the circuit one step below the PGA Tour, by reaching the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament Finals last year. The Finals, the six-round torture chamber at PGA West, resulted in more growing pain for Justesen. He opened the tournament with three pars, followed by six straight birdies and a shortlived lead.
“It was culture shock. TV cameras started to show up,” he said. “It was like somebody gave me a shot of adrenaline to the heart. I was shaking over golf shots.”