Road trips are part of the competitive golfing life, from the early days of carpooling crosstown for a local junior event to boarding airplanes and crisscrossing the country to compete on a higher level.
Ian Holt, Chase Johnson and Tyler McHugh –— members of the prosperous Kent State golf program — are veterans of those trips.
But just as some events are bigger than others, this trip and this event are the biggest of all for the three KSU golfers.
It is the 116th annual United States Amateur Championship, and it begins Monday at famed Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
They will join 309 others for the first stages of a grueling, nerve-baiting challenge that will take seven days to determine the winner of the oldest event conducted by the United States Golf Association.
Here is what the eventual champion must endure in order to become the U.S. Am champion:
On Monday and Tuesday, 312 qualifiers from around the world will begin 36 holes of stroke play. They will play 18 holes on the Oakland Hills South Course and 18 on the North.
The 64 players with the lowest scores advance to match play. Beginning Wednesday, they will go head-to-head in a single elimination format on the South Course until only two players remain.
On Sunday, the two finalists will play a 36-hole match to determine the winner.
The entrants already have survived 36 holes of local qualifying.
This will be Holt’s second trip to the U.S. Am. He qualified for last year’s tournament at Olympia Fields but failed to advance to the final 64.
“The U.S. Am is a major event to play in,” said Holt, who was the runner-up in last year’s Mid-American Conference Tournament. “At the start of the summer, my No. 1 goal was to get to the Am.”
The USGA does not keep track of such things, but spokesman Pete Kowalski said it is not uncommon to have multiple players from the same university qualify for the tournament in the same year.
That KSU is one of those is a tribute to the program.
“What can I say?” said veteran coach Herb Page. “We have had many players qualify for the Am over the years, but I don’t know if we’ve ever had three in one season from the same team.”
Holt and Johnson are from Summit County, and McHugh hails from Portage.
Here is a closer look at all three and the most prestigious amateur tournament in the world.
Ian Holt
A Stow native and a former Ohio high school state champion, Holt will enter the Am as a champion. With identical rounds of 69, he was the medalist of the qualifier held at the Scarlet Course at Ohio State, the same course on which he won his state title as a sophomore.
That performance was the pinnacle of a fantastic summer season. After finishing fourth in the NCAA regional last spring, Holt has gone on a tear. He won the Northeast Ohio Amateur by 9 shots, finishing at a combined 7-under 279 at Oberlin, Windmill Lakes and the final two rounds at Weymouth. He followed that by shooting 10-under 206 to win the Northern Amateur at Sand Creek Country Club in Chesterton, Ind.
Earlier, he added an unofficial title to his resume at the Davey Tree Ohio Open at Westfield Country Club. With rounds of 68-69-64 – 201 he finished in a tie for second but was the low amateur in a field dominated by professionals.
“I’d have to say this was one of my most productive summers ever,” said Holt, who shortly will begin his junior year at KSU. “The Ohio Open started a good stretch for me; it gave me confidence. I hadn’t gone low-low-low like that in some time, and things just continued after that.”
Chase Johnson
A Barberton native and Walsh Jesuit graduate, Johnson was the MAC Player of the Year last spring and also moves on as a champion, winning the qualifier at Avon Oaks with a fantastic finish. After opening with a 2-under 70, he blitzed Avon Oaks in the final round with a stunning 9-under 63 — setting a competitive course record — to finish at 133 (11-under).
Outside of his performance at Avon Oaks, Johnson admits his summer has not gone as planned.
“Honestly, I haven’t been able to take advantage of some of the opportunities I’ve had,” he said. “The summer has been kind of disappointing. There have been times when I flared my driver, and there were times when my short game wasn’t there. It’s a very delicate game.”
That doesn’t mean his confidence is low heading into the week.
“I honestly feel I’m not far off,” he said. “It’s just some tiny things that need to be perfected and some things around the course need cleaned up.”
Johnson, the 2015 Northern Amateur champion, said reaching match play is his first goal.
“I will be very disappointed if I don’t,” he said.
Tyler McHugh
An Aurora resident and Walsh Jesuit graduate, McHugh finished third behind Johnson at Avon Oaks to earn the final ticket to Oakland Hills. Rounds of 67-69 were highlighted when he dropped a 40-foot putt on the 17th hole and a chip-in from off the 18th green. Those shots capped an eight-hole stretch in which he was 7 under.
“I think that was a definitive round for me going forward,” he said.
McHugh, an avid outdoorsman, transferred to KSU after three seasons at Wright State and credits that move for his continued improvement.
“The KSU program is a lot different than Wright State and probably a lot of others,” said McHugh, who played in four tournaments for the Flashes last spring. “At KSU, things are more structured, and there are more demands on your time. But, that was the direction I wanted to go in. I think I’m in a better situation than I was a year ago.”
McHugh’s best performance last season came at the Cleveland State Invitational at Barrington, where rounds of 72-75-71 put him in a tie for 14th. However, he also had a round of 68 at the Gopher Invitational at Minnesota, which was the third-lowest round of the event.
“That told me that I can compete,” he said. “Right now my swing is better than it’s ever been. Playing in the Amateur is a big opportunity going forward. Hopefully, I’ll play well and be able to use it as a stepping stone for the future. It will be the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced.”