U.S. Amateur Public Links: Liberty High grad remains on course

BREMERTON — It took Joe Prince extra holes to win his opening match of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship on Wednesday, but for Prince, doing things the hard way is nothing new.

Not this week at The Olympic Course at Gold Mountain, not in a golf career that began in his early 20s, and not in life, which has handed Prince, a Liberty High School graduate, more bad breaks than the USGA can dish out on a golf course.

In order to qualify for today's round-of-64 match, Prince had to shoot 70 Tuesday after shooting 80 on Monday to earn a spot in a playoff. Prince barely survived that with a bogey, giving him the 62nd seed and a match against last year's Public Links runner-up, Martin Ureta of Chile.

"I don't like making stuff easy, obviously," said Prince, 28, whose win in 20 holes made him one of four state golfers to advance to today's round of 32. "That's just kind of my style, I guess."

After squandering a chance to square the match by three-putting the par-4 17th, Prince sent the match to a playoff in dramatic fashion, draining a 30-foot birdie putt from the front fringe on 18.

Both players parred the first playoff hole, then Prince ended the match on the next hole when he found the green with his approach while Ureta ended up in deep rough just above a bunker. While standing in the bunker with the ball at thigh-level, Ureta tried to blast the ball out of the knee-deep grass, but the ball rolled back into the bunker. After Prince rolled his birdie attempt to within a foot, Ureta conceded the match.

Play continues today with the round of 32 starting at 7:30 a.m. The round of 16 is also today, starting at 12:30 p.m.

Neither Prince not Ureta played particularly well Wednesday, as wet weather and wind made the course play longer and more difficult than it had during the two days of stroke play.

A tough day on the course, however, doesn't really qualify as a hardship for Prince. When Prince was 12, his father passed away from skin cancer. From there, things spiraled out of control as alcohol and drugs became Prince's outlet.

"When my dad died that's what set me off drinking," said Prince. "I kind of went off the deep end at that point. I didn't really have any direction."

As a teenager, golf wasn't yet a part of Prince's life.

"I didn't even think about golf in high school," said Prince, who estimates he played less than 20 rounds of golf before the age of 20. "In high school, basically I was getting drunk and stoned and not really worrying about school. I barely graduated from high school."

Rock bottom came at the age of 17 when he was arrested for driving under the influence. Prince entered an inpatient rehab center, and has been clean and sober for the past 11 years.

"I got a DUI when I was 17 years old, went to treatment, and basically found out it wasn't a good idea for me to drink and use drugs," he said.

After getting sober, Prince began the unusual journey from a drunk and stoned teen to 28-year-old national champion. Prince spent two quarters at Green River community college before quitting and taking a construction job.

When he decided to find a new line of work, Prince ended up working at Issaquah Pro Golf Discount.

"When I started working at Pro Golf Discount, everyone working there was way more serious into golf than I was, so I started playing a lot more," Prince said.

Eventually, Prince got good. Good enough that a manager at his store suggested that Prince try to play college golf.

Eligibility rules made it impossible for Prince to play at an NCAA school, so he looked into NAIA schools. He ended up at Point Loma Nazarene in San Diego.

Last month, after just three years of competitive golf, Prince won his first tournament, the NAIA national championship. He won, fittingly, by one stroke.

At the end of the summer, Prince plans to join the Spanos Tour in Southern California. He feels he can still get a lot better.

"That's why I'm considering turning pro," he said. "I feel like my learning curve is still going up."

Ureta wasn't the only 2005 Public Links finalist to lose. Defending champion Clay Ogden of West Point, Utah, lost 2 and 1 to Jesse Schutte, a recent high-school graduate from Florence, Ore.

"I expected this, I really did," said Schutte, who will play for Oklahoma.

Joining Prince in the second round today are three other golfers from Washington. Former UW golfer Derek Berg of Duvall defeated Ryan Keeney of Redmond in 19 holes. Tim Feenstra of Lynden beat Cory Segall of La Jolla, Calif., 3 and 2 and John Cassidy of Yelm beat Brandon Pike of Huntington, Ind., 4 and 3. Andrew Yun of Tacoma, the youngest player in the field at 15, lost to Derek Fathauer of Jensen Beach, Fla., 3 and 2.

U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship

At Bremerton, Wash.

(Playedatthe7,061yard,par72,GoldMountainGolfClub.)FIRST ROUND MATCH PLAY

Justin Metzger, Knoxville, Tenn., (137) beat Jeff Berkshire, Phoenix, (150), 19 holes; Kevin Larsen, Santa Barbara, Calif., (146) beat Derek Busby, Ruston, La., (146), 5 and 4; Derek Fathauer, Jensen Beach, Fla., (143) beat Andrew Yun, Tacoma, Wash., (148), 3 and 2; Keegan Bradley, Jackson, Wyo., (148) beat Ben Fox, Studio City, Calif., (143), 6 and 4; Derek Berg, Duvall, Wash., (142) beat Ryan Keeney, Redmond, Wash., (150), 19 holes; Kyle Ritchie, Corning, Iowa, (147) beat Adam Wynia, Sioux Falls, S.D., (145), 20 holes; Zack Byrd, Calabash, N.C., (142) beat Josh Wilks, Tucson, Ariz., (149), 5 and 4; Matt Savage, Louisville, Ky., (145) beat Derrick Whiting, Alexandria, Minn., (147), 2 and 1; Brad Marek, Arlington Heights, Ill., (150) beat J.C. Horne, Daytona Beach, Fla., (139), 19 holes; Jerre Maynor Jr, Nashville, Tenn., (146) beat Tarik Can, Augusta, Ga., (147), 1 up; Anthony Kim, Traverse City, Mich., (143) beat Lucas Lee, Brazil, (149), 2 and 1; Rory Hie, Los Angeles, (144) beat James Hockman, Norfolk, Va., (148), 3 and 2; John Cassidy, Yelm, Wash., (140) beat Brandon Pike, Huntington, Ind., (150), 4 and 3; Kane Hanson, Detroit Lakes, Minn., (147) beat Brad Hastings, Easton, Md., (146), 3 and 2; Brodie Flanders, Canada, (143) beat Jesse Massie, Louisville, Ky., (149), 20 holes; Matt Harmon, Grand Rapids, Mich., (144) beat Sean Maekawa, Paauilo, Hawaii, (148), 3 and 2; Mitch Cohlmia, Tulsa, Okla., (137) beat Kevin Wentworth, Arnold, Calif., (150), 3 and 1; Kevin Foley, Somerville, N.J., (146) beat Tadd Fujikawa, Honolulu, Hawaii, (146), 3 and 2; Tze Huang Choo, Singapore, (143) beat Michael Barbosa, St Petersburg, Fla., (148), 3 and 1; Sihwan Kim, Buena Park, Calif., (144) beat Billy Horschel, Grant, Fla., (148), 2 up; Scotty Jones, East Palestine, Ohio, (141) beat Jay Lindell, Lakewood, N.Y., (150), 19 holes; Brent Paladino, Kensington, Conn., (145) beat William Mitchell, Roswell, Ga., (147), 23 holes; Cole Moreland, Austin, Texas, (149) beat Brian Carroll, Crystal Lake, Ill., (142), 19 holes; Tim Feenstra, Lynden, Wash., (147) beat Cory Segall, La Jolla, Calif., (145), 3 and 2; Joseph Prince, Chula Vista, Calif., (150) beat Martin Ureta, Chile, (138), 20 holes; Chad Cooper, Lafayette, Ind., (147) beat Zachary Sebert, Columbus, Ohio, (146), 5 and 3; Jesse Schutte, Florence, Ore., (148) beat Clay Ogden, West Point, Utah, (143), 2 and 1; Casey Watabu, Kapaa, Hawaii, (148) beat Raymond Sheedy, Keymar, Md., (144), 22 holes; Lindsay Renolds, Canada, (141) beat Hernan Borja, Kingwood, Texas, (150), 3 and 2; Daniel Im, Fullerton, Calif., (147) beat Charles Soule, Longmont, Colo., (146), 4 and 3; Jeff Daniels, Harrisburg, Pa., (142) beat Derek Tolan, Highlands Ranch, Colo., (149), 4 and 2; Henry Liaw, Rowland Heights, Calif., (144) beat Terrence Miskell, New Braunfels, Texas, (148), 2 and 1.

U.S. Amateur Public Links

tee times

7:30 a.m. — Justin Metzger, Knoxville, Tenn. (137) vs. Kevin Larsen, Santa Barbara, Calif. (146)

7:39 a.m. — Derek Fathauer, Jensen Beach, Fla. (143) vs. Keegan Bradley, Jackson, Wyo. (148)

7:48 a.m. — Derek Berg, Duvall, Wash. (142) vs. Kyle Ritchie, Corning, Iowa (147)

7:57 a.m. — Zack Byrd, Calabash, N.C. (142) vs. Matt Savage, Louisville, Ky. (145)

8:06 a.m. — Brad Marek, Arlington Heights, Ill. (150) vs. Jerre Maynor Jr, Nashville, Tenn. (146)

8:15 a.m. — Anthony Kim, Traverse City, Mich. (143) vs. Rory Hie, Los Angeles, Calif. (144)

8:24 a.m. — John Cassidy, Yelm, Wash. (140) vs. Kane Hanson, Detroit Lakes, Minn. (147)

8:33 a.m. — Brodie Flanders, Canada (143) vs. Matt Harmon, Grand Rapids, Mich. (144)

8:42 a.m. — Mitch Cohlmia, Tulsa, Okla. (137) vs. Kevin Foley, Somerville, N.J. (146)

8:51 a.m. — Tze Huang Choo, Singapore (143) vs. Sihwan Kim, Buena Park, Calif. (144)

9:00 a.m. — Scotty Jones, East Palestine, Ohio (141) vs. Brent Paladino, Kensington, Conn. (145)

9:09 a.m. — Cole Moreland, Austin, Texas (149) vs. Tim Feenstra, Lynden, Wash. (147)

9:18 a.m. — Joseph Prince, Chula Vista, Calif. (150) vs. Chad Cooper, Lafayette, Ind. (147)

9:27 a.m. — Jesse Schutte, Florence, Ore. (148) vs. Casey Watabu, Kapaa, Hawaii (148)

9:36 a.m. — Lindsay Renolds, Canada (141) vs. Daniel Im, Fullerton, Calif. (147)

9:45 a.m. — Jeff Daniels, Harrisburg, Pa. (142) vs. Henry Liaw, Rowland Heights, Calif. (144)