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From high school stars to national championships, these golfers made news this spring

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5 months ago

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From high school stars to national championships, these golfers made news this spring

Memorial Day weekend means a lot of things to a lot of people, but last weekend’s holiday means the beginning of summer for most people. And that, in turns means the end of the golf season in the Coachella Valley for all intents and purposes.

That’s not to say there isn’t golf that is played in the desert in June, July and August. But the summer heat does tend to keep people away from the game, and in many cases at private clubs in the desert, residents have left the area for Canada, Seattle, Chicago and other areas where it is cooler in the summer and they can play golf more comfortably.

If this is the end of the golf season in the desert, it’s a good time to catch up on some of the events and achievements of recent months:

More: One of those days: Palm Desert boys golf falls short in quest for CIF state title berth

For instance:

Four-ball appearance

Landon Breisch and Max Margolis, both juniors at Palm Desert High School, finished tied for 45th in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball championship stroke-play competition over the weekend, missing the match-play portion of the national championship by two shots.

The Palm Desert duo opened the tournament at the Philadelphia Cricket Club with a 1-under 71 on the Militia Hill Course. The next day they shot a 4-under 68 on the Wissahickon Course. Their 36-hole total of 5-under 139 was two shots out of a playoff featuring 16 teams for 11 spots.

Michael Thorbjornsen

A senior at Stanford, Thorbjornsen came to the Prestige college tournament at the Norman Course at PGA West in La Quinta in February as the No. 1 player in the PGA Tour U rankings, meaning he was close to earning a PGA Tour card for the rest of the year if he could hold that ranking through the NCAA championships. Those championships are being played at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad this week, but Thorbjornsen’s ticket to the PGA Tour is already punched. He clinched the points title over the weekend, meaning he can start his PGA Tour career in June and will remain eligible through the 2025 season.

Nick Dunlap

The University of Alabama sophomore became the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour with a one-shot win at The American Express event in La Quinta. By the end of the next week he had turned pro, with some wondering if the move was too quick for the 20-year-old. Since then, Dunlap has struggled at times. He has missed four cuts in 14 tournaments since the American Express, and his best finish has been a tie for 11th in the Houston Open. He’s 121st in FedEx Cup points and he’s won just under $600,000 for the year. There is still plenty of time for Dunlap to turn his rookie season around, and it will only take one good week to do that.

Retief Goosen

The two-time U.S. Open champion was a surprise winner at the PGA Tour Champions’ Galleri Classic in March at Mission Hills Country Club, thanks in part to the final-hole mistake by Steven Alker. Since then, Goosen has played five events on the PGA Tour Champions, including two major championships. He’s had two top-10 finishes, including a sixth at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic. When David Toms won the inaugural Galleri Classic in 2023, he didn’t win again on the Champions Tour the rest of the year. Goosen seems to be having the kind of season that will produce another win sometime in 2024.

Open local qualifiers

Five players with desert connections advanced out of local qualifying tournaments for the U.S. Open. Luke Ringkamp, a sophomore at Palm Desert High School, former Palm Desert High School great Charlie Reiter, former Palm Desert star and now Pepperdine assistant coach Jason Allred, Mission Hills Country Club teaching pro Scott Cherry and Michael Slesinski of Fremont, who plays his golf out of La Quinta these days, all advanced to sectional play June 3 at various sites around the country. Reiter and Allred have both played in the U.S. Open before, and Allred won the U.S. Junior Amateur championship in 1997, while the other three golfers are looking for their first trip to the national championship.

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