Zach Byrd’s trials on his eventual path to the PGA Tour are not unlike most players in his position. He just has a different take.
“With these mini-tour events, you pay your money, you show up, you play,” said Byrd, 25. “It’s legalized gambling, is what it is.”
For Byrd, the chance to escape the grind and the monotony of those events is playing in state events. The former Coastal Carolina Chanticleer and college roommate of Dustin Johnson, who recently finished second at the British Open, will tee off today in the HealthOne Colorado Open at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver.
Byrd got into the U.S. Open last month as an alternate, but he was 10-over-par after the first two rounds at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., and missed the cut by six shots.
He went home to South Carolina with the realization that if he was going to make his dream come true, things needed to change in his approach to the game.
Two weeks after the U.S. Open, Byrd won a four-hole playoff at a Carolinas Pro Golf Tour event and made $4,500.
“If I’m going to get better, I need to play events that are like the PGA Tour. I need to see what it’s like. I need to travel a little bit and get that feel,” said Byrd, the 2009 Big South Conference scholar-athlete of the year. “The goal with playing state opens is that they have a tour feel.”
There is another U.S Open qualifier in this year’s Colorado Open field: Steve Irwin.
After the Colorado Open, Byrd is hoping to make stops in Utah and Nebraska and play in their state tournaments. But the key for a PGA Tour hopeful with no other means of income is not just playing well to put a few bucks into the pocket, but making the most of connections across the country.
This week, Byrd is staying with friends in Brighton.
“The state opens, they treat you so well. It’s run like a real event and a really good golf course and it is just something that I want to do,” said Byrd, who has made it to the second stage of Q-school the last two seasons.
Tuesday’s practice round and Wednesday’s pro-am event at Green Valley Ranch were Byrd’s introduction to playing golf at altitude. He is quickly adjusting to the lighter air.
“I have played in Oregon. I have played in Arizona. But nothing, I mean nothing, compares to what it is like here,” he said. “I was shocked, and I am glad I got out a few days early.”
Byrd, a nine-time winner of mini-tour events last year mostly in Georgia, played practice rounds with Johnson at Congressional last month. Now Byrd is ready for the test presented by the Green Valley course, which he said is in perfect condition. The course’s three finishing holes will test the nerves of the Colorado Open contenders, especially Sunday.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
Tee it up
What: 47th annual HealthOne Colorado Open
Where: Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, Denver
When: Today through Sunday; tee times start at 7 a.m. each day (leaders tee off Saturday and Sunday at 11:15 a.m.)
Admission: Free
Defending champion: Nathan Lashley of Scottsdale, Ariz.
