U.S. Open qualifying can be the start of a grand adventure

In a way, Kyle Nakazaki has been waiting all of his life for a chance to play in this year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. His father has told him stories of having played in the 1986 Open there, six years before Kyle was born. In another way, the younger Nakazaki just couldn’t wait. He was the first one to sign up when registration opened last month.

It was 6:05 a.m. in Palm Springs, California, where he lives, on March 7 when he enrolled online with the U.S. Golf Association. That was partly due to the minitour pro’s eagerness to try to qualify for the national championship. It also was partly due to circumstance.

“My girlfriend is a reporter and she wakes up at about 3 in the morning, so I was already up at the time,” he said on the phone this week. “I figured, before I head over to the golf course, I’ll submit my application.”

In any case, the minitour pro enjoys the distinction of being the first among 10,000 golfers who are expected to have enrolled by the deadline Wednesday. All of them want to be in the 156-member field in Southampton on June 14 for the biggest, boldest show in golf.

“You can be a junior player, you can be a senior player. Believe it or not, people don’t realize this, you can be a female and try to qualify for the United States Open,” USGA executive director Mike Davis said. “It is as open as you can get.”

Most of the top tour pros are guaranteed entry in the field through various exemption categories. That includes Tiger Woods, the 2008 winner, because Open champions over the past 10 years are assured spots. The USGA also has offered special exemptions to former U.S. Open champions Ernie Els and Jim Furyk.

Davis cited the sport’s momentum heading into Shinnecock, what with Patrick Reed’s victory at the Masters, strong showings by Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas and Woods’ comeback and Phil Mickelson’s recent victory. “But you think of all those other 10,000 trying to vie to qualify for here, this is going to be a magical moment,” he said.

Thousands of golfers embrace the challenge of going through local qualifying tournaments — including ones at Southampton Golf Club, adjacent to Shinnecock Hills, and Cherry Valley Club in Garden City — and then to regional sites where only a handful make it. They all just want a chance to tee it up in the tournament known as golf’s toughest test.

Anyone who has a 1.4 or better handicap index or is a professional golfer is eligible to try. All sorts of people do. Tony Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current NFL television analyst, has entered. So has Hockey Hall of Famer Brett Hull. The odds are long but the lure is great, no matter what a person’s golf background is.

The younger Nakazaki did not play college golf, as his father had. Tracy had been an All-Pac 10 selection in 1982 for USC, alongside UCLA’s Corey Pavin, who would go on to win the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills. Kyle played in high school, stepped away from the game for a while, then took it up and jumped in with both feet. Having entered some amateur tournaments, “I was beating a lot of the college guys,” he said. “I was playing really well and so after college I decided to just give it a go.”

He took a job at the famed Riviera Country Club and turned pro in 2014. He has tried out for several tours and plays in whatever minitour events he can find, developing his skills and his confidence. “This is the first year I’m giving it a full go. I’ve got some sponsorship money and I’m playing full time,” he said.

While he still practices occasionally at Riviera, his home course is Andalusia Country Club, which is where he will participate in the first round of Open qualifying on May 8. He sees that as an advantage in his quest to be the second in his family to reach Shinnecock.

Tracy, who now works in Southern California real estate, was playing in the Asian and Ben Hogan Tours 32 years ago when he qualified for his only U.S. Open. The first round in 1986 remains legendary for the South Fork wind and rain. The elder Nakazaki played in the worst of it and shot 82. Despite rallying to shoot par 70 the next day, he missed the cut, going home with a memory he never will forget.

“What I heard was that there were like 50 mile-an-hour winds and there were a couple holes where you couldn’t get to the fairway from the tee,” the son said. “It was absolutely brutal. It will be pretty cool if I get to play there. I’ll probably ask him to carry my bag.”