Any time the USGA makes a site announcement for a championship in which Jon Olson is eligible, he circles it on his competitive calendar. But when Colorado Golf Club, and stroke-play co-host CommonGround Golf Course, landed the 39th U.S. Mid-Amateur, Olson added a few more circles to the championship dates.
Olson is a lifelong Iowan, but there’s a special place in his heart for Colorado, specifically the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, where he played on the school’s golf team from 1999-2003. While he spent his freshman year at hometown school Iowa State – he grew up in Ames – Olson transferred when his golf instructor at the time took a position at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
So when the 39-year-old Ankeny resident qualified for his second U.S. Mid-Amateur – and seventh USGA championship – he immediately texted some of his ex-college teammates and friends. Most were unaware the championship was being conducted the third week of September in the state.
Former teammates Trent Daum and Tyler Tarpley were among his small gallery for stroke play, and likely will watch Olson tee it up in match play on Monday after he qualified with a 36-hole total of 139 (3 under). Olson faces Dave Bunker, of Canada, in the Round of 64 at 9:30 a.m. CDT.
Because he wanted to get reacquainted with Colorado golf and the altitude – Colorado Golf Club is 6,100 feet above sea level – Olson made a reconnaissance mission over Labor Day. Coupled with the two official practice rounds, he started to figure out his distances. They were much different than his college days in the early 2000s when he was a second-team NCAA Division II All-American his senior season, missing first-team status by one stroke at the national championship.
“I didn’t remember at all what my distances were,” said Olson, who hit a 5-iron over the green on his closing hole Sunday at CommonGround, the par-5 ninth. “That’s why I came out here on Labor Day. I got a little bit of a handle on it. It wasn’t great. The practice rounds helped [as well]. As you go, you learn.”
Growing up, Olson looked up to a pair of Iowa legends: Gene Elliott and Mike McCoy. McCoy, a six-time Iowa State Amateur champion, won the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2013 at 51 and played on the 2015 USA Walker Cup Team. Elliott, currently the top-ranked senior (55 and older) amateur in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (294), is a three-time Iowa Amateur champion.
“It’s great to learn from those guys and compete with them and get to know them,” said Olson. “They are great guys. Just the knowledge they have. They influenced me a lot as a kid. They are [nearly] 20 years older. I remember reading about them in the paper when I was growing up. I wanted to be them. Those guys and my [U.S. Amateur] Four-Ball partner, Jon Brown. They’ve pushed me to get better and better. Honestly, they gave me a reason to become an amateur again.”
Olson did turn professional for 4½ years after graduating from UCCS in 2003, but he never made it out of the first stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School. After toiling on mini-tours and beating himself up mentally and emotionally, he called it quits in 2008. A year later, he had regained his amateur status.
Since then, he’s gotten married and had two children with wife Rachel. He’s also toiled in a variety of jobs, from insurance and financial services to Division III golf coach at Central College in Pella, Iowa, for two seasons. He currently is in sales for a golf cart company.
Jobs and family obligations prevented Olson from playing in several USGA championships, including four Mid-Amateurs. In his only other U.S. Mid-Amateur start, the eight-time Iowa Golf Association winner reached the Round of 64 before losing to Don Bell in 2014 at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.
Working with Omaha, Neb.-based instructor James Sieckmann and Des Moines Golf & Country Club professional Mark Atchison has helped Olson improve all facets of his game. He’s in a much better place mentally than he was as a professional a decade ago.
And getting to finally compete in a USGA event in Colorado has Olson more excited. Outside of a couple of weddings, and his Labor Day golf visit, Olson hadn’t spent much time in the area since graduating college.
“You get that vibe anywhere you go for a USGA event from an amateur perspective,” said Olson, who eschewed a caddie for stroke play and doesn’t plan on having one for his Round-of-64 match. “[The USGA] does such a good job at presenting the challenge. There’s anticipation and the fun of getting to see people again, from officials to competitors you haven’t seen in a while.”
David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.
