By SEAN MARTIN
Assistant EditorChris Condello estimates the carpet in his dorm runs about 13 on the Stimpmeter, a perfect surface to prepare for the U.S. Open and Oakmont’s slick greens.
On Thursday, Condello will tee off in the Open’s final group; he’s a senior at Columbia, one of the last places you’d expect to produce golf success.
Not only does it have the Ivy League’s strict academic standards, but unlike the handful of Ivy schools with on-campus courses, Columbia is located in the heart of New York City.
Condello has to come up with creative ways to practice. The nearest facility – not counting the team’s simulator – is 30 minutes away, and that’s a driving range with mats. The Lions’ home course is about 40 minutes away, without New York City traffic.
Condello, a three-time All-Ivy League selection, said he simply “maintains” his golf game during the school year, then tries to improve as much as possible while home in Longwood, Fla., for the summer. He finished this season No. 419 in the
Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.
“If you’re not in class or practicing with the team, you should be studying,” he said. “I tried the first five weeks of my freshman year to practice more, but that wasn’t going to work. I thought I could do it all.”
Condello is the second Ivy League golfer to qualify for a national championship in less than a month. Penn freshman Chance Pipitone finished fifth at the NCAA West Regional to become the first Penn player since 1960 to qualify as an individual for the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship.
It’s the conference’s best string of success in recent memory, considering the Ivy League is better known for turning out politicians than pro golfers, and hasn’t had a team qualify for the NCAA Championship since 1984.
Even Condello – an economics major – thought he might be preparing for a job on Wall Street when he first came to Columbia.
After a solid high school career, he only attracted interest from some lesser-known Florida schools. Then Columbia called, and he figured an Ivy League education would be a good fallback plan since he wasn’t sure pro golf was in his future. It only made him appreciate golf more.
“Just seeing a test make someone have a nervous breakdown, and seeing students already getting job interviews, that’s something I didn’t see myself doing,” Condello said. “I don’t want to be a cubicle. I’m too relaxed and laid-back for that. It gave me the drive and the fight to want to play golf for a living.”
He made his biggest gains last summer. Condello – who said going to nightclubs is one of his favorite New York pastimes – set an early alarm last summer so he could beat balls before Florida’s heat and humidity became unbearable.
The work paid off. Condello qualified for last year’s U.S. Amateur, his first run-in with a U.S. Golf Association course setup. He was “feeling pretty good about myself” after starting par-birdie. Then he played his next six holes 9 over par on the way to an 83.
“They don’t really mess around,” Condello said about the USGA. He bounced back to shoot even-par 71 at Chaska Town Course in the second round of stroke play.
This year, Condello cruised through U.S. Open local qualifying with a 68. At the sectional qualifier, he showed the mettle necessary to compete in a U.S. Open.
He needed to birdie his final hole – the 211-yard, par 3 ninth hole at Jupiter Hills Club – to get into a playoff for the second and final berth to Oakmont. Condello hit a cut 3-iron to 3 feet and made the birdie, then sank an 8-foot par putt on the first playoff hole to beat former PGA Tour player Akio Sadakata.
Condello also sank an 8-foot putt on the final hole to win this year’s Ivy League Championship by a shot over Pipitone. Condello is the first Lion to win the conference championship.
“I know Chris isn’t nervous (about the Open),” Columbia head coach Rich Mueller said. “He loves being in those pressure situations.”
This year’s U.S. Open may be one of the toughest ever, with estimates of a winning score as high as 10 over par. It still might not be as hard as balancing an Ivy League education with a fledgling golf career.
“It’s a tough grind, but it’s definitely a challenge that will make you stronger because you’ll never have to work harder in your life,” Mueller said. “But this kid plays six months of the year in New York City, and then he qualifies for the U.S. Open. You can do both.”
• • •
Sean Martin is a
Golfweek assistant editor. To reach him e-mail
smartin@golfweek.com.
Posted: 6/12/2007
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