Winter golf has a way of stripping away big expectations. So despite having won his fourth career college title three days before the start of the Jones Cup, North Florida sophomore Nick Gabrelcik looked at his brother and caddie Donnie before the final round of the coveted amateur event and decided to throw scoring expectations out the window.
“They were probably the hardest conditions I’ve ever seen,” Gabrelcik said of that round at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia, when cold winds howled. “…I went into the round, my brother was caddying for me, and I just looked at him and I’m like, ‘Let’s just go play golf and try and have the most fun we can. Whatever happens, happens.’”
Gabrelcik added a final-round 74 to previous rounds of 68-76 and tied for fourth in his first time playing the Jones Cup. But the number – particularly on Sunday – doesn’t tell the whole story. Only two players in the field broke par.
“I wasn’t going to let the score determine how I felt I played,” Gabrelcik said of his mindset entering that round.
A challenge for Gabrelcik this season has been in keeping a level head no matter where he falls amid lofty expectations. With his Sea Best title, Gabrelcik has now won four times in 13 career starts as a college player. He rose to No. 26 in the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings with that win.
But how does one set goals after a freshman season that earned him national recognition as the Phil Mickelson Award winner, landed him as the No. 3-ranked player in the country, and ended with a U.S. Amateur semifinal run? In a word, realistically.
When UNF head coach Scott Schroeder sat down with Gabrelcik to talk about his goals at the start of the fall season, “he kind of looked at me and was like, your expectations are good but coming off the spring we know it’s going to be difficult to relive that or make it even better.”
Gabrelcik wants to win events, and he wants to make another run at the Haskins Award, given to college golf’s best player as voted on by coaches, peers, and golf media. The secret is in his putter.
The 19-year-old didn’t win a college title in the fall, but has since begun work with Ramon Bescansa, a Jacksonville-based putting coach who works with a bevy of Tour players. Turns out it was the missing piece to get Gabrelcik back to the top.
“I’m a big confidence guy so if I’m not seeing the putts go in the hole, I kind of get down on myself which is something I’m working on,” he said. “That’s what I tend to do, I just misread putts at times and then Ramon gives me some drills and we look at stuff just green-reading wise.”
Anticipating a big spring season – UNF will compete nine times – Gabrelcik used the winter break as his “lay-low period.” But before the Sea Best rolled around, he found himself struggling with putting again. An hour lesson made all the difference.
“Three days later I felt like I was prime Tiger with the putter in my hand and ultimately it led to having a great week at Sea Best.”
The momentum followed him to Sea Island, and now Gabrelcik is well on his way.
The man behind the medal
Look closely at the hardware that went home with Jones Cup winner Palmer Jackson and you’ll get a bit of a history lesson.
For the first time in 2022, the name Layne Williams is inscribed on the top of the champion’s medal. Officials have named the award after Williams, the longtime rules official who was instrumental in the rules side of the major amateur event.
Williams served as Official in Charge or on the Rules Committee at over 250 GSGA competitions and numerous USGA events, including the U.S. Open Championship, U.S. Amateur Championship, and U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. In 2015, Williams was a recipient of the USGA’s Ike Grainger Award, which recognizes 25 years of service to the organization.
Next generation
While the Jones Cup past champions list is distinguished, featuring major winners like Patrick Reed (2010) and Justin Thomas (2012), a highly experienced player doesn’t always walk away with the title. To wit, LSU senior Garrett Barber was a senior in high school when he won the title in 2018 and a 17-year-old Akshay Bhatia claimed the trophy the year after that.
Top juniors are well-represented in the field and often factor in prominently at the top of the leaderboard. This year’s junior head-turner was Ben James, a University of Virginia commit who finished solo third after rounds of 69-75-73. James racked up junior golf victories in 2021, winning the Scott Robertson Memorial plus three AJGA Invitationals as well as the New England Junior Amateur.
James gained entry to several amateur events in the summer of 2020 but told Golfweek a year later that he got a little beat up in those events.
“It was a great learning experience for me to see how those guys play because they are really good,” James said in May.
Now James is applying those lessons, and they floated him all the way to the top.
Mid-amateur presence
The Jones Cup field featured seven mid-amateur players. Not surprisingly, reigning U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad logged the best finish, a tie for 24th. Hagestad was in the mix early before falling down the leaderboard with a final-round 80
“I’m trying to knock the rust off and will try to be competitive,” Hagested told AmateurGolf.com before the Jones Cup. “I didn’t really play after the Mid-Am last year through the end of December. I played 18 holes here and there, but it’s not like I spent four or five hours on a Saturday working on my game like I’m starting to do now.”
Also of note, 2019 Western Amateur champion Garrett Rank finished T-63.