Cashman's 70 on Home Course Earns Him a Spot at U.S. Senior Open

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org


  EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – The game of golf has always been a family affair for Kevin Cashman. He grew up in the business and worked for his dad Chet, the longtime golf professional at Mendakota Country Club, for a number of years before pursuing his own career within the game.

As the head professional at Bearpath Golf and Country Club since 1994, Cashman still keeps his family by his side by employing both his mother and father, and after clinching a spot at the 2017 U.S. Senior Open Wednesday on his home course, it only seemed fitting that one of his first congratulatory hugs was an emotional one from his mother, Ardie.

“To be able to take your game to a higher level and put it on a stage like that is exciting,” Cashman said after qualifying Wednesday. “I’m here for my members first, but you have another focus when you play at that level—another purpose and way to prove yourself.

“I birdied the first two holes and settled into my round. It was really fun to get off to a quick start,” Cashman said Wednesday. “Playing at our golf course and being able to manage yourself around in the right places was certainly important.”

The U.S. Senior Open at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass., June 29-July 2 will be Cashman’s first appearance at a national event since making an appearance at the 1994 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

Cashman’s focus was apparent early Wednesday as he started his round by rolling in birdie from 12-feet before drilling the flagstick at the second with his approach and sinking birdie from four feet to quickly get to 2-under par.

Dropping a shot with a bogey at the seventh, Cashman’s birdie at the eighth would be the first of two birdies on the par-3’s for the day—which he played at 2-under—a crucial element to a low round at Bearpath, and particularly a USGA qualifier.

“I think the par-3’s are the strength of our golf course and to play them at 2-under probably beat the field by two shots because they’re hard,” Cashman said. All four par-3’s measure at least 175 yards, with the 11th being the longest at 225 yards.

Cashman would turn at 1-under following a second bogey at the ninth before finding his rhythm again over the final nine holes, making one birdie at the 204-yard, par-3 13th and eight pars to finish three shots clear of the field at 70.

“I was managing the ball well on the tee and missing in the right places to get up-and-down,” Cashman said. “I hit the last eight greens and played pretty solid. I missed one fairway and was able to get a nice iron in my hand with a clean lie a number of times.

“I didn’t putt great, but I didn’t putt poorly. I didn’t make anything long, but the ball was in the right place. We have hazards on 17 holes. At any moment you can put yourself out with a couple strokes.”

Cashman, 55, surprisingly has played just two nine-hole rounds prior to Wednesday’s qualifier.

“Sometimes it’s better when you don’t have any expectations,” he said. “To be able to manage a couple under is pretty wild. I would’ve taken even par, which would’ve made it too.

“I’ve been fortunate to be the golf professional here for 23 years, so I have home-course advantage, but I also have home-course distractions and I think those evened out and I was able to take my mental focus to the golf course.”

Once the wave of disbelief for the Cashmans had passed, the next question was how all three Bearpath employees were going to get time off to travel to Massachusetts in late June.

Joe McCormick and Mike Barge finished as first and second alternates, respectively, after both carded rounds of 1-over par 72 during regulation.