Former Florida State Golfer Kittleson Medals, Three More Advance to U.S. Mid-Amateur

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By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
  STILLWATER, Minn. – Drew Kittleson, a former Florida State University golfer who finished runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Amateur, fired a 4-under 68 Tuesday at StoneRidge Golf Club to claim medalist honors and a spot in the 2021 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
 
Joining Kittleson at the national tournament next month in Massachusetts are Geoff Klein and Andrew Passanante, who each carded a 3-under 69 Tuesday, and Shane Barnes, who fired a 1-under 71 and survived a playoff the earn the final qualifying spot.
 
“I’m looking forward to it. For the [U.S. Mid-Amateur] to be in Nantucket, I’m going to take my wife and we’re going get a house and make a vacation out of it,” Kittleson said after qualifying Tuesday. “I spend a lot of away from home, primarily for work, so when I do play an event, I think it’s important that my family gets to partake in it."
 
Kittleson’s day got off to an auspicious start, picking up his clubs at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport early Tuesday after an airline lost his golf clubs Sunday evening. He took an Uber to StoneRidge and arrived a half hour prior to his tee time, never seeing the golf course.
 
“I had my clubs and everything was great,” Kittleson joked. “If I had gotten here a little quicker, I probably would’ve hit a few more putts because my speed was way off.”
 
Kittleson, a 32-year-old who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., rolled in four birdies over his opening nine Tuesday, including a near-ace at the par-3 ninth, tapping in for birdie to turn in 4-under. A pair of three-putt bogeys on his back nine were offset by his eagle at the 11^th, hitting 9-iron to five feet and converting his eagle chance and finished with medalist honors at 4-under 68.
 
“Nothing really fancy today—I hit every green and I’m not sure I even missed a fairway,” he said. “There was no stress. My only bogeys were three-putts. The course was beautiful. I love Minnesota golf. Sometimes people see Arizona by my name, but my dad went to Brainerd High School and we have a house on Gull Lake, so I grew up summering in Minnesota.”
 
A four-year letterwinner at Florida State, and teammate of Brooks Koepka for three seasons, Kittleson led the Seminoles to four NCAA tournaments and the first ACC championship in school history in 2008.
 
He finished runner-up to future PGA Tour player Danny Lee at the 2008 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst, earning an exemption into the 2009 Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black.
 
After graduating in 2011, Kittleson bounced between the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, PGA Tour and what is now the Korn Ferry Tour, making a total of nine professional starts during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Kittleson would eventually regain his amateur status in 2016, qualifying for the U.S. Amateur in 2018 and the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2019.
 
“If I was better it would’ve worked, but I didn’t want to chase it for 10 years,” said Kittleson of his professional career. “I have a 4-year-old, I’m married, work—that’s life now, which is what I think the mid-am is all about. I’m definitely not that mid-am who goes out and plays 40 times a year by any stretch of the imagination.”
 
A 3-under 69 helped Klein to a second-place finish Tuesday, qualifying for his third U.S. Mid-Amateur, previously advancing to the national event in 2007 and 2010.
 
“It’s so cool and special to be able to qualify for USGA events,” Klein said. “For us mid-am working stiffs, this is the highlight and what you work for. It’s awesome—that’s the only way to say it.
 
“My game hasn’t been great coming in. I played at [U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Chambers Bay] with Troy Johnson and I didn’t play great there. I started getting a little figured out at the [MGA Amateur] and played in the Resorters last week and played fairly well. It was trending in the right direction.”
 
Klein, 42, and a resident of St. Peter, Minn., rolled in a pair of early birdie putts Tuesday before finding the sand at both par-3s late on his front nine, leading to bogeys to turn in even par.
 
Sinking a 30-footer for eagle, Klein quickly jumped to 2-under for the round and added one final birdie at the 13^th, wedging his approach inside of a foot for a tap-in to finish in a tie for second and safely securing a spot in the national championship next month.
 
“My game plan out here was that if you can hit the fairway, you’re going to have a lot of wedges in, especially early on,” Klein said. “The last five or six holes, you’ve got to hit some pretty good shots.
 
“I’ve played here in a couple of qualifiers and haven’t putted great, so I had my brother-in-law on the bag to make sure I was getting some really good reads and I putted really well.”
 
Overcoming a bogey on his second hole to begin the qualifier Tuesday, Fargo, N.D., native Andrew Passanante carded four birdies during his back nine to post a 3-under 69 to earn a qualifying spot.
 
“This has been a goal of mine. I qualified back in 2017 and I really wanted to make it back again. I’ve been playing really well the last three years, so it was disappointed not to be able to qualify last year. It means everything to make it back and hopefully make match play—that’s the ultimate goal.
 
“I played well and I’ve been practicing a lot. I started hitting the ball a little closer on the back nine. I played pretty good on the front, but just didn’t get anything really close to the hole. I made some putts and a couple long ones to get things going.
 
Barnes carded a 2-under 70 to finish in a tie with 2014 Minnesota Golf Association Amateur champion Jesse Bull and would prevail in a playoff to claim the final qualifying spot.
 
Returning to a USGA championship for the first time since qualifying for the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields Country Club near Chicago, Barnes carded three birdies during his front nine before taking bogey at the par-3 ninth to turn in 2-under.
 
After carding a second straight bogey at the 10^th, Barnes rebounded by converting his birdie chance at the 11^th and would finish his round with consecutive pars to force a playoff with Bull for the fourth and final spot.
 
Bull finished as first alternate after falling during the two-way playoff, while Bryce Hanstad, the winner of the 2007 MGA Amateur, carded a 1-under 71 and prevailed in a playoff for the second alternate.