NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Masters has “Moving Day,” but few monikers are more evocative than “Golf’s Longest Day.” Synonymous with the final stage of qualifying for each summer’s United States Open, it’s a one-day, two-round marathon of dreams realized, hopes dashed and meritocratic toil. If good enough, for long enough, anyone can advance to play alongside the best in the world in one of the signature events in American sports.
And that’s before we even consider the commute.
For Vanderbilt alumnus Harrison Ott, Golf’s Longest Day didn’t end with his final putt on his 36th hole at Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club near Columbus, Ohio, one of 13 sectional qualifying sites nationwide for golfers who advance from 110 local sites. It didn’t end with the handshakes and congratulatory messages that flooded in once he was assured a place among the five golfers in Columbus who advanced to the U.S. Open at Oakmont—allowing him to play in his first major before even debuting in a PGA Tour event.
For Ott, Golf’s Longest Day didn’t end until after he and his wife drove through the winding Appalachian foothills as night fell on the way home to Franklin, Tennessee.
You don’t reach the U.S. Open without remarkable skill, just as Ott didn’t get to Vanderbilt without the natural gifts that made him part of back-to-back SEC champions and teams that reached two NCAA semifinals, one quarterfinal and four NCAA Championships in all.
You don’t survive Golf’s Longest Day without understanding why the game matters to you.
Since playing his final round as a Commodore, Ott pursued that answer around golf courses from Latin America to Canada. Grinding to even qualify for events on tours that feed pro golf’s elite levels, his life in pro sports has to this point been neither glamorous nor lucrative. It has, on the other hand, been richly illuminating.
A long day on the golf course? There are worse ways to spend your hours.
“Honestly, it makes your priority list pretty clear,” Ott said. “If I’m going to go sleep on a friend’s couch at a rental condo, without even being guaranteed a place in tournaments but just to play Monday qualifiers to get into tournaments, I think that just shows you how badly I want to be in tournaments and how badly I want to be successful at professional golf.”
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