University of North Carolina alum Carter Jenkins will play a home game of sorts at this week's U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
Written by Adam Stanley @Adam_Stanley
Carter Jenkins is one of the locals teeing it up at Pinehurst No. 2 for this week’s U.S. Open, being from Raleigh and attending the University of North Carolina. But he’s not as local as his playing partner Thursday and Friday, Michael McGowan – who grew up just a few miles away in Southern Pines.
Alas, Jenkins is still ready to feel the love at his first U.S. Open. And, pretty much, a local one at that.
Jenkins, who earned a spot for the third men’s major championship of the season via Final Qualifying at Duke University Golf Club, said he’ll have his immediate family plus cousins and friends coming down from Raleigh to watch him tee it up this week. It’s a place he’s awfully familiar with, having played Pinehurst No. 2 about a dozen times. He also holds a fun distinction, he believes.
“I might be one of the few people to play it with rough (pre-2010 restoration), in the middle of taking the rough out when it was just hard-pan, and now with all the native areas and bushes,” Jenkins said. “I’ve seen it in every stage you could possibly see it. Not many people can say that, but I know I can.”
Such are the opportunities when you grow up in the cradle of American golf – and especially when it comes to tapping into some local knowledge just to get through the Final Qualifier.
Jenkins’ swing coach, with whom he has worked for almost two decades, just so happens to be the general manager and director of golf at Duke University Golf Club. So Jenkins admits, with a smile, he doesn’t even know how many times he’s played it.
“It was nice to have that familiarity, for sure,” he explained.
One thing Jenkins wasn’t quite prepared for was just how tired he was going to be heading into the qualifier. The day prior, Jenkins notched his best result of the season at, appropriately enough, his real hometown event – the Korn Ferry Tour’s UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH. His tie for fourth was his second top-10 finish of the season. It was a grind, he said, with the winning score just 8 under. Jenkins finished at 4 under.
“My caddie and I were both very exhausted after the four days prior playing Raleigh Country Club and the test there, the mental test, that is,” Jenkins said. “We showed up (at the qualifier) at 6 in the morning and both of us looked at each other and were like, ‘Are you awake?’ and said ‘No.’ It was kind of funny in that regard.
“I didn’t even have enough mental energy or emotional energy to get into a place to even feel uncomfortable (with the opportunity ahead).”
Jenkins ended up getting through to Pinehurst via a 6-for-2 playoff after bouncing back from a 1-over 71 in the morning round with a 4-under 66 in the afternoon.
He said his anxiety or adrenaline didn’t get too pumped up until he was in the playoff and there was a laser-like focus on just a singular result – play well and get in. Play poorly and that’d be it.
Jenkins didn’t have a number he was firing for but instead just tried to go out and make as many birdies as he could.
“I was just out there playing golf and that was about all I could do physically and mentally. Kind of funny how it all worked out in the end from that perspective. But maybe you can learn something,” Jenkins said. “Sometimes getting out of your own way is the best way.”
Jenkins sits 67th on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List. He missed the cut at last week’s BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX (the exhaustion from the prior week finally did catch up with him) but upon arrival at Pinehurst he got fired right back up again. Most things, he said, have been the same around the U.S. Open venue. But there are a couple of small things that he can’t help but smile at.
“Having your name announced for a practice-round tee time – I can’t say that’s ever happened before,” he said.
Pinehurst No. 2 will be as complete a test as players will face all season with the crispy conditions set to make a second-shot golf course even more demanding. You have a better chance to make par sometimes, Jenkins said, if you actually miss a green versus landing it on the wrong side. Keeping it in the fairway will be key.
“It’s a grind. It’s a U.S. Open. It’s supposed to be tough, right? Just try to embrace it and hold on as well as you can,” he said.
So, the local lad is trying to make good this week. He knows the deal, and the course. He’s got a big goal on the Korn Ferry Tour – top 30 at season’s end will earn a PGA TOUR card – but this week he’s ready to enjoy the opportunity in front of him.
And enjoy the walk.
“I’m going to soak it all in and embrace what we’re doing and what we’re playing in and just have fun with it. That would be my definition of success this week,” Jenkins said. “Just be able to give it everything I’ve got and have fun with it. No matter where I fall, I’ll be happy with the way I conducted myself.”
