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UD’s Hodapp earns spot in U.S. Amateur Championship

By Chick Ludwig, Staff Writer Updated 3:41 PM Friday, August 7, 2009

Jeff Hodapp has a legitimate excuse for missing the first week of fall semester classes at the University of Dayton.

The Flyers’ junior from Roger Bacon High School in Cincinnati gets to compete in the 2009 U.S. Amateur Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., Aug. 24-30.

Hodapp earned the trip of a lifetime by capturing medalist honors with rounds of 68 and 70 in the 36-hole U.S. Amateur Qualifier at Cincinnati’s Camargo Club on Wednesday, Aug. 5.

It earned him a ticket in the field of 312 at Southern Hills, where Tiger Woods won the 2007 PGA Championship.

“It’s exciting,” Hodapp said on Thursday. “Everything finally fell into place. It was just a matter of putting it all together in a tournament round.”

Hodapp averaged 79.1 in 17 rounds — with a best score of 73 — for the Flyers during the 2008-09 golf season.

A turning point came during the recent Ohio Amateur Championship at Moraine C.C., where he shot 76, 72 and 79.

“The fact that I shot a 72 just triggered something in me that I can actually play with the top guys around here,” Hodapp said. “It was just a good confidence-builder going into the U.S. Am qualifier at Camargo.

“I didn’t have any nerves this time. It was like, ‘I’m here to play the golf course.’ I didn’t pay attention to the players around me. It was just me against the course. That focus helped me a lot.”

UD teammate Michael Oberschmidt, a sophomore from McNicholas High School and a caddy at Camargo, was by his side the whole way.

“That was a big help having him tote the bag for me,” Hodapp said.

Flyers head coach Gip Hoagland calls the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder a “real good ball striker” whose “potential is unlimited.” Hodapp’s only problem is inconsistency.

“He’s just a ‘feel’ player,” Hoagland said. “He hits the ball a long way and makes a lot of birdies, but sometimes makes a lot of bogeys. He’s learning how to play college golf. He’ll be able to consistently put up good numbers once he learns how to cut the bogeys out.”

Hodapp agreed.

“You wake up one day and shoot 67. You wake up the next day and shoot 80,” he said. “I’m learning now to pick my holes for birdies. I’m an aggressive player and I’m learning I need to calm that down.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2253 or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com

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