UNT Golfer Brad Gibson Article

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Golf: Gibson spreads his wings

UNT golfer’s switch pays off in U.S. Amateur bid

08/08/2003

By Robby Nisenfeld / The Dallas Morning News

Hitting was never a problem for Brad Gibson.

He could drive a pitch to center field and rip a grounder down the third-base line.

Batting struggles didn’t force him out of baseball. Nor did his fielding, catching or throwing.

Courtesy Photo

North Texas golfer Brad Gibson gave up baseball at age 11 to concentrate on golf. His reward came Tuesday, when the 21-year-old rising senior earned a spot in the U.S. Amateur later this month in Oakmont, Pa.

Gibson ran away from baseball because he couldn’t run around the base paths.

"I loved baseball, and I still do," Gibson said. "I was just way too slow."

So when he was 11, Gibson tossed aside his glove and took up golf. Ten years later, he is looking to take down the best amateurs in the country.

Gibson, a 21-year-old senior-to-be at North Texas, will compete in the U.S. Amateur Championship on Aug. 18-24 at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.

He earned his tournament berth by tying for second at a sectional qualifier earlier this week at the Gentle Creek Golf Club in Prosper. Gibson posted a two-day total of 145, finishing two strokes behind winner Tripp Davis.

Gibson sunk an 18-foot, uphill putt to cap Monday’s final round with a birdie.

"I knew I needed to make it," said Gibson, who probably wouldn’t have qualified had he not birdied the hole.

"So I just picked my line and told myself to trust it, and it went in."

Gibson will now make his first trip to the U.S. Amateur, but it won’t be his first national tournament. He competed in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship following his junior year at Andrews High School in 1999.

Unfortunately for Gibson, it wasn’t one of his better outings.

Gibson said he was in awe of several other golfers and lost his focus. He failed to make the cut to match-play competition and saw his tournament end after just two days.

"I don’t even remember what I shot," Gibson said. "It’s something I don’t want to remember."

Tournament disappointments were as rare as a triple-bogey for Gibson back then.

He said golf came naturally to him, and a year after he began playing the sport, he was already consistently shooting in the high 70s.

His freshman year at Andrews, he won the Class 4A Region I championship, and repeated that feat his senior year.

By the time his high school career was over, he had won close to 20 tournaments.

But when he took his game to college, he was afflicted with the same intimidation problems that plagued him at the U.S. Junior Amateur.

He said he is over that fear, but he is still without a collegiate tournament victory.

"In high school, I was kind of cocky, and you have to be like that," said Gibson, who averaged an 18-hole score just over 74 this past season.

"I went into tournaments thinking I was the player to beat. It has taken me a while to learn that in college. But next year, I’m ready to win a few tournaments, and I think it’s going to happen."

Gibson said he would need to improve his putting, which he calls his weakness, if he hopes to capture tournament crowns.

He said he would rely on his ability to hit fairways and greens and a swing that has always been strong whether he is wielding a club or a bat.

"He’s always had the talent," UNT coach Jim Bob Jackson said. "It’s just a matter of thinking you’re good enough to play with those other guys, and he’s starting to do that now more often than not."