Dallas dreaming: How Kanturk's Paul Buckley finds himself on the cusp of US Open

Kanturk's Paul Buckley is preparing for the final stage of US Open qualifying

DALLAS DREAMER: Kanturk’s Paul Buckley tees it up today in Texas with a US Open spot at Torrey Pines the prize for his Monday best. Picture: Niall O’Shea

As the hype of the Walker Cup fades and the impressive performances of Mark Power and John Murphy go down as another successful Irish contribution, another amateur from these parts is on the cusp of something big.

Paul Buckley, a 38-year-old from Kanturk, is about to battle it out for a place in the US Open, at Torrey Pines. On May 3, he made it through the first stage of qualification by scoring 68 (three under) at Escondido Golf & Lake Club, in Texas, to tie for sixth place.

The 68 wasn’t enough to claim automatic qualification but a birdie on the 1st hole in the five-way play-off ensured he took one of the final three spots. His final round of qualification is today at Dallas Athletic Club.

Paul grew up playing golf at Kanturk Golf Club and has been a member there since he was a boy. In 2008, he played Interpros for Munster, but left for Australia, shortly afterwards, where golf took a back seat as he built a successful company. He returned home from Australia (and 18 months in Houston) with his family in 2018, and got back into golf in a big way. The goal started out simply enough: Get back on the Munster team.

In an astute move, Paul started working with Peter O’Keeffe for strength and fitness and then expanded that by hiring Paul Kiely in Cork Golf Club (where he is also now a member) as his swing coach. Over the past two years, he has combined this with a relentless work ethic, but he is quick to praise Peter and Paul.

“I’ve worked extremely hard in my back yard where I have a chipping green and a Trackman,” says Paul. “And between the two guys, I’ve got better and better. I’m playing the best golf I’ve ever played and I’m in that position because of them. It’s a shock to me. Even between January (when he won the Emirates Men’s Amateur Open, in Dubai) and now my performances have been so much better than I expected. At Escondido I was flawless tee to green. I just didn’t miss a shot for 18 holes. Everything went to plan and that’s to do with the work I’ve put in.”

Paul Buckley, winner of Omega Emirates Men’s Amateur Open

He entered the qualifier at Escondido some months ago, knowing he could combine work and golf while in Houston.

“I went to Houston two weeks before the qualifier and then went to play in the City of Phoenix Amateur. Those were my first three competitive rounds of golf since January, in Dubai.

I got the hang of it again and then flew straight down to Austin on the Sunday night to play in the qualifier on Monday.

There wasn’t any time for a practice round but it appears that may actually have helped. Escondido Golf & Lake Club, in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, was designed by Tom Fazio. For the qualifier it measured 7,127 yards (par 72).

“It’s a beautiful but really tough golf course,” Paul says. “Very Adare-like, but more bouncy as it’s in Austin. The greens were rapid which suits me. It’s challenging, too, but ignorance is bliss as I was driving the ball well and didn’t really know where the trouble was … and just managed to avoid it. If I’d known, things could have been very different.”

There were two tee times: morning and evening. Temperatures stayed the same, between 26C and 28C, but winds increased dramatically for the evening session, increasing from 5kmh to 30kmh.

Paul was one of two scores qualifying from the evening session. His round of 68 included three birdies (at No’s 1, 8 and 13) and no dropped shots.

That wind may have been a disadvantage to the late starters but it was a big advantage for Paul in terms of the play-off and having to wait around. Those from the morning session had to wait up to seven hours.

“I had to wait for about an hour and a half, and that was when what I’d learned from Peter and Paul really helped. I’d spoken to Peter about his experiences on the European Challenge Tour and from amateur events and it was always about keeping moving and going to the range. So I went to the range and played the 1st hole — hitting driver and then a 120 yard shot — and kept repeating that. It’s not something I’d have been capable of doing in 2008. I wasn’t mature enough. The guys have helped me no end.

“The first hole is 415 yards. The golfers I was playing against, they all had 60-70 yards left but I had 120. They were definitely a more high-performance breed of golfer than I was.”

He may not have been the longest hitter but by finding the green first and hitting it to 10 feet it applied pressure on the other four. Paul was the first of two players to make birdie and so qualified to play in the final qualifying stage at Dallas Athletic Club.

Dallas has two courses (Blue and Gold) and competitors play one in the morning and the other in the evening. Paul has an early tee time of 7.20am, and two instantly recognisable names are in the groups behind: Graeme McDowell and Matt Kuchar.

“I’m going to be up against it, for sure,” Paul admits. “If I qualify I’ll stay, if not I’ll fly home for the Ulster Strokeplay in Royal County Down, on June 7. I’m fully vaccinated, and after a 10-day quarantine at home, I’ll be in a position to play by June 5.

“It’s a good concession if I don’t qualify in Dallas, but I’ll just do what I did at Escondido and grind for every shot. It’s a dream to be where I am already. Golf takes time: Last year I didn’t achieve what I wanted to achieve but now it’s finally starting to come. I’ve played a huge amount of golf in the past two years… probably more than Shane and Rory combined,” Paul laughs.

His win at the Emirates Men’s Amateur Open in January was an exciting start to 2021 but he stated the year with getting back onto the Munster team as his primary goal, it might be something he need to reappraises. We’ll know by tomorrow.