FORE Magazine

Top Menu

  • About Me
  • Contact Us
  • Home

Main Menu

  • Current Issue
  • Digital Book
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

FORE Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Digital Book
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
Fall 2018NewsProfiles
Home›Issues›Fall 2018›Charging Bruin: Devon Bling Shows He Belongs at U.S. Amateur

Charging Bruin: Devon Bling Shows He Belongs at U.S. Amateur

By Mike James
October 22, 2018
5735
0
Share:

Devon Bling had only modest goals when he arrived at Pebble Beach in mid-August to play in his first U.S. Amateur Championship. The sophomore from UCLA simply wanted to get through two rounds of stroke play and qualify for the match-play portion of the tournament that featured 312 of the best amateur players in the game.

He did that. And so much more. As he has throughout this year, Bling showed that pressure situations are meant to be embraced and expectations are meant to be exceeded.

A 2-under-par 70 in his second round of qualifying easily put him in the match­play field, and after a series of big putts and big shots over the next five rounds, he reached the final 36-hole match. That he ended up as 6-and-5 runner-up to Viktor Hovland of Norway was not as important as the simple fact that Bling, who finished seventh in the SCGA Amateur at La Jolla CC in July, proved he belonged among the elite.

“I had a really good week,” Bling said. “Still, when I go back to school, I won’t go out and expect to win every week just because I was runner-up in the U.S. Amateur. But I do have added confidence that I can compete against the best amateur golfers in the world.”

Bling, 18, evolved from a freshman learning how to get by in college last fall to a much more seasoned player in the spring for the Bruins. His performance at the Jackrabbit Invitational in Nevada last March proved that. Playing the final round against the player he was fighting for the individual title and trailing by 2 strokes with three holes to play, he birdied the 16th to move on top by 1, put his tee shot right next to the pin on the 200-yard 17th to go up by 2, then hit the pin with his second shot on the par-4 final hole, ending up with a par and earning his first college tournament win.

“He has no problem being in the middle of the arena,” UCLA coach Derek Freeman said. “And that’s one of the things I love about him. He realizes he has the ability to perform at the highest level. He doesn’t get too up or too down, he just fights and tries to get better.”

Said Bling: “During the school year, coach Freeman and coach Larkin (assistant coach Andrew Larkin, who caddied for Bling the last six days at Pebble) taught me about course management and so much more. They taught me how to score.”

In the round of 16 at the Amateur, Bling found himself in a tight match against USGA Junior champion Noah Goodwin. On the 20th hole — the par-4 second at Pebble — Bling hit his second shot from about 170 yards to a foot from the hole to win the match.

“I love being in that situation,” Bling said, “feeling the pressure and the nerves where you have to make a putt, you have to hit it in the fairway and you just have to trust your golf swing.”

That sense of living in the moment and believing in himself was something Bling learned in part from his mother, Sara, who died suddenly in 2013 after suffering a stroke. She and Bling’s father, Nick, were instrumental in shaping his game from the days toddler Devon began swinging a plastic golf club after watching his father hit golf balls in the garage at their home in Ridgecrest.

“Even though she’s not physically here, she’s always with me,” Bling said. “I can feel her presence and I know she’s there with me. She always said, ‘Trust your game; trust what your dad has taught you. He’ll never fail you.’ And in those pressure situations, I listen to her.”

Previous Article

Suzy Whaley Paves The Way For Women

Next Article

Play Fast And Have Fun: Rancho Park ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Mike James

Related articles More from author

  • FORE HerProfiles

    Get to know Nancy Lopez

    October 26, 2016
    By Julia Pine
  • ProfilesSpring 2017

    Once A Bruin, Always a Bruin: Women’s Golf Coach Carrie Forsyth’s Abiding Love of UCLA

    April 26, 2017
    By Jill Painter Lopez
  • Profiles

    Spotlight Shines on El Caballero CC

    March 26, 2018
    By Tom Mackin
  • Cobra- Rickies Rise
    ProfilesSummer 2015

    Rickie’s Rise: Good for Cobra Puma, Good for Golf

    July 1, 2015
    By Corey Ross
  • Fall 2017Profiles

    Alison Curdt’s Rise to the Top

    October 23, 2017
    By Bob Buttitta
  • I Love Lucy
    NewsSpring 2016

    Vintage Screens: Golf in Hollywood History

    April 1, 2016
    By Judd Spicer

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • FeaturedFirst CutOn The TeeSpring 2025

    Rage or Sage

  • FeaturedHandicap HintsIn The ClubhouseSpring 2025

    Fun & Games

  • At The TurnFeaturedSpring 2025Travel

    Irish Ayes

  • 19th HoleFeaturedIn The ClubhouseSpring 2025

    Pelican Brief

  • FeaturedOn The TeeSpring 2025Sustainability

    More Green, Less Grass

FeaturedIn The ClubhouseSpring 2025

John Henebry

A Personal Remembrance Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. A ballroom at Desert IslandCC in the Coachella Valley pocket of Rancho Mirage. The “Celebration of Life” for my dear friend, my colleague, ...
  • Fun & Games

    By Kevin O'Connor
    May 15, 2025
  • Rule 25

    By Jimmy Becker
    May 15, 2025
  • Doing More With Less

    By Kevin Fitzgerald
    May 15, 2025
  • Original Wonder Woman

    By Joe Passov
    May 15, 2025
© 2016 FORE Magazine About Us | Contact Us | Advertise