Despite Day 1 Rust-Oleum struggles, Northbrook native happy to play
It wasn't the homecoming Nick Hardy had hoped for. On the first day of the Web.com Tour Rust-Oleum Championship at Ivanhoe Country Club, the Northbrook native shot 4 over par on the 72-par course to finish tied for 131st out of 155 players on Thursday.
Despite his struggles on Day 1, the rising junior at the University of Illinois was grateful for the opportunity to compete near his hometown as the tournament's only amateur.
Hardy was given the final sponsor exemption by tournament director Scott Cassin before earning a spot at next week's U.S. Open after Monday's qualifier.
"I've got such great support out here," Hardy said. "I'm a local so it's pretty fun to play at a course that I'm familiar with and an area that I'm familiar with. It's definitely helpful."
Even with his familiarity with the course, Hardy struggled on the front nine of the course recording 5 bogeys after starting with a birdie on the first hole.
The back nine was much more productive for Hardy recording 3 birdies.
"It just kind of didn't really go my way today honestly," Hardy said. "I had careless mistakes out there. A lot of bad shots. I wish I had five or six shots back, which is never a good thing, but I'm just thankful for this opportunity. I'm going to go out there tomorrow, try to get something going, have some fun and make some birdies."
Hardy has already reached several milestones as an amateur, and this tournament is just another experience from him to grow from.
"Monday was a long day (at the U.S. Open qualifier) and it's hard not to be looking forward to the U.S. Open and be excited, but I know I had to tell myself I got to focus on what's next, and this week in Ivanhoe. I think I did that fine. I prepared fine for this, I just didn't bring it today."
Last year, Hardy not only qualified for the U.S. Open in Chambers Bay, but made the 36-hole cut.
He also competed in the Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur competitions. In the coming months, Hardy is expected to compete in all three of those tournaments again including the Northwest Amateur tournament at the end of this month.
"It's crazy," Hardy said. "Sometimes I really don't know what to expect in the next coming months because of the opportunities I've been able to get. Playing for Illinois obviously is a great thing because we get to go to so many great places and play on so many great courses too. It's been a wild ride. I'm just trying to get better every day."
While the hometown player fell short of contending for the lead, his former Illini teammate, Brian Campbell, finished 2 strokes behind the leader.
Campbell, who graduated from Illinois last year, said that he prides himself on controlling his nerves, and he proved that on Thursday. After opening the round with a bogey, Campbell shot 3 birdies to wrap up the front nine.
On the back nine, he controlled his emotions again. After shooting a bogey on the 12th hole, Campbell went on to complete the back nine with 4 straight birdies to finish 5 under par.
Two other local players had strong performances. Vince India, a former University of Iowa Hawkeye and Deerfield native, finished his first day at Ivanhoe with 6 birdies on the last nine holes to place tied for fifth at five under par.
Brian Bullington also finished five under par while tying the Day 1 lead with 8 birdies. Bullington, who hails from Frankfort, has three top-25 finishes in the Latin America Tour this season.