Brown’s PGA debut a wild ride

Brandon Brown’s big break into the big time looked like it might produce a big payday – for a little while anyway.

In his PGA Tour debut last weekend, Brown, a professional golfer from Shelbyville, went from being in danger of not making the cut in the Reno-Tahoe Open, to challenging for a top-10 spot, to a respectable 62nd-place finish in his first crack at the sport’s major league. 

Brown, a regular member of the NGA Pro Tour who recently told the Golf Coaches Association of America, “My journey has had some ups and downs,” had some moments that mirrored that at Montreux Golf & Country Club in Reno, Nev.

Brown, who won an exemption into the Reno-Tahoe Open through the NGA, had some highs and lows. His first round was a perfect example of that.

Last Thursday, Brown had three birdies, four bogeys and one double-bogey to finish with minus-1 point under the Modified Stableford scoring system that rewards players points for good holes (positive points for birdies, eagles, etc.) and penalizes them for bad holes (negative points for bogeys and double-bogeys or more). That first round left Brown outside of the Top 100 and in serious jeopardy of missing the cut.

It appeared that he’d need a super second round to keep playing through the weekend. And that’s just what he got.

Brown had eight birdies and two bogeys – shooting a 66 on the par-72 course – in amassing 14 points. After starting on the back nine Brown bogeyed Nos. 3 and 5 before closing out his round with four straight birdies.

“After he made that last one you could’ve heard us yelling all the way back in Shelbyville,” said his grandfather, Horace Brown, who was one of several family members who made the trip out to Nevada. “We were all so excited, and so happy for him, we had tears in our eyes.” 

Brown easily made the cut, moving up into a tie for 27th-place with 13 points.

In Saturday’s third round Brown began with a par before making bogey at the par-5 second. Two holes later, though, he made eagle on the par-4 fourth to vault into a tie for 12th place. Brown then made bogey at the par-4 fifth before bouncing back once again to make birdie on the par-4 sixth. He followed that up with a par, which moved him up into a tie for 11th. Unfortunately, that was the high point for Brown.

He made double-bogey on three of the first four holes of the back nine and a bogey at No. 17. Brown did make birdie at the 18th, but he finished the day tied for 64th with 10 points.

His final round was a roller coaster. Brown made bogeys on Nos. 2 and 4 and birdies at 5, 6 and 8. He began the back nine with a bogey, then carded a double-bogey on No. 12. Brown battled back to make birdie on No. 14 before making bogey at 17. He ended on a high note, though, making birdie on the 18th to complete a 5-birdie, 4-bogey, 1-double-bogey round.

The latter was a problem for Brown all weekend. He tied for first in double-bogeys in the tournament (five) and tied for seventh in bogeys (13). On the bright side, though, he finished second in driving distance (344.6 yards), tied for 12th in birdies (18) and earned $6,480. 

With his first PGA event under his belt, it’s back to the NGA Tour for Brown.

The next event is the Terry Moore Ford Open, Aug. 13-19 at Rock Barn Golf & Spa in Conover, N.C.