Josep María Serra is a promising 21-year-old Spanish amateur golfer who has passed the first preliminary round of the US Open Championship this Monday. He has qualified for the final qualifier, which will be played on June 3rd over 36 holes at different locations in the United States. He knows perfectly well that he is not yet in the US Open, there is a long and, above all, difficult road ahead, but at least he can say out loud that he is 36 holes away from being able to play with the best in the world on the mythical Pinehurst course in mid-June. There are not many amateur players who can say something like this throughout their careers.
Serra, a golfer who studies and plays golf in the United States at the Mississippi State University, passed the preliminary round that was held at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club, a course located at the Florida State University. More than 80 players registered and only five passed. The Barcelona golfer, raised at the Real Club de Golf El Prat, finished in second place with a score of 69 strokes, just one behind the winner, the Danish, also amateur, Frederik Kjettrup.
Josep speaks to Ten Golf back in Mississippi and cannot hide his joy. In addition, his story with this course is curious. “I’m very happy, to be honest. I had played this course just over a month ago and things hadn’t gone very well for me (41st place with rounds of 78, 70 and 78 strokes). I knew before starting that it is a complicated course and from what I had seen from other years with three or two under par you could pass”, he explains.
The key to his success, probably, was at the beginning. He started with a lot of strength. He started from the 10th and signed birdies on the 11th, with two putts on a par 5, 13th, with a putt of about six-seven meters and on the 14th, another par 5 where he holed a putt of about three meters. He added one more on the 17th, a short par 4 that he played by the book: drive-iron 9 and putt of 4-5 meters. “There I knew that the round was more or less done and it was about holding on. It didn’t matter to win, the important thing was to finish in the top five”, he points out.
And he sure did hold on. Serra played with a lot of calm and composure. He hit very good shots under pressure, especially in the last nine holes, and passed the challenge with flying colours. He made two bogeys on the 1st and 4th, where it seemed that the round could twist, but he reacted like a champion with a great shot on the 5th, a par 3. He hit a great 8 iron with water in front and made a crucial putt of about five meters. He had it in the bag. However, if he had to choose a shot, he assures that it would be the par putt of the 16th hole of about eight meters. “At that moment I was coming with three under par and it helped me to hold on just before making another birdie”, he points out.
Serra began the adventure in the United States at Nova Southeastern University, but after two years he changed, specifically last summer. He was happy, but he made an ambitious decision. “I was very well there, but it was a second division university. The level was very good, but you hardly advanced in the world amateur ranking. No matter how many good results you had, you didn’t go up, quite the contrary. That’s why I went to Mississippi State“, he admits.
He has not yet won with the Bulldogs, the nickname for the athletes of his new university, but he has had good results. He is an extremely solid player. He hardly drops out of the top 25 in tournaments and this year he has already finished in third position in the Fallen Oak Collegiate. This year he has played tournaments with two amateurs who are now professionals: Nick Dunlap, winner of the American Express of the PGA Tour, and Caleb Surratt, member of Jon Rahm’s team in LIV Golf.
While waiting for that great opportunity that he has created from the final preliminary round of the US Open (he has chosen to play in this order in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina), Josep María still has two very important appointments ahead of him that will allow him not to think too much about the qualifier. First he plays the Regionals next week and, if they do well, they will then play the Nationals.
While waiting, Serra can look at himself in the mirror these days and say: “you are 36 holes from the US Open”.
In addition, another Spaniard, was on the verge. It is Luis Palomo, another amateur also from Barcelona. He has secured a place as first reserve in the preliminary round held at the Firewheel in Texas on May 1st. Five players finished tied with -3, including Palomo, and the other four qualified for the next preliminary round and the Spaniard was just the first reserve.
