Lowe Will Go: Ex-Deacon ready for U.S. Open

Cortland Lowe refuses to be intimidated by the thought of playing in his first U.S. Open.

Lowe, the only Wake Forest graduate in the field of 156, has taken a curious route to his pro-golf career, but said he thinks he's peaking at the right time.

When Lowe, 29, shot 62-68 to cruise to medalist honors in sectional qualifying in Dayton, Ohio, he punched his ticket to his first major. It will also be just his second PGA tournament.

"I didn't realize I was the only Wake Forest graduate in the field," Lowe said. "That's kind of strange, so I guess I'll have to go out and try to represent the school as best I can."

One thing that Lowe will have by the time he tees off Thursday in the first round at the Bethpage Black course on Long Island is a Wake Forest head cover for his driver. Coach Jerry Haas of the Deacons, who Lowe talks with at least once a week, was making arrangements to get Lowe a new head cover.

"Yeah, I need to have that Wake head cover," Lowe said, "especially if I'm the only Deacon in the field."

Lowe, who graduated in 2003, had a decent career with the Deacons but nothing that would suggest he was a sure-fire PGA Tour player. He bounced around the mini-tours after college for a short time, but then settled into a job as an assistant pro and later a head pro in San Diego.

It was late last year when Lowe decided to go after his dream of playing professional golf again. He Monday-qualified into the Buick Invitational in at Torrey Pines in February and made the cut there. Since then he has played mostly on the Tarheel Tour, where he has three top-15 finishes.

"I've been doing pretty well on that tour, but it's just been one round during tournaments that have kind of held me back," said Lowe, who lives in Charlotte but was born and raised in Augusta, Ga. "I feel like my game is coming around pretty well at this point."

In eight tournaments on the Tarheel Tour, Lowe is 44th on the money list with just over $13,000.

Haas said that seeing Lowe pursue his dream of pro golf is great to see.

"I think it's great he's giving it a try again and I think he can do well this week," Haas said.

Lowe is one of 26 players in the field who made it through local and sectional qualifying. And while several are playing in their first U.S. Open, at least Lowe has been inside the ropes before.

Bill Haas, who is in his fourth year on the PGA Tour, and Lowe were teammates in college. In 2003, Haas qualified for the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields. Lowe caddied for Haas during that Open.

"That was a great experience just being there for an Open," Lowe said. "That was a definite learning experience and getting to caddie for Bill was a lot of fun."

Lowe said that Haas encouraged him to go after a pro career again.

Because Lowe is older and a little more wiser, his mind-set is different.

"There wasn't anything holding me back when I did try pro golf the first time, but I think now I'm just feeling confident and that helps," Lowe said.

Lowe has been on Long Island since last Thursday, using the time to get to know the course, which will play a robust 7,426 yards. The graduated rough that starts out at 1½ inches just off the fairway can be as deep as four inches if shots are way off the fairway. Lowe said that keeping it in the fairway will be his priority.

"I feel good about my game and I feel I can compete inside the ropes with those guys," Lowe said. "I know when it was played here the last time there was a lot of rain and it was impossible to hit out of the rough, but I don't think it's going to be as bad as the last time.

"I just want to give myself changes and to do that I have to hit fairways."

Jerry Haas qualified for the U.S. Open at Bethpage in 2002, and has been sending Lowe constant text messages on tips about various holes.

"Coach has been great with giving me a little insight," Lowe said. "I know he said it beat him up pretty bad because it played long."

Haas said that while the length of the course has increased about 200 yards since 2002, he has been studying it extensively.

"I've given him little tidbits here and there about where to be on certain greens, but you have to remember he hits a lot farther than I do," Haas said.

Lowe said that a good showing this week at his first major will hopefully go a long way toward landing more sponsors.

"I think a top 10 gets me into the next PGA Tour tournament and maybe that will get me into some Nationwide Tour events," Lowe said. "More importantly, I think it will give me more confidence if I can have a good week."

Being from Augusta, where The Masters is held, Lowe was asked about which tournament he'd rather play in.

"It's always been the Masters for me, but this is pretty good, too," Lowe said. "I mean, I feel privileged to be here and playing in the U.S. Open. I'm looking forward to it."

■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com.