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Golfer Goes for Three-peat
;;;;; ;;;; didn’t play golf until he was
;;. He was a baseball player intent on
being a big-league pitcher. His father,
Larry, was the golfer in the family, a
former pro, and the younger Hall would
caddy for him on weekends. That is,
until ;;;;, when Hall caddied for his
dad at the U.S. Amateur Championship
and watched ;;-year-old Tiger Woods
win a third consecutive title.
“I saw Tigermania firsthand and
thought, Wow, you can really make a liv-
ing with this golf thing,” Hall recalls. “I
never touched a baseball glove again.”
With his father’s help, Hall went
from a ;; handicap to a ; in just three
months. He starred at Wayne Valley
High School, then played at the Uni-
versity of Kansas, graduating in ;;;;.
After ;; years on the PGA Tour, Hall
called it quits after the ;;;; season.
The following year, his wife, Brianna,
gave birth to their daughter, Finley.
Hall, now the director of instruction
at Upper Montclair Country Club in
Clifton, still has competitive goals. He
wants to become the first golfer since
;;;; to win three consecutive New
Jersey State Open Championships; the
tournament takes place July ;; to ;;
at Metedeconk National Golf Club in
Jackson. Hall, ;;, won the tournament
in ;;;; and ;;;;. He thinks his chances
for a three-peat are good.
“My driving and my iron play are
definite strengths,” says Hall, “but
I think what carries me as a good,
competitive golfer is the experience of
having played for so long at the highest
level against the best in the world.”
Hall also wants to qualify for two
tournaments he missed while on the
PGA Tour. He hopes to make the U.S.
Open through local and sectional qualifiers, and the PGA Tour Championship
by earning Class-A Professional status
and finishing in the top ;; at the PGA
Championship.
“I still have very lofty playing goals,”
says Hall. “I’m just going to take a dif-
ferent avenue to get there.”
—Lindsay Berra
World’s Best Women
Compete at Trump
;; ;;; ;;;;;;; ;;;;;;; ;;;;. The
156 best in the world—based on winnings on the LPGA Tour and victory in
qualifying tournaments—will compete at
Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster
in the U.S. Women’s Open, the oldest
and most prestigious of the five major
women’s pro tournaments. Its $5 million
purse is also the largest of the majors.
The four rounds of play, July 13 to 16, will
be telecast in more than 100 countries,
with the two final rounds on Fox.
The women drive the ball 260 to 280
yards—not quite as far as the men, but
they land their drives in the fairway more
often. On the Trump club’s Old Course,
“You must be in the right position to at-
tack the green,” says tournament director
Matt Sawicki of the USGA, based in Far
Hills. “The hazards guarding the greens
are tricky, especially the 18th. You have
to land it in the right place on that green
or you face a very di;cult putt. It could
make for an exciting finish.”
The top women players relish such
challenges. “People are shocked at how
good they are,” Sawicki says. “They’re
also shocked at how accessible and ap-
proachable they are compared to other
pro athletes. They take time to sign au-
tographs and really interact with fans.”
With an adult ticket ($25 Monday-
Wednesday, $45 Thursday-Sunday), kids
are free. Wednesday, July 12, is Junior
Day, “with programs for anyone under 17,
whether they play or not,” Sawicki says.
As for politics, “We announced Trump
Bedminster as the host in 2012,” he
says. “Nobody could have anticipat-
ed what has happened since. We’ve got
a great public-safe-
ty plan, from local to
federal, but our em-
phasis is on the fan
experience, their en-
joyment.”—Eric Levin
ON THE LINKS
FINAL EXAM
The approach to
the 18th green,
below, is one of
the trickiest on
the course, which
could make for
final round drama.
LOFTY GOALS
p golfer Tyler Hall
w h wife Brianna and
t r daughter, Finley.
A ough he’s no longer
the pro tour, Hall
ill has ambitions
o compete in the
majors.
