At 39 years of age, amateur golfer Brandon Holtz ranks among the older players making his debut at the Masters this week. What's crazier about his story is that golf wasn't even his primary sport for the first half of his life.
As a college athlete at Illinois State from 2005 to 2008, Holtz actually played for the Redbirds basketball team. His first coach was Porter Moser, who would later lead Loyola-Chicago to the Final Four and now coaches at Oklahoma. His second coach was Tim Jankovich, and under his leadership the Redbirds reached the NIT twice while Holtz was there.
In an interview with NBC, Holtz explained that growing up basketball was his primary sport and golf was number two. He said that he didn't really do a lot of competitive golf growing up as he focused on basketball.
"Honestly, it was really golf [that] was my outlet to get away from the gym," Holtz said. "And I didn't really play a whole lot of competitive golf. I played in high school, but that was really it. I didn't really travel and play in any tournaments. Sometimes I'd play maybe the local tournament here or there, but again, golf is secondary."
© Peter Casey-Imagn Images.
From hoops to holes
However, after his basketball career ended, he found that golf became a much better outlet for him. Over time, it grew from a hobby into a competitive urge. And while it may have taken Holtz a long time to reach the heights of amateur golf, he feels that he's "finally made it a little bit."
"And then after I got done playing basketball, I needed something to fill that that competitive mode, and golf was that outlet for me. So I kind of focused all of my free time and just that need of that competitive feeling, I guess. Over the years I've had some ups and downs and I'm 39 years old, and here we are, finally. Finally made it a little bit."
Unfortunately for Holtz, his first foray into the Masters might be his last. He scored an 81 in the first round on Thursday and basically needs to have the greatest round in Masters history just to make the cut.
But it's still a nice story of transitioning from one major sport to another.
