MACK CARROLL/Staff Photographer
GREG BARNETT
Sports Assistant
Following in the footsteps of a three time All-American college golfer isn’t easy, but even with big shoes to fill Andrew Putnam is up to the challenge. Putnam is one of three freshman golfers joining Pepperdine this year with a team who didn’t lose one player to graduation. Andrew is the younger brother of 2004 Pepperdine alumnus and current PGA tour professional Michael Putnam.
Andrew Putnam is from University Place, Wash., and chose to attend Pepperdine over multiple other top-tier schools such as UCLA, Stanford University, and Oklahoma State University. He went to a small, private high school and says the atmosphere of Pepperdine fit him better than the larger schools that recruited him.
“He’s a great talent. Freshman year is always hard and you never know how quickly they’ll get settled down and get in the lineup,” said Head Coach John Geiberger. “He’s got enough game and confidence to get going quickly.”
Putnam is coming off two summers of solid performances in U.S. Golf Association tournaments. In the summer of 2006, he made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur.
The U.S. Junior Amateur is the biggest and most important junior tournament of the year with the strongest field of the best golfers from around the world who are under 18. He lost to the champion Philip Francis, who attends UCLA.
“It was my first big finish in a tournament,” Putnam says. “It was amazing, we had cameras swarming us — it was big time.”
Making the semifinals in the U.S. Junior is a big deal, but teammate Andrew Widmar says his performance in this year’s U.S. Amateur was more impressive.
“It showed his maturity and poise as a golfer to make it that far, and that he can compete at the highest amateur level,” Widmar said.
In total, four Pepperdine golf team members played in the tournament, but only Putnam and his roommate Josh Anderson advanced to match play.
“The Amateur was crazy, it’s a lot bigger tournament than I’m used to playing,” Putnam says. “I was fortunate enough to have played The Olympic Club before in the U.S. Junior in 2004, which I think gave me an advantage.”
Out of the 312 player field of the best amateurs from all over the globe, Putnam finished the 36th hole stroke play portion of the tournament in a tie for 39th to advance to match play. Anderson lost in the first round of match play, but Putnam made it to the Sweet 16.
Besides playing golf, Putnam likes to play basketball, ski and even hunt. He hunts deer and has shot three so far. He likes all music, especially country, but says John Mayer is his favorite musician at the moment. One would think “Caddyshack” would be a golfer’s favorite movie, or maybe “Happy Gilmore,” but Putnam says “Anchorman” is his all-time favorite.
As for his first couple weeks at Pepperdine, Putnam says he’s having a great time getting his college career going. Although the business major was given three days with 8 a.m. classes, he says it’s not too bad. His team members are making him and his fellow freshmen feel welcome and showing them the ropes on how to succeed with such a busy schedule.
“I think we have really good team chemistry,” Putnam said. “We all get along really well, and there are a lot of funny kids on the team, like [Eric] Shriver.”
Although his ultimate goal is to make a living playing professional golf like his older brother, in the mean time his immediate goal is to make the traveling squad and contend to win tournaments.
“My goal is to improve every year and hopefully be an All-American most all my years here,” Putnam says. “But I guess I got to qualify for the team first.”
09-13-2007
