AIKEN, S.C. — Just a hop, a skip and a jump from his first Masters Tournament start a year ago, Jovan Rebula was back at it across the Savannah River on Wednesday.
With spotty showers and thick humidity covering the course, the 45th Palmetto Amateur began with one of the deepest fields in recent memory. Along with some of the top local talent, the field was littered with some of the top collegiate golfers in the country.
While Rebula didn’t make the cut at Augusta, the experience he’s gained has become a valuable tool. Naturally, if a golfer can handle the atmosphere at Augusta, other competitive environments can weigh a bit lighter on him.That’s not even mentioning the fact He also carries the Els name in his family, so pressure is nothing new for the young South African.
While that plays a big part in his game, he also expresses how fortunate he is to be in the position he is today.
“I’ve gained a lot of experience through the last couple of years I’ve been playing. I’m very fortunate to be in the position that I was and learn from that and carry onwards. Those kinds of experiences just make life a little bit easier. I’m a little more calm under these conditions, but this last year has been pretty crazy in a good way.”
A member of the Auburn golf team, Rebula and hundreds of golfers around the nation saw their seasons cut short this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, just the opportunity to play and return to some sense of normalcy is a huge step. He’s no different.
“We’re trying to be safe as much as we can and just having the opportunity to play is something really special,” he said. “We’re very grateful for the opportunity that we’re getting because we were under the impression that we weren’t going to play at all until school starts again. It’s just great to be playing a golf course like this, against all these good players, just to kind of get the competitiveness going again.”
Joining Rebula in the lofty field is Georgia Tech’s Tyler Strafaci. Both are among Golfweek’s top-100 amateur players in the world.
Familiar faces are also on hand. Aiken natives Jake Carter (Florida State/Charleston Southern), Brian Quackenbush (2015 Augusta City Amateur champion) and Dane Burkhart (USC Aiken, 2005 Palmetto Amateur champion) all returned to Palmetto.
At a time when USC Aiken golfer Dan Sheehan normally wouldn’t be stateside, the health pandemic had other ideas. The Bristol, England, native is in uncharted territory – until he set foot on his home course, that is. Wednesday was his first Palmetto Amateur start.
“It’s a bit different being here since I’m normally in Ireland this time of year, but it was nice to be able to play this for the first time,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to play this tournament, so to be able to play at Palmetto, which has been so good to me for four years so I’m hoping for a bit better tomorrow. I’m just looking forward to getting out early, to be honest with you.”
The Tuesday practice round was canceled due to inclement weather. Despite the rain Tuesday night and off-and-on showers Wednesday, Sheehan agreed the course played about as well as anyone could have asked coming into the opener.
“I thought the course was great for how much rain we had,” he said. “The golf course was playing pretty normal for us. The greens maybe would’ve been a bit quicker if it hadn’t rained, but they rolled a good speed and true and I didn’t find any wet patches all day.”
Without the practice round, many participants played the course for the first time Wednesday. While that can make an opening round more difficult than it already is, Rebula’s first impression of Palmetto was a good one.
“This golf course is incredible. It’s a fun golf course, not the longest golf course that there is, but you need to hit your irons around here really well. You need to drive the ball in some good spots and it lives up to every expectation that we’ve heard from,” he said.
“Unfortunately, not being able to play a practice round made it a little bit tricky today, but it’s about learning your way around the course and hopefully we’ll go into tomorrow with a bit more knowledge.”
