Brett Hull Comes Up Short At U.S. Open Local Qualifying
Austin, Texas -- In a secret world that only he inhabits, Brett Hull puts the skates in the attic. He locks the door.
He plays golf every day until dark, sometimes later if the moon???s full. Then he makes a tee time for first thing in the morning.
Hull
The 38-year-old star for the National Hockey League???s Detroit Red Wings relaxed in the shade Monday afternoon at Austin Country Club and revealed the following side of himself: ???I???d rather play golf than hockey. I just love the game. I love the challenge. It???s my favorite sport.??? This came after he made an 8 on a short par 4.
Hull???s drive went wide. He hit a ball in the water. He hit a bad chip. He three-putted. He laughed.
???Until you have a short game, you???re never going to be good,??? said one of the greatest players in hockey, not golf. ???So that???s what I???ve got to work on.???
He???s got another year to do it. Hull traveled to Austin to try to make it through the local qualifying stage for the U.S. Open Championship in June, but he shot an 80, and 80s don???t get you to the next level, the sectional qualifier, which determines who will go to the national championship of golf.
???That???s why I do this,??? said Hull after his round. ???I want to become a better golfer under pressure.???
He was one of 86 contestants at the Pete Dye design on Lake Austin. There were higher scores than his 80, but that seemed of little consequence to a man whose career is smacking frozen pucks at terrified goaltenders. Hull is a competitor. How else could he become a near-scratch player at two country clubs in Dallas?
Hull has spent 17 years in the NHL, including stints with the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars, and he???s won a pair of Stanley Cups, an MVP in the All-Star Game and the league MVP. But the game that thrills him most is golf.
He began playing as a freshman in college. His profession allows him to exercise his passion only in the offseason, which explains why he???s played just twice since the Red Wings??? season ended. The stroke that made him famous on the ice serves him well on the golf course; he can drive the ball to Antarctica and back.
But in golf, you putt. You chip, pitch and putt to score. ???It???s not ripping a driver. It???s hitting that 10-foot putt for par. That???s what I admire about the great players,??? said Hull.
There are others in the sports world who are coming to the same conclusion in the same way.
Al Del Greco, Ivan Lendl, Dan Quinn, Ray Sheppard, Dale Tallon and Billie Joe Tolliver are among the thousands of amateurs trying to survive the local and sectional qualifiers to play next month with the best players in the world at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill.
Hull tried to qualify in the mid-1990s in Minneapolis. He made a hole-in-one, he said, but not the sectional field.
His career low round is a 67 at a country club in Duluth, Minn. That was two years ago. He was doing fine Monday ??? even par through three holes ??? until his untimely quadruple bogey on a hole where most good players need only an iron off the tee to make a birdie or par.
One of hockey???s greats left a souvenir in the lake.
???He had it in perspective,??? said San Antonio standout Jimmy Walker, one of Hull???s two playing partners. ???He was out here, trying to get better, and that???s the only way you can.???
???He has a good golf swing,??? said the other, Mark Baldree of Austin. ???He???s fairly effortless. He has this little routine that he does. And he???s the best hockey player I???ve ever played with.???
After the round, Hull was sweaty. He wanted a beer. But the club was closed and the refreshment stand wasn???t selling any beer.
So he sat around on the patio and savored the fact that he was one of just a few players in the game of golf who are good enough to even be accepted into a local qualifier for one of golf???s most cherished championships.
???It???s a mental struggle,??? Hull said of golf.
Hockey can be a mental struggle, too, but hockey has a distinct advantage over golf, said one of the most famous names in the game.
???The hole???s bigger in hockey.???
Austin, Texas -- In a secret world that only he inhabits, Brett Hull puts the skates in the attic. He locks the door.
He plays golf every day until dark, sometimes later if the moon???s full. Then he makes a tee time for first thing in the morning.
Hull
The 38-year-old star for the National Hockey League???s Detroit Red Wings relaxed in the shade Monday afternoon at Austin Country Club and revealed the following side of himself: ???I???d rather play golf than hockey. I just love the game. I love the challenge. It???s my favorite sport.??? This came after he made an 8 on a short par 4.
Hull???s drive went wide. He hit a ball in the water. He hit a bad chip. He three-putted. He laughed.
???Until you have a short game, you???re never going to be good,??? said one of the greatest players in hockey, not golf. ???So that???s what I???ve got to work on.???
He???s got another year to do it. Hull traveled to Austin to try to make it through the local qualifying stage for the U.S. Open Championship in June, but he shot an 80, and 80s don???t get you to the next level, the sectional qualifier, which determines who will go to the national championship of golf.
???That???s why I do this,??? said Hull after his round. ???I want to become a better golfer under pressure.???
He was one of 86 contestants at the Pete Dye design on Lake Austin. There were higher scores than his 80, but that seemed of little consequence to a man whose career is smacking frozen pucks at terrified goaltenders. Hull is a competitor. How else could he become a near-scratch player at two country clubs in Dallas?
Hull has spent 17 years in the NHL, including stints with the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars, and he???s won a pair of Stanley Cups, an MVP in the All-Star Game and the league MVP. But the game that thrills him most is golf.
He began playing as a freshman in college. His profession allows him to exercise his passion only in the offseason, which explains why he???s played just twice since the Red Wings??? season ended. The stroke that made him famous on the ice serves him well on the golf course; he can drive the ball to Antarctica and back.
But in golf, you putt. You chip, pitch and putt to score. ???It???s not ripping a driver. It???s hitting that 10-foot putt for par. That???s what I admire about the great players,??? said Hull.
There are others in the sports world who are coming to the same conclusion in the same way.
Al Del Greco, Ivan Lendl, Dan Quinn, Ray Sheppard, Dale Tallon and Billie Joe Tolliver are among the thousands of amateurs trying to survive the local and sectional qualifiers to play next month with the best players in the world at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill.
Hull tried to qualify in the mid-1990s in Minneapolis. He made a hole-in-one, he said, but not the sectional field.
His career low round is a 67 at a country club in Duluth, Minn. That was two years ago. He was doing fine Monday ??? even par through three holes ??? until his untimely quadruple bogey on a hole where most good players need only an iron off the tee to make a birdie or par.
One of hockey???s greats left a souvenir in the lake.
???He had it in perspective,??? said San Antonio standout Jimmy Walker, one of Hull???s two playing partners. ???He was out here, trying to get better, and that???s the only way you can.???
???He has a good golf swing,??? said the other, Mark Baldree of Austin. ???He???s fairly effortless. He has this little routine that he does. And he???s the best hockey player I???ve ever played with.???
After the round, Hull was sweaty. He wanted a beer. But the club was closed and the refreshment stand wasn???t selling any beer.
So he sat around on the patio and savored the fact that he was one of just a few players in the game of golf who are good enough to even be accepted into a local qualifier for one of golf???s most cherished championships.
???It???s a mental struggle,??? Hull said of golf.
Hockey can be a mental struggle, too, but hockey has a distinct advantage over golf, said one of the most famous names in the game.
???The hole???s bigger in hockey.???