Victory spells relief for Leslie
It was a deep sense of relief rather than overwhelming delight that settled in on Craig Leslie last weekend after he and his UCLA Bruins teammates had claimed the team title at the 111th NCAA Men’s Golf Championship.
“When our last guy (medalist Kevin Chappell) finally tapped in, it was a just a big, big sigh of relief,” said Leslie, a 22-year-old senior from Spokane. “It just felt like I had been holding my breath for a week, and was finally able to let it out.”
That’s the kind of stifling pressure that can afflict even the most competitive of athletes during a national championship run like the Bruins completed last Saturday at Purdue University’s long and difficult Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind.
Leslie, during a phone conversation earlier this week, had no problem relating how it affected him during the final round of the 72-hole championship as the Bruins managed to hold off hard-charging Pacific-10 Conference rival Stanford by a single stroke to win their first national golf title since 1988.
“Coming into the last four holes, they had scoreboards on the 15th green and 17th tee,” he said. “And there was also an electronic scoreboard on 18, so you knew where you stood at all times on those final holes.”
The Bruins had entered the final nine holes of the championship with a 10-stroke lead, but by the time Leslie reached the 15th green, that lead had shrunk considerably.
“I looked up at the scoreboard and saw them switching the numbers,” he said, “and all of sudden, we were only up by two. I was like, ‘Oh, oh, what’s going on?’ “
Leslie went on to birdie the 16th before stepping to the tee at 17, a 220-yard par-3 with water all the way down the left side and the pin positioned all the way back on a huge, deep green.
“It was unbelievable,” he said of the 17th, which was also playing directly into a howling wind. “I could not feel my face, or my hands, and yet I still had to hit a golf shot.”
Somehow he did, striping his long-iron tee shot just over the green, from where he chipped on out of a “horrible lie” and two-putted for a hard-earned and satisfying bogey.
“Seventeen was one of the hardest golf holes I think I’ve ever played,” said Leslie, a two-time Washington Junior Golf Association champion (2002, ‘03).
Leslie attended Liberty High School for two years, but played for the West Valley golf team before transferring to Ferris, where he sat out his junior year and then captained the Saxons to a second-place finish in the State 4A tournament as a senior.
“I did make bogey that last day,” he said. “But I would take a bogey there 10 times out of 10 times.”
On 18, the pressure was ratcheted up even more by the presence of a large gallery and television cameras that were streaming action on the 485-yard, par-4 closing hole to the NCAA’s website.
But Leslie managed to make birdie there, knocking a 7-iron approach shot from 190 yards out to within 12 feet of the pin and then making his putt.
From there, he took a seat in the gallery and watched as Chappell, a fellow senior and former roommate, made par at the 18th to give the Bruins their championship.
“I was just glad it was over, because it had been such a long week,” Leslie said.
Chappell finished the tournament at 2-under-par 286, 20 shots ahead of Leslie, who finished in a tie for 38th in the medalist standings with an 18-over 306.
During his senior year at UCLA, Leslie played in 30 of the Bruins’ 34 tournaments, averaging 73.6, with a pair of top-10 finishes. He harbors no regrets about heading off to a warm-climate school to pursue his golf dreams, rather than staying closer to home and playing at Washington State University, where both his mother and father earned their degrees.
“I grew up a big Cougar fan, and I would have loved going to Pullman for four years,” Leslie said. “But we decided, as a family, my game would develop a little bit better down here. And I think it has.”
Leslie plans to take time this summer to complete his degree in history and contemplate the best path to follow on his way to becoming a professional golfer.
“I have two very, very supportive parents, and we’ve decided as long as I’ve made it this far, why not give it a shot,” he said. “I’m going to try to play professionally for however long and then take things from there.”
Leslie plans on attending the PGA’s qualifying school this fall in hopes of landing a spot on the Nationwide Tour or even the PGA Tour.
He knows the PGA Tour is a long shot but is willing to take the chance.
“And even if I don’t make it, those mini tours are a great way to continue developing your game.”
As far as missing his days as a collegiate golfer, Leslie said there is no way.
“I’m actually glad that’s all over, too, because the whole year, you’re always struggling to get into that top five on your team and make the traveling squad,” he said. “There were occasions during my time here that I’d be sitting there with my round finished and wanting the rest of my teammates to do well, but at the same time thinking, ‘Man, if he beats me, I’m not going to be traveling next week.’
“You catch yourself, sometimes, almost rooting against your teammates, because that’s what competitors do. And I really didn’t like that feeling. I’m really looking forward to the next few years of my life, where I can focus on being my own naturally competitive self and not having to root against my teammates.”