Junior golfer Tate Brunk is getting quite an opportunity Thursday and Friday at the TrueNorth Greater Cedar Rapids Open, presented by UFG Insurance. The 17-year-old is getting to play in the tournament as an invited amateur for winning the recent Iowa PGA Greater Cedar Rapids Junior tournament, which was held July 3 at Hunters Ridge. He shot a 3-over-par 75 and won the 16-18 Division by one shot.
He’ll be paired with University of California grads KK Limbhasut and Ben Doyle. Those two are former Cal teammates of rising PGA star Collin Morikawa.
Limbhasut , a Thailand native who has made over $112,000 in 43 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, came to America at age 14 to seek out college golf opportunities. Doyle has been playing on the PGA Tour LatinoAmerica this year.
But Brunk, from North Liberty, says he won’t be overwhelmed by his company.
“Not really,” Brunk said about being nervous. “I feel pretty good. I’m just going to go out and have fun.”
Brunk says he’s going to watch his playing partners and admits he will be asking them some questions, like how they got to where they are. “A little of both,” he said of observing and inquiring. “Small talk just happens,” said Brunk.
Brunk was not aware winning the junior tournament would earn him an invitation. But he didn’t have any reservations about accepting the spot in the GCRO. “It’s just another opportunity,” he said.
“Really, I’ll have a little bit of nerves tomorrow. But it’s going to be a good test. Winning the (junior) tournament sort of gave me the confidence that you can do this, you can go out and you can compete with the big guys.”
Brunk, 17, is going to be a senior this fall at Iowa City Liberty. He’s considering playing golf in college, but he’s not committed yet, and he really hasn’t thought about a major or a school yet.
“I’ll see how this (upcoming) golf season goes. I have plenty of time to pick and choose. I want to live out (his senior year).”
He’ll certainly be living out a dream over the next two days, even if he can still “pick and choose.”