OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — PGA Tour journeyman Scott Gutschewski always wanted his kids to have fun while they played golf, so when they were little he’d strap fishing poles to the top of the cart and stop at course ponds so they could drop a line.
“If they were biting, we’d stay,” he said. “If not, we’d go back to golf.”
Luke and Trevor Gutschewski grew up to be like their dad —now more passionate about chasing birdies than bass.
The three are golfing royalty in Nebraska and, in a fortuitous turn of events, all three will play in their hometown of Omaha in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Pinnacle Bank Championship starting Thursday. Officials of the tournament, which is on the tour one step below the PGA, put the Gutschewskis together as a threesome for the first and second rounds at the Club at Indian Creek.
Now that’s fun.
Scott, 47, said he figured if his health allowed him to keep playing a few more years and Luke continued to develop, the two might play in the same pro tournament someday. Having Trevor qualify for a Korn Ferry event before his senior year of high school was a huge, and pleasant, surprise.
“Not based on his ability, but just the timing,” Scott said. “You don’t expect this, the timing, right?”
Scott has played in 17 PGA Tour events this season but was bumped from the field for this week’s Wyndham Championship. His win on the Korn Ferry’s Sun Coast Classic last year made him eligible for this week’s Omaha event.
Luke, who plays for Iowa State and will be a senior this fall, won a local qualifying event on July 1 to earn his spot.
For Trevor, who will play his college golf at Florida, this week is the continuation of his sensational summer. He qualified by winning the Indian Creek Invitational on July 14. That was two weeks before he won the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills. Next week, he’ll play in the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine.
“It’s rare to have three people from the same family make a tournament of this caliber,” PBC tournament director Jessica Brabec said. “We know how much this moment means to the Gutschewski family and we want to make sure they have the opportunity to play together. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we’re so excited to have them all playing at the Pinnacle Bank Championship.”
Scott has played in 154 PGA Tour events since 2005, making 66 cuts. He’s played in 255 Korn Ferry events and won three.
He and his wife, Amy, also have a daughter, Isabelle, who’s in her second year in the University of Nebraska’s PGA Golf Management program, and 8-year-old son Isaiah, who’s just getting started in the sport.
Luke and Trevor are very different players. Luke’s strength is his short game and course management; Trevor is long off the tee and aggressive.
Trevor said his run to the U.S. Junior Amateur title — he was seeded No. 33 after qualifying — prepared him well for what awaits this week.
“Definitely got me ready physically and mentally,” he said. “Everyone out there is good, and everyone out here is really good.”
Luke said the most important lesson he and his brother learned from their dad had nothing to do with chipping or putting.
“He’s taught us how to be a professional in how we carry ourselves, handle our practice, dealing with people,” Luke said. “That, probably more than anything, is what has stuck with me the most.”
The Gutschewskis said they have only one goal for this week. Naturally, it’s to have fun.
“I kind of have an understanding how hard it is to be out here,” Scott said. “It’s a privilege to play on the Korn Ferry or PGA Tour, and sometimes we lose a little sight of that, so kind of having that perspective is pretty important.”
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