South Dakota State University’s men’s golf coach Parker Edens made it to the quarterfinals, in one of the most prestigious amateur events in the country, earlier this month.
Edens ended up losing two and one to Stewart Hagestad, who eventually won the U.S. Mid-Amateur Golf Championship held in Scarborough, New York, at Sleepy Hollow Country Club Sept. 9-14.
“Making match play at the Mid-Am was very satisfying,” Edens said. “I have been playing well for most of the summer, so my goal going into the week was to get to match play, and I knew that from there anything was possible.”
If he had won the tournament, Edens would have received an automatic invitation to The Masters tournament this coming April. With his solid finish, he does get an exemption for next year’s Mid-Amateur.
“I will try to continue to play as many events as I can and fit into my schedule during the summer,” Edens said. “It’s definitely a difficult balance between recruiting and my playing schedule, but I have figured out a successful approach to both.”
In the first two rounds of stroke play at the Mid-Am, Edens shot 69, 75, for a total of +3. That was enough to get him inside the cut line.
He played his first match in the Round of 64 against Brady Shivers of Lubbock, Texas. Edens won holes seven through 10 to put him five up in the match, and he held onto his lead to win five and three.
His next match in the Round of 32 was against Preston Dembowiak of Kernersville, South Carolina. Edens led the match for the last 11 holes and won two up with one to play.
The last round he won was in the Round of 16, where he played Jason Bataille of Bridgewater, New Jersey. He advanced with the winning score of two and one.
To qualify for this event, Edens shot a 5-under round of 66 at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls.
He said he was not nervous to qualify or play in the U.S. Mid-Am because he does not feel the pressure anymore. When he was on the professional tour, he had his and his family’s well-being on the line while playing for money, which he describes as “real pressure.” Now, he just enjoys competing at a high level without the trouble of worrying about a paycheck.
Edens was the only player from South Dakota participating in the Mid-Am. “To be the only person representing not only SDSU, but South Dakota as a whole, is special,” said Justin Sell, SDSU athletic director.
Over the summer, Edens won the South Dakota Mid-Am, South Dakota Matchplay, finished runner-up and low amateur in the Colorado Open, and got to the semifinals in the Colorado Matchplay. He used these experiences as momentum going into the Mid-Am and said he felt he was prepared for success.
As the coach of the SDSU men’s team, he adds extra pressure by playing against his players during qualifying. He does this to play as much as possible to stay tournament ready and challenge the team to beat him.
Junior SDSU golfer Ty Kretz said, “seeing how Parker plays has helped my game immensely. I have played with him several times and each time I seem to learn something new.”
When Sell hires coaches, there are three standards that must be met, he said. They must have integrity, be passionate about students’ experience, and have an abundance of knowledge and history in their sport.
“Parker checked all of those boxes,” Sell said.
Edens played at South Dakota State during his freshman year from 2010-2011 before redshirting his sophomore year and transferring to Colorado State, where he finished his collegiate golf career.
He was officially named head coach of the men’s golf program July 6, 2022, and said he could not “…wait to get started and help lead the Jackrabbits to great heights.”
The men’s team broke two school records in April this year after shooting 19-under-par in a singular round and 30-under-par as a 36-hole tally.
