Dowell advances, determined to earn his way in professional golf
By Ken MacLeod
Jaxon Dowell said he gets asked frequently why he remained at the University of Oklahoma despite limited tournament appearances in his five seasons (including redshirt season) with the powerhouse program.
After finishing tied for 22nd in the Korn Ferry Tour pre-qualifying event Wednesday through Friday at Indian Springs Country Club in Broken Arrow and moving on among the top 34 who will advance to the First Stage of KFT qualifying, Dowell said his ability to control his nerves and play solid under pressure was exactly why he stayed in coach Ryan Hybl’s program.
“At OU, every day was like a KFT qualifier,” Dowell said. “When you see guys maybe stumble down the stretch, I’ve been in situations like this for the last five years. The feelings that a day like this will bring are nothing new to me. Even if I didn’t play as well as I would have liked to, I still knew what to expect.”
Dowell turned professional after the Sooners finished their season in the spring and the results have been encouraging. He nearly won the Waterloo Open in Iowa, shooting 21-under and taking third, two shots back. He made the cut and finished tied for 40th in a strong field at the Colorado Open and tied for 14th in the Oklahoma Open.
Dowell believes he has the game to compete at the highest levels and his instructor Ryan Rody, based at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, is in full agreement. He believes he could easily follow the career paths of players like Sam Stevens at Oklahoma State or Kramer Hickok at Texas who earned limited playing time in college and are now successful PGA Tour players. And it’s not like Dowell was unsuccessful at OU. He had nine top-20 finishes in his first 20 starts, including shooting 17-under to win the Ka’anapali Classic.
“I can easily see Jaxon being a successful pro,” Rody said. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around. His superpower is how straight he hits his drive and how much longer he’s become over the past few years, probably gone from 290 to 330. And his iron play has improved tremendously as well.”
Golf is an interesting pursuit in that of all the hopefuls that were in Broken Arrow this week, there is no professional franchise telling them they have no chance. They have to earn it or prove to themselves that they can’t.
Dowell plays out of Oak Tree National in Edmond, where he can work on his game while playing with numerous other talented young professionals.
“On the driving range you see Quade Cummins or Austin Eckroat, Zach Bauchou, Logan McAllister or Max McGreevy, the list goes on and on,” he said. “It’s fun as I start to play pro golf to ask these guys a lot of questions. They’ve been very helpful to me.
“The biggest adjustment in pro golf is you just have to make a lot of birdies. If you think of Jimmie Austin OU or Oak Tree National tipped out and you shoot even par, you’re moving up. In pro golf you have to shoot 8 under the first day, then 8 under the second day. It’s a mind set shift.”
NOTES: Nicklaus Mason of Shawnee, Kan., won the pre qualifier with a 54-hole score of 9-under. Dowell’s OU teammate Stephen Campbell Jr. tied for fourth at 4-under. Other Oklahoma pros to advance were Grant Brown of Elgin, Drew Lowe of Broken Arrow, Matthew Sparks of Owasso and Austin Schmidt of Tulsa. Complete results are here.
The qualifiers will move on to one of 14 First Stage events taking place between Oct. 7 and Oct. 24. Dowell is hoping to be assigned to the event at Sugartree Golf Club in Lipan, Texas Oct. 21-24.