A young Beau Hossler found himself in the midst of history at the 2012 U.S. Open Golf Championship in San Francisco.
Fresh off his junior year at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Orange County, California, the 17-year-old Hossler burst onto the scene on the toughest stage in golf; he once held sole possession of first in the second round and ended the third round four shots off the lead.
“I still want to be low amateur, but I also want to win the tournament,” Hossler told The New York Times after the round.
Hossler finished tied for 29th after shooting a 6-over par 76 in the final round, falling two strokes short of finishing as the low amateur to a Texas freshman named Jordan Spieth.
But the message was sent — Hossler had put the golf world on notice.
More than three years later, Hossler continues to build on his success in his still very young career. The junior is coming off a year where he played in the U.S. Open and The Walker Cup, won two collegiate tournaments, was an All-American and won Big 12 player of the year for the 2014–15 season.
Still, Hossler was dissatisfied with his finish to the season.
“I didn’t come close to achieving most of my goals, unfortunately,” Hossler said. “I played OK at the NCAAs, but I definitely underperformed at the Western and U.S. Amateurs, and that was pretty disappointing.”
But the 2015–16 season started off much better for Hossler. He’s won three of his last five starts, including the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational and Arizona Intercollegiate.
Hossler said the win in the former helped relieve some of the pressure he puts on himself.
“I hate losing,” Hossler said. “The feeling of winning, to me, it makes all of those crappy moments, hard work, time when you’re getting up early when you don’t want to — it makes it all worth it.”
His swing coach, Adam Porzak — who began working with Hossler in late 2012 after his long-time, legendary swing coach, Jim Flick, passed away — said the way Hossler takes ownership of his game has helped the junior reach this point.
“It’s not necessarily the longest practice or the most golf balls hit — it’s just the quality of the ones that are hit,” Porzak said. “I can truly say that every time he holds a golf club, he generally has a purpose to what he’s doing.”
Texas head coach John Fields said he knew Hossler could find this type of success.
“His experience and his talent [indicate] that he’ll go a long way in golf,” Fields said. “My vision is that he goes on and has an incredible career on the PGA Tour.”
Hossler will complete three-and-a-half years at Texas at the end of the semester. Hossler knows his time on the 40 Acres is running out. With the PGA Tour in his sight, there is much to look forward to in the future.
But there is still unfinished business to complete during the time he has left as a Longhorn.
“The number one goal is to win the national championship as a team and to win the national championship as an individual,” Hossler said. “I feel like my tenure at Texas would be incomplete unless we have a national championship.”
