Drue Nicholas transferred from N.C. State to Drexel to pursue a business career and not golf.
Drue Nicholas never had the chance to meet the late Jay Sigel, America’s best male amateur golfer since Bobby Jones, who passed away earlier this year.
The 23-year-old from Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, put himself right next to Sigel with his golf this summer, however. By winning the BMW Philadelphia Amateur and the Philadelphia Open in the same year, he became only the second player to accomplish that double, joining Sigel, who won both tournaments in 1987.
“It means a lot,” said the recent graduate of Drexel University, where he was a three-time All-Colonial Athletic Association selection. “When they first said it to me I didn’t know it was a thing. Whenever you get your name mentioned in the same sentence with a guy like that it’s pretty cool.”
In the 105th Open, conducted by the Golf Association of Philadelphia at Biderman Golf Course in Wilmington, Delaware, Nicholas led with a first-round 65 and was paired with Braden Shattuck, whom Nicholas considers the best pro in GAP, in Round 2.
“I realized I had the opportunity to do something cool that next 18,” Nicholas said about his mindset before the second round. “It wasn’t easy. It was a round that had its highs and lows. I kept telling myself how cool it would be to win the Philly Open, and the Philly Am in the same year and be mentioned in the same sentence as Jay.”
Shattuck was 5-under par through the first nine holes of Round 2 and Nicholas found himself three strokes behind. Ditching conventional wisdom and superstition, he kept the historic GAP double in his mind as he chased Shattuck.
“It was in the back of my mind all day,” Nicholas said. “It’s easy to get down on yourself when you are three down going into the last nine. I thought about it the entire round, mainly to keep my mood up. I think it helped me, honestly.”
Nicholas posted a clean back nine with four birdies for a 67 and a record-breaking score of 12-under-par 132 while Shattuck bogeyed 10 and 11 and ultimately finished three strokes behind.
The strategy of allowing goals to creep into his mind, almost like talking about a no-hitter, proved correct for Nicholas.
“Usually when you think of goals, it doesn’t help but in his case it did,” said Nicholas, who finished second at the Patterson Cup in a playoff to narrowly miss winning three GAP majors in a year. He previously won the Patterson Cup in 2022.
Earlier in the year, Nicholas experienced another positive alignment at the 125th BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Aronimink Golf Club, coincidentally the home club of Sigel, who won a record six Philadelphia Opens as well as two Philadelphia Amateurs.
In another historic twist, Sigel won the Philadelphia Open the last time it was played at Biderman 50 years ago in 1975.
“He broke the record for the largest margin of victory, and I broke some kind of record for lowest score,” said Nicholas, who plays out of Galloway National Golf Club. “A lot of things went right for me. It’s like the stars aligned.”
Earlier in the year, Nicholas experienced another positive alignment at the 125th BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Aronimink Golf Club, coincidentally the home club of Sigel, who won a record six Philadelphia Opens as well as two Philadelphia Amateurs.
Nicholas defeated Patrick Isztwan of Huntingdon Valley Country Club, 5 and 4, in the scheduled 36-hole final.
“Winning it at a place so rich in history like that is super special,” said Nicholas, who is a business development officer at a holding company.
Nicholas, who had missed match play in each of the previous two years at the Amateur, was tied through 18 holes of the final.
“The first 18 was kind of a pillow fight,” he said. “Neither of us played well and I walked off that green thinking I got away with one.”
In a quick practice session after lunch, he found a swing key with his driver.
“I played solid and luckily that was enough,” Nicholas said of the second 18. “Plenty of guys would have beat me on a day like that. That’s match play. I hung in there.”
Nicholas joins Jay Sigel as the only players to win Philadelphia Amateur and Open in the same year.
With the victory, Nicholas earned a place in the field at the U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club near San Francisco, his first USGA championship appearance.
He shot 74-75 and failed to qualify for match play but “it made me feel important for a week,” he said.
“I realized how great some people are at golf,” Nicholas said of his U.S. Amateur experience. “I’m good and there’s a lot of other good guys but when you get put on that national level, it’s like an eye-opener.”
Nicholas, who transferred from North Carolina State to Drexel, has a mature perspective on his life. He decided to transfer after one year at N.C. State to pursue his passion – a business career.
“I left the eighth-ranked team in the country to go to Drexel and I don’t even know if they were in the top 200,” he said. “They were polar opposites but for what I wanted to get out of it, it was perfect. They took great care of me there and I am really happy I made the switch.”
Nicholas has no aspirations of playing golf for a living, despite his historic season.
“It’s not something I expected to happen, but it did, and I am really fortunate for that,” said Nicholas, who earned GAP’s Player of the Year award (to be given on Nov. 12). “It’s been a wild ride, but I am very thankful for it.”
One imagines Jay Sigel would have approved.
Photos Courtesy Golf Association of Philadelphia
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