Jessup starts summer with 2 tourney titles

Coming off a grinding season that lasted from February to June, no one would blame Nate Jessup for taking some time off.

Jessup’s plans run counter to that line of thinking.

The golfer, coming off his junior season at Porterville High, hasn’t stopped playing despite having to put the green polo shirt in the closet for a while.

Since the Panthers were eliminated at the CIF Southern California Championships on June 4, Jessup has continued to travel, and win.

On June 9, Jessup won the Kings River Junior Tournament in Kingsburg, turning in scores of 66 and 70 in the 36-hole tournament to win by 11 strokes. The 16-year-old took his act north this week, winning the Sacramento County Junior Championships (68, 72) by seven strokes, on Wednesday.

This was his second straight victory at that tourney after winning the 14- and 15-year-old division in 2008 (73, 74).

His itinerary includes as many as 10 more tournaments this summer. He sees no reason to slow down.

“Golf is my passion,” Jessup said. “There’s never really a dull moment. I love waking up in the morning and going to the golf course.”

From Tuesday through Sunday, you can usually find Jessup doing just that — be it teeing up at River Island Golf Course, which is around two minutes from his Springville house, or at whichever tournament he’s entered in.

Jessup, who usually plays the full 18 holes twice in his many hours at his local practice course (River Island), has endured the triple-digit temperatures the last two days because he knows his competition is driving and putting on a course somewhere.

“The past couple of days, it’s been pretty hot,” he said, “But to be as good as I want to be, I know I’ve gotta be out there.”

Jessup hopes to attract the attention of colleges through his summer play. 

According to his father, Nate Jessup Sr., he already got the attention of a UCLA coach at the SoCal Championships. 

“A UCLA coach was following a kid from Beverly Hills High and Nate was outdriving him,” Jessup Sr. said. “He asked, ‘Who is this kid?’ 

“Rick McIntire said, ‘That’s Nate Jessup from Springville.’ The coach goes, ‘Where the hell is Springville?’”

At this rate, he won’t be unknown for much longer.

Next week, Jessup will make a considerable leap in competition as he attempts to qualify for the USGA National Junior Championships, at Riverbend Golf Course in Madera, Monday. 

The top two out of the 100 entrants will qualify. Next Friday, he’ll head to the Bay area to take part in the Shoreline Junior World Qualifier, at Mountain View Golf Links.

The top two qualify for the Junior World Championships, which take place in San Diego later this summer.

Three more tournaments await the following week in Jessup’s busy month. He doesn’t know the significance or entry standards of some of these tourneys, as his dad is usually the one signing him up. But as long as he has a chance to improve his game, he’s up for any road trip.

“I didn’t really want to mess with the paperwork,” he said.