Rural alum Andrew Beckler qualifies for US Open: 'I want to be one of the best players in the world'

Former Washburn Rural golfer Andrew Beckler will become the second Topekan to represent the city on the big stage with his qualification for the 122nd U.S. Open Thursday through Sunday at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

Beckler became one of 156 golfers to make the cut out of 8,880 with the most recent qualifier taking place Monday at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.

Here's what Beckler, now a professional golfer, has been up to since graduating from Washburn Rural.

From Kansas State to Washburn University

Beckler, a 2013 6A individual state champion and member of the 2015 6A team state championship at Washburn Rural, recently graduated from Washburn University, where he golfed from 2018-2021 with an extra year of COVID eligibility.

Beckler holds program records in career scoring average (72), season scoring average (70.4 in 2020-21) and season win-loss percentage (.990), while also holding the program record for the highest individual finish in the NCAA championships, where he finished second in 2021.

During his three seasons at Washburn, Beckler had a total of 19 top-10 finishes, 12 top-five placings and five individual titles, and was named the Jack Nicklaus Division II National Player of the Year in 2021.

Prior to his time at Washburn, after graduating from Washburn Rural, Beckler spent two years at Kansas State where he finished his freshman year with the team's third-best stroke average (73.68) and finished tied for 16th at the Big 12 Championships.

As a sophomore, he finished 19th in the USA Individual Tournament with a 229 (+16).

"It just wasn't what I was looking for," said Beckler on his time at Kansas State. "They made golf too much of a job, I think, and I needed that work-life balance.

"I had other interests outside of golf, and I still do. I think that's what helps my golf game is I'm not a one-dimensional person, I'm more than just my golf score.

"The golf-school-life balance was better for me (at Washburn) and it showed in my results and how I played, especially in my last year."

More: Complete results for the Topeka-area schools at the 2022 Kansas high school state track meet

Going all in

Beckler has been golfing since he was one or two years old and loves the fact that you can never be perfect in the game.

"The pursuit of chasing something you can always get better at," said Beckler about what he loves about golf. "You can always improve at something, learning different shots and things like that, the creativity that it takes, so that's what I've always loved about (golf)."

He knew at a young age when he wanted to be on course, even when the weather was terrible, that he had a passion for the sport.

"His approach to the game, his mental game was what set him apart from his peers," said Jared Goehring, his coach at Washburn Rural, on what stood out about Beckler in high school. "I knew the physical tools would come.

"And I also know that his work ethic would take him to new heights and, if he really set his mind to it, and he really wanted to do this, I knew then there was no doubt in my mind that he would become a professional golfer."

But when it came to continuing to golf after a successful high school and collegiate career, it wasn't as easy a choice as it sounds.

"It was a hard decision for me, even after I graduated and won the Nicklaus award," said Beckler. "I still wasn't fully decided on if I was going to turn professional, I had a job at the time and was working almost full time.

"I want to continue to look at business ventures outside of just golf. That's what all the greats do. I want to follow in their footsteps. Right now, I just have too much time on the road traveling, so I haven't found my side hustle yet, but I'm looking."

Beckler was still playing amateur events after graduating and decided last August to focus his time to solely become a professional golfer.

Shortly after that, he signed up for his first tournament, made the cut and earned some cash.

"It's cool (but) doesn't really change much because I'm always trying to shoot the lowest score possible," said Beckler of the title of being a professional golfer. "Whether I'm just practicing at home playing for fun or whether I'm going to be competing in the US Open.

"I'm always trying to make the lowest score possible."

With his time now freed up to focus on golf, some of that time is spent elsewhere with Beckler being his own agent and manager as of right now.

"I'm seeking sponsorship deals, and I'm calling hotels, rental cars, all that stuff," said Beckler. "That takes a lot of time, especially when you have to practice for five, six hours a day.

"It just fills up your day working out all that stuff."

More: Washburn Rural girls soccer finishes second, Cair Paravel fourth

Qualifying for the U.S. Open

For his two qualifiers, Beckler was allowed to choose any one of the 109 locations for the local qualifier and submitted a top three preference for the 11 final qualifier spots.

Beckler's qualifiers took place on May 9 at Oakwood Country Club in Kansas City, Mo., and Monday at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., with the number of qualifiers for each site being dependent on the size of the field.

He chose Oakwood because it was close and Woodmont because he had some familiarity with the course and knew not as many golfers would choose that site with it being a tougher course.

At Oakwood, the top three players out of the field of 58 advanced and at Woodmont, the top four advanced from the field of 72.

At the local qualifier at Oakwood, Beckler finished tied for first (72) in 18 holes, and at the final qualifier at Woodmont, he tied for third (141) in 36 holes.

"I was one shot away from not making it to finals and then one shot away from not making it to the US Open," said Beckler. "Every shot matters, I'm kind of the epitome of that right now."

Goehring, who was one of many watching a stream online, said he couldn't refresh quick enough at the end to see where Beckler's finish stacked up.

"When we all found out at the end, it was just a big group text among us and some other former players of his age that was just truly ecstatic for him," said Goehring.

With the long amounts of golf played over the course of his career thus far whether in high school or college, Beckler said that he got into the flow of it just being another tournament.

But down the stretch, it was different.

"When you get to the end and you know, 'Okay, pars and bogeys mean US Open or no US Open,'" said Beckler. "I was lucky I was in contention a lot in college so I had tons of experience in that position. So I called on those times.

"I know what my tendencies are when I'm nervous and things like that.

"I really am blessed to have those times at Washburn to call back on. I had (Washburn golf coach) Ronnie (McHenry) on the bag who was with me at those times at Washburn.

"I felt right at home and that's what I play for, I play for that moment. I relished it and I loved it."

With a 69 on the first 18 and a 72 on the second 18 at Woodmont, Beckler credited his caddie, McHenry, for helping him pull out of a funk after a double-bogey at the start of his second round.

"He helped pick my head up a little bit after a tough hole," said Beckler. "He just told me, 'Let's just focus on the next shot. We got some easy holes coming up, take advantage of them and get right back in the mix.'"

"(McHenry's) a great, great golf coach. I try and recruit everybody I can to go to Washburn because it's awesome."

After qualifying, Beckler celebrated with family and shared text messages with Gary Woodland, the other Topeka native representing the city on the big stage.

"He's been awesome to me since I decided to turn pro," said Beckler about Woodland. "The first thing he did once I won the Nicklaus award, the week I got back we had dinner and he kind of just opened up to me about what it's like to be a guy from Topeka.

"His advice, I think about that conversation to this day.

"He brought up Topeka a lot and how much it means when they announce 'Gary Woodland from Topeka, Kansas' He's proud of where he comes from."

Growing up, Beckler was a self-proclaimed golf nerd, watching reruns of Tiger Woods' Masters win in '97 and admits it will be surreal competing against those he has grown up watching on TV.

"I still love watching golf and I'm a big fan of all the guys I'm gonna be trying to beat next week," said Beckler. "It'll be kind of cool, you know, to compete against them.

"And it's gonna be probably a couple of days of being a little star struck, working on getting that out of my system before I tee it up on Thursday."

But despite going against some of his idols, Beckler knew what he was doing when he signed up for the local qualifier.

"I signed up to go make the US Open," said Beckler. "You always expect to make it. You have to if you're going to try and do it for a living. I want to be one of the best players in the world. That's one of my goals. I have it written down 'Be one the best players in the world on Sunday.'"

Contact Seth Kinker at skinker@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @SethKinker

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Former Washburn Rural golfer Andrew Beckler qualifies for US Open