Well-Traveled Arp Hitting Home with Game
U.S. Publinks qualifying medalist becoming formidable competitor
By Gary Baines
Colorado Golf Journal, Friday, July 4, 2008
Riley Arp will be playing in his first U.S. Golf Association championship when Aurora’s Murphy Creek Golf Course hosts the U.S. Amateur Public Links tournament July 14-19.
But don’t get the impression that the Fort Collins resident is a stranger to big-time sports events. Indeed, he’s competed on a worldwide stage.
Eight years ago this summer, Arp played in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. He even picked up a victory as a pitcher and scored a run.
But here’s the kicker: Even though Arp is an American and was competing in the U.S., he was playing for a team from Saudi Arabia, which was representing Europe under the League League World Series setup.
“Golf then was leisure; baseball was what I did,” Arp said. “Personally I think I was a lot better baseball player than a golfer.”
Actually, Arp has been pretty darned good at both, and not bad at soccer either. He developed all those skills while living in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia from 1998 to 2002. His dad, David, was -- and is -- a drill foreman on oil rigs. He went to work in the Middle East a decade ago and now plies his trade in the Gulf of Mexico, where he spends two weeks per month.
During his time in Saudi Arabia, Riley Arp started developing his skills in baseball, golf and soccer. He mainly made his name back then competing on that Little League team made up primarily of American kids whose parents worked in the Saudi oil fields. But he also laid the basic foundation for a stellar golf career.
The courses Arp played back then often bore little resemblance to the ones he plays these days. Think sand, sand and more sand. When playing in Saudi Arabia, Arp carried around a 10-inch Astroturf mat on which he’d place his ball and play off-the-green shots. The greens consisted of oiled sand, with attendants on hand to roll each surface, making it suitable for putting.
“It was fun,” Arp said. “Me and three buddies would get home from school and go to the course until dark. We’d go out and play 70 holes on some Saturdays.”
Arp lived in a compound primarily with Americans, but also people from England, France etc.
“I loved it; it was phenomenal,” he said. “Everything was at our fingertips -- soccer baseball, golf. I traveled to 12 or 13 countries. I kind of wish I would have been there when I was older. I would have appreciated it more.”
When Arp and his family moved to Colorado and he started attending Poudre High School in Fort Collins, he made good use of his athletic skills. He earned four varsity letters in golf, three in baseball and one in soccer. In golf, Colorado State started recruiting Arp late in his senior season, and he ended up finishing second in the state high school tournament. He subsequently landed a spot on the CSU golf team.
“Coach (Jamie Bermel) took a chance on me, and now it’s paying off,” Arp said.
Indeed, this spring and early summer has been stellar for the 20-year-old junior-to-be. The long hitter finished second in the Mountain West Conference Championship, then after the college season ended he won tournaments at SouthRidge, Collindale and Highland Hills.
He also claimed medalist honors out of a field of 140 in U.S. Publinks qualifying at Murphy Creek.
“I’ve just learned how to manage my game the last three or four months,” Arp said. “… I wasn’t half the player before that I am now. I’m better mentally, physically, and am a smarter player now.”
U.S. AMATEUR PUBLIC LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP
• WHERE: Murphy Creek Golf Course in Aurora (1700 S. Old Tom Morris Road).
• WHEN: July 14-19. Monday and Tuesday stroke-play qualifying (tee times run
7 a.m. to 2 p.m.) Match play starts Wednesday, with first round Wednesday, second
and third rounds Thursday, quarterfinals and semifinals Friday, and the 36-hole final on Sat.
• ADMISSION: Free.
• COURSE: Murphy Creek will play to par-71 at 7,551 yards, making it the longest course in U.S. Publinks history. The 13th hole will be a 528-yard par-4.
• COLORADANS IN THE FIELD: Riley Arp, Fort Collins; Pat Grady, Broomfield; Jim Grady, Broomfield; Zach Zaremba, Pueblo West. Pat and Jim Grady are brothers. Brothers Brent and Cody Paladino from Connecticut played in last year’s tournament, with Cody losing in the final to Colt Knost.
• DEFENDING CHAMP: Colt Knost , who won both the U.S. Publinks and U.S. Amateur in 2007, turned pro in September and won’t defend his title. However, the other seven quarterfinalists from 2007 will return.
• NOTABLE U.S. PUBLINKS CHAMPIONS: Billy Mayfair (1986), Tim Clark (1997), 2008 Masters winner Trevor Immelman (1998), Hunter Haas (1999), D.J. Trahan (2000), Ryan Moore (2002 and 2004), Brant Snedeker (2003).
• ENTRANTS: 3,629 bona fide public-course amateur players entered the tournament, with 156 advancing to the championship. Sixty-four will qualify for match play.
• FORMER U.S. PUBLINKS HELD IN COLORADO: 1946 and 1959 at Wellshire GC in Denver, and 1993 at Riverdale Dunes GC in Brighton. The respective winners of those tournaments were Smiley Quick, William Wright and David Berganio.
