Noie: Former Notre Dame golfer Ben Albin sees game from other side at U.S. Senior Open
SOUTH BEND — Memories of four years gone aren’t forgotten for Ben Albin. When it comes to the Warren Course, nobody may know it better than the former Notre Dame golfer.
He’s seen it at dawn. He’s seen it at dusk. He’s played it in tournaments and when nobody was around. He and his teammates used to get first crack each spring at the course. They’d often unwind after long days of class work and conditioning during summer school by squeezing in a quick nine.
It was then when a certain stillness set in over Warren. Peace. Quiet. Calm. At times, Albin felt there no better place to be on campus than on one of Warren’s fairways, maybe the one that hugs the treeline up along Ironwood or on the tee that sits up against the Indiana Toll Road.
With the sun about gone, campus still and a club in his hand, Albin wished it never would end.
When it did, and it came time to pack up and move on to the next phase of life following graduation last month, Albin put it all on hold for golf.
A finance career that he could have chased with that job in investment banking? Not right now. Having not played golf as much as he would have liked his senior year for myriad reasons, Albin realized how much he still loved it. Loved Notre Dame. Loved Warren.
When the opportunity arose for Albin to return to it all this week, to campus, to Warren, to the game he believes he can play professionally for a long time, he jumped at it. Sign him for it. All of it.
Albin is working this week as a caddie for fellow Santa Fe, N.M., resident Brad Lardon during the 40th U.S. Senior Open. Albin estimates he’s played Warren, back before the USGA played musical chairs with three of his favorite holes, more than 300 times. In the summer heat, the spring thaw, the fall chill. He’s seen it and done it.
Warren looks a little different, like how holes 16, 17 and 18 are now 1, 2 and 3, but it’s remained pretty much Warren the last two days for Albin.
“It’s close to what we’ve played,” said Albin, a four-year member of the Irish golf team who finished with a scoring average of 74.78 his senior season. “They could have tried to trick it out and make it difficult, but that’s why you’re seeing the high scores. They didn’t do much different beyond making it look nice.”
It looks nice. It’s played nice. It’s been a nice return to campus for Albin, albeit surreal. Earlier this week, while waiting in the treatment trailer for a therapy session on a lower back condition that cost him much of his senior year, Albin had Vijay Singh cut in front of him in line (presumably by accident).
Did Albin call him out? Yo, what’s up? No. It’s VIJAY SINGH! The Big Fijian!
Singh later apologized for the move, then spent a few minutes talking golf with Albin. Later in the week, Albin spotted Jack Nicklaus sitting a short putt from him in a dining area. On Friday, Albin was deep into his lunch of salad and spicy chicken when he looked up and spotted tournament leader Steve Stricker.
It’s been that type of week — one of memories.
A hard day’s work
The days have been demanding and difficult. Albin admitted that it’s far easier to be on a Warren fairway with a club in his hand than standing off to the side with an opinion at the ready.
Sure, the players feel pressure. To hit a good score. To get to the weekend. To have a chance. But the caddies may feel even more. On Friday, Albin offered some words to Lardon as he assessed a long uphill putt on No. 10. Lardon nodded, addressed the ball, putted, and watched it miss the hole.
“The nerves as a player are easier because you know the responsibility falls on your shoulders,” Albin said. “When you’re a caddie, you kind of feel the responsibility to have some value because you know the course so well.”
Albin had plenty of Notre Dame company in the caddie department. His former college teammate, Miguel Delgado, was on the bag for amateur Mark Mance. One of Warren’s assistant golf pros, Greg, Helmkamp, is with Tom Watson. Heck, even women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw’s husband, Matt, reportedly worked a loop earlier this week during a practice round.
Albin was willing to grind through the heat and the humidity and the pressure of being a caddie for the trade-off of watching some of the game’s greats.
“It’s seeing guys whose legacies are cemented in the game,” he said. “They’ve had their careers. They’ve kind of defined who they are in the game. It’s really neat to see players like that playing our golf course and the holes we’ve played so many times.”
Seeing those guys doing what they do and how they do it has, in some ways, offered Albin a new perspective on the game. A two-time high school state champion in New Mexico, Albin admitted that it all often came easily. He could hit greens in regulation. He could play long. He could play short. He could PLAY.
He often took it for granted. A disc injury and sluggish senior season now allow him to better embrace the game. Any day he can play is a good day.
It should have been enough to sour him on it. He should have walked away, walked off with that finance degree and walked into the next phase of his life. But not playing as well as he wanted to as a senior, then watching this week’s Senior Open, has strengthened Albin’s resolve.
He wants to chase his golf dreams, no matter where it takes him. For now, it’s to various summer tournaments — to Michigan last week, to Canada the next, to Nebraska and Missouri after that, then to Florida for the winter.
Albin’s not giving up on the game. This week has cemented that belief. He once played it so well, and believes he can again do that. For a long time.
It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be trying. It’s going to be frustrating. Kind of like what the last year’s been like for him. He’s ready for it.
“There’s a lot more decades to live after my 30s, but for the next 10, 15 years, I’ll be focused on being the best professional golfer I can be,” Albin said. “I’m loving the journey so far.”
As for those memories of Warren, what do they mean now to Albin? That there’s more waiting to be made.
