Former PNGA Champion Birk Nelson talks about the U.S. Senior Open
Fresh off an impressive T-16 finish at the U.S. Senior Open earlier this summer, Birk Nelson, PGA, of Eugene, Ore. talks about his experiences in that national championship and the roots of his golf journey.
Can you describe your experience at the U.S. Senior Open and what it meant to finish in the top 20 at such a major event?
“My experience at the U.S. Senior Open was like a dream come true. Just being at the golf course was unbelievable. I got to see my golf idols in action, and it was unforgettable. When the tournament started, I was so focused and ‘locked in,’ just like the kids say. I stayed focused the whole time and truly enjoyed every minute. It was such an amazing experience that I feel like I could write a whole book about it. Finishing T-16th was really meaningful and rewarding.”
A few weeks prior to the U.S. Senior Open, Nelson had competed in the Senior PGA Championship, for which he had also qualified.
“I’m playing amongst stars that I used to watch on TV for ever and ever,” said Nelson. “I’m just sitting there hitting balls next to them, putting next to them, talking to them and playing with them, too.”
How did you get into golf as a career?
“I got started in golf at a very young age, thanks to my parents. They would take me and my siblings to Pendleton (Ore.) Country Club (now called the Club at Birch Creek), where we spent the summer swimming, hunting for golf balls, and playing golf from morning till evening. It was an ideal upbringing.”
“My mentors were undoubtedly my parents, who were both avid golfers and excellent role models. They were both club champions at The Club at Birch Creek, and my mother, in particular, was remarkable—she won the club championship an incredible 25 times. Their passion and dedication to golf inspired me.”
Nelson competed for Oregon State University from 1992 -1996 as the golf team’s No. 1 player. In 1995, there was no better player in the Pacific Northwest than Birk Nelson.
He starred on the OSU golf team as their No. 1 player, marched his way through the match-play bracket in winning the PNGA Men’s Amateur (a year after Tiger Woods had won the championship), and stared-down the best amateur players in the world in winning the Pacific Coast Amateur. He also finished runner-up that year in the Oregon Amateur.
After graduating from OSU, he turned pro and tried the mini tours for a while before settling down in 2006 as a PGA Professional at Diamond Woods Golf Course in Monroe, Ore., eventually becoming their head pro.
Pulling away from the game
While performing his duties as a club pro, Nelson continued to play in the region’s PGA Section majors. He married, and pretty soon a son came along.
“I loved the game, and I loved working at Diamond Woods,” he says now. “But being a club pro is an all-consuming job, and I was feeling a little bit burned out on playing for so many years without a break.”
And he wanted to spend more time with his young family, wanting the weekends free.
So, after six years at Diamond Woods, and nothing but golf since he was a kid in Pendleton, he walked away from the game.
“I got into the IT business,” he says. “It was a good job, I enjoyed it okay, and it provided for my family.”
Nelson maintained his status as a PGA Professional, and played casually once in a while, but that was it. “I really was focused on my family,” he says. “I knew I wasn’t going to get those years back, so it was important to me.”
And then getting back into the game
In 2017, after taking seven years off, Nelson decided it was time to make his return back to the golf course, and set his sights on competing at the senior level. This year’s appearances in two national championships is evidence that his game is still on point.
The 51-year-old now works for the golf company Orange Whip Trainer, while giving lessons.
