Bucket List

I've never heard of a professional golfer calling a PGA Tour Tournament Director and asking not to get an exemption, but that is precisely what Scott Gutschewski did. The result of not receiving one was a dream come true: a tee time at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Pinnacle Bank Championship in Gutschewski’s hometown of Omaha, Neb., playing the opening rounds with two of his sons, Luke and Trevor. 

Scott Gutschewski was born and raised in Omaha, as was his wife Amy, and they have never left. There, they raised their four children, and Gutschewski jump-started his career in his hometown event 21 years ago. In 2000, he Monday Qualified for the Omaha event. It was his first ever Buy.com (KFT) start, and it came a year after turning pro. Gutschewski missed the cut. In 2003, however, he received a sponsor's exemption for the Omaha event, which changed his career.

That week, Gutschewski opened with a 65 and closed with a 69 to finish T16. The top-25 earned him a spot in the following week's event. There he finished T8, earning another start. Then T25; another start. T16; another start. Then, Gutschewski finished 3rd. In five weeks, he had gone from no status to earning tour membership. 

Two weeks later, he won his first event. 

Now, 21 years later, Gutschewski will tee off in the opening round on Thursday at 8:57 a.m. with his son Luke, a junior at Iowa State University who earned his spot in the event after winning the Indian Creek Invitational, and his other son Trevor, who just won the U.S. Junior Am and earned a spot in the field via a section qualifier. But it almost didn’t happen. 

A couple of weeks before the event, after Luke and Trevor earned their spots, Scott contacted the PGA Tour and asked if he could play the Omaha event instead of Wyndham. The Tour denied the request, pointing to the rule that players who are eligible for a PGA Tour event can't play a KFT event the same week by choice. 

Luckily for Gutschewski, because he was so far down the FedEx points list (currently 217th), he wasn't guaranteed to get into the Wyndham. Scott joked, "I've fortunately played bad enough to be in this position."  The Tour told him he couldn't officially withdraw from Wyndham until 3 p.m. on Monday of tournament week.

Gutschewski then made a call that has rarely, if ever, been made. He called Bobby Powell, the Tournament Director for the Wyndham, to ensure that Powell didn't give him one of the two exemptions reserved for KFT graduates (those exemptions generally go to the first two KFT/Q school grads not in the field). Gutschewski explained he loved the tournament, loved Sedgefield Country Club (the course hosting the event), but playing in the same tournament with two of his sons was "bucket list stuff." Powell understood and confirmed Scott wouldn't receive an exemption. 

Around noon on Monday, Jake Knapp withdrew, bumping Raul Pereda into the field and moving Gutschewski up to first alternate. He couldn't wait for the deadline of 3 p.m. to withdraw, and called PGA headquarters at 2:15 to officially withdraw. (As of Wednesday night Gutschewski would still not be in the field). 

"I didn't officially cancel his hotel (at Wyndham) until Monday,"  Amy Gutschewski told me Wednesday night. 

On Tuesday afternoon, Amy Gutschewski received the text message from the Tour with Scott's tee time. "Rnd 1 Tee 10 @ 8:57 with Luke Gutschewski and Trevor Gutschewski," it read. Amy let out a shriek and immediately posted it in the family chat where grandparents, cousins, and other family members get all the Gutschewski golf news. 

"I'm really going to enjoy it," Trevor told me Wednesday night. He said the family is very competitive and plays together often, but this is going to be "extra special."  

Scott and I spoke as he drove to the course Wednesday and reminisced about past family vacations to the west side of Nebraska. He said he would get tired and head home, and the boys would continue to play until the sun set. On Tuesday, the three played a practice round together, and Scott, who has battled injuries throughout his career, stopped after nine. The boys, of course, as they always used to do, played until sunset. 

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Never has a player been happier to not be in a PGA Tour event.