Former Marquette golfer Hunter Eichhorn learned on a nine-hole course. Is U.S. Open next?

Hunter Eichhorn is good at figuring out the lay of the land.

When he arrived at Marquette University to play golf in 2017, Eichhorn had never been on a plane. He left in 2022 as one of the most accomplished golfers in program history, then set out to make his way in the cut-throat professional ranks. Two years later, he's finding some success on the Korn Ferry Tour and trying to land a spot in next month's U.S. Open.

"It’s been about what I expected," Eichhorn said. "There hasn’t been anything too different. Obviously planning your own travel and traveling by yourself and not with the team and obviously having the school take care of everything. That’s a little bit different.

"As far as the golf, there’s a lot of good players. You got to play well if you want to compete. That’s what I expected and I enjoy the challenge of it."

Eichhorn advanced out of local qualifying for the U.S. Open earlier this month by carding a 3-under 69 at Robert T. Jones Golf Trail in Glencoe, Alabama. He'll compete in a 36-hole qualifier on June 3 at one of 10 sites in the U.S. in the hopes of landing one of the non-exempted spots in the field at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in North Carolina.

There was also a local qualifier at at North Shore Country Club in Mequon in which Harrison Ott, Jack Schultz, Ty Kretz, Coalter Smith and Joe Leonard advanced to the next stage.

"Oh, that would be so special, especially in a place like Pinehurst," Eichhorn said. "The opportunity not only to play in a major but obviously competing against one of the best, if not the best, fields in the world with all the best players in the world. That would be such a great opportunity and obviously an incredible experience to be a part of that."

If you know anything about Eichhorn's history, it's smart not to count him out.

Hunter Eichhorn learned game on nine-hole course in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Eichhorn's backstory is worthy of a Hollywood biopic. He grew up in Carney, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula, learning how to play golf at Wild Pines, a local nine-hole course.

"This town is 190 people," MU coach Steve Bailey said. "His grandpa would take him out. He’s never had a swing coach in his life. He’s just learned how to do it his way.

"I think too often these days, guys are maybe too reliant on the coach or technology. Things get a little sideways and halfway through the round they want to go to the range and jump on their Trackman and try to figure out the numbers. Or go call my coach because I can’t figure it out. The beauty of the way he learned the game is that he knows his game. That formula works for him.”

A unique mindset was formed in the ever-changing weather of that latitude.

"The importance of starting out on a course like that, I think helped me understand the importance of a par, a birdie and a bogey," Eichhorn said. "I feel like sometimes you start out, you start playing a course, it’s too hard and you could argue, oh, a good score on that hole is a bogey because you don’t hit it far and you’re young.

"My grandpa and I used to scramble, so we always practiced shooting as low a score as possible. And making as many birdies as possible. That’s all you worry about when you scramble. So that’s how I developed the mindset of, I guess, finding a way to shoot as low a score as possible. From there, just bringing that throughout the levels of golf as I’ve gotten older. And just understanding that those are the type of scores that it takes to compete, especially at the highest levels. You look at the Korn Ferry Tour, every week it’s 20-under or lower to win it seems like. You can’t be afraid to go after birdies."

Eichhorn couldn't just play golf all year up there – the average yearly snowfall in Carney is 59 inches – so he participated in a range of sports. He ran cross country at Carney-Nadeu High School and was also a standout basketball player.

"I’ve always wanted to be the best at what I do," Eichhorn said. "I had very competitive basketball coaches in high school who weren’t afraid to get on your case about things. That helped me even more develop the competitive edge. It’s just always been an innate thing. If I’m going to do a thing, why not try to be the best at it."

Bailey remembers watching Eichhorn make 12 three-pointers in a game when Carney-Nadeu played at Milwaukee Academy of Science.

"I’m telling you, five or six of these were a step across halfcourt," Bailey said. "It was crazy."

Trying to make Korn Ferry Tour and U.S. Open

Bailey knew right away that Eichhorn had a chance to be a pro. For his first event at MU, Eichhorn got on a plane for the first time and won in Texas. He went on to be Big East player of the year three times.

"People always ask, well, how do you compete in this climate?" Bailey said. "How are you able to go play certain teams down South after going through a winter?

"And Hunter’s last year, our first event in the spring was in Puerto Rico. It was in February. And he shoots the lowest round in all of college golf that year. He shot 61 in the first event in February.

"So I always use that. Like, hey, this guy’s able to do it, why can’t you? Just impressive. You can post numbers like that and it translates, because that’s what you need to do at that (pro) level. A lot of folks you see get to 3- or 4-under and they’re just trying to hold on. It’s just that mentality. Hey, it’s my day and I’m stepping on the gas. I’m going to keep dropping the hammer."

But it's not easy trying to make a living in professional golf. Talented people give up on the dream every year.

Eichhorn doesn't have full-time status on the Korn Ferry Tour. So he tries to make events as a Monday qualifier. If he finishes high enough – like he did when he was fifth at the Veritex Bank Championship in April – then he earns a spot in the next event. For those who don't make the event, there is an All Pro Tour that runs concurrently with the Korn Ferry.

Eichhorn is sponsored by Island Resort and Casino in the Upper Peninsula to help cover travel costs and event fees. But it takes a certain mentality to keep going in that week-to-week existence.

“Not every day is perfect,' Eichhorn siad. "Not every day you do the things that you say you are going to do. There’s so many good players out there, you just want to give yourself a little bit of an edge. Regardless of how you get that. It’s different for everybody, especially in golf. It’s very unique to the individual."

Eichhorn is going to keep attacking his dream. He hopes to earn full-time status on the Korn Ferry Tour, either by winning enough events or going through qualifying school. There's also the hope for one of those spots in the U.S. Open.

Bailey doesn't worry about Eichhorn. The coach's only advice is to not forget about being the golfer who figured things out on that nine-hole course in the U.P.

"You know your way to do it and don’t ever let anybody take that away from you," Bailey said. "Because you’re going to get a lot of people whispering in your ear and saying this or that or 'go see someone.'

"Sure, there are going to be things that people can help you with along the way, but stay in your lane. Trust in what you know. It’s obviously served him well and will continue to."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette's Hunter Eichhorn seeking Korn Ferry Tour and U.S. Open