Travis Johnsen was so close last year that he just had to come back to try it again.
After all, Royal Oaks Country Club is a special place for him.
He first played Royal Oaks the summer prior to his senior year of high school, competing in the Junior Americas Cup.
“It’s one of the courses that helped me get to college golf. That was a really big event,” Johnsen said. “This place helped me get my foot forward, to find a place to play college golf.”
He ended up at Gonzaga, where Johnsen recently graduated with a degree in business administration.
“I’m on the job hunt, like a lot of recent grads,” he said.
He also is on a quest for a championship at the prestigious Royal Oaks Invitational Tournament, one of the top Northwest destinations for amateur golfers. The tournament tees off Friday morning and will conclude with Sunday’s final round.
Johnsen, who went to Wilsonville (Ore.) High School, finished second in the ROIT last year, losing to Landon Banks in the first hole of a playoff.
Banks has turned professional, so he cannot defend his title, leaving the field open for a new champion to emerge.
“I think it would be pretty special,” Johnsen said, if he was the one atop the leaderboard come Sunday night.
“My game feels good,” he said. “If I can continue hitting the ball well, I know I’ll have a good tournament.”
Johnsen had a solid college career, finishing fourth as a sophomore in the conference tournament. He said he has no desire to pursue a professional career, starting in the mini tours.
“I think I’ll enjoy golf more in a setting like this, playing with friends and family,” he said. “It’s a little less stressful, too.”
There is still some pressure, though. Amateurs are competitive, too.
“It was definitely a little bittersweet,” Johnsen said of last year’s tourney.
He was thrilled to have played well, but finishing second can sting. It can lead to second-guessing.
“Landon definitely deserved to win, but I don’t think I was aggressive enough,” Johnsen said.
Perhaps he will take that memory and improve on it this weekend. This is Johnsen’s fourth appearance in the ROIT after playing the course that first time in 2008.
“It’s almost like a small college event,” Johnsen said. “The committee does a good job of getting the college guys in the event and they also have older guys who played college golf 10, 15 years ago.”
He also loves the course, shorter than most courses college golfers are accustomed to yet just as challenging.
“There’s not a blade of grass out of place,” he said of Royal Oaks.
