DADE CITY, Fla. — Golf is a game of tweaks and adjustments, and could-have-beens and should-have-beens.
So when Adam Chester knows he has some but not all of the golf components, the Marquette University sophomore is aware he still has work to do in order to reach the next level.
“The results will come,” Chester said after the second round of the University of South Florida Invitational at Lake Jovita.
“I just don’t get to choose when they come.”
Chester isn’t just a player from a northern state university soaking up the greedy South’s early March sun. The fact is Chester’s native solar star dips a little earlier than Eastern Standard Time.
The six-foot-two Kyle Chandler lookalike hails from Morecambe, England — a town located in the district of Lancaster, north of Liverpool.
And Lake Jovita has been just one of many stops on his road to potential stardom.
“I’ve played junior golf all over the world,” noted Chester before his round Monday morning. “My parents have been unbelievable in supporting me, funding me, and that’s really helped me [in being able to] go to Spain, go to Portugal.”
FirstPointUSA, an American agency bent on locating top-tier talent in their teens, approached the 21-year-old during his time as a junior.
Shortly after, Marquette came calling.
Following two rounds at the USF Invitational, Chester was second on Marquette with a 6-over par, while shooting even on Monday. He is tied for 37th.
The greens are infamous among the locals as surfaced-like billiards tables. It’s the short game that baffles the golfers at Lake Jovita. But it’s all part of putting a golfer’s game together.
Ruthless greens
Chester needed to compensate for the ruthless greens, and he did it by reaching them quicker than most of his competitors.
“I’m hitting 15 or 16 greens in a regulation round and that’s as good as anyone in the world,” said Chester. “My concern is my scorecards aren’t quite showing that yet.”
And there’s the fly in the sunscreen.
“He’s got to tidy it up,” said Marquette golf head coach Steven Bailey. “We talk about it all the time. He had all those opportunities inside of 15 feet, but unfortunately wasn’t able to convert too often.”
It’s not for lack of opportunity.
Chester consistently places himself in areas where he can succeed. The convergence rate just needs some work.
“I’ve always had the technique to do things and I’ve always had the ability to do it,” said Chester, a marketing major. “I think it’s just trying to make my golf game more predictable.”
The Brit’s drives and approaches are PGA calibre. After bogeying five times and double bogeying once in the first round on Sunday, Chester double bogeyed twice and drained two birdies and an eagle, one of only two Marquette players to shoot an eagle in the tournament.
The Morecambe native needs no motivation to hit the links every chance he gets, and that’s something that’s appreciated by his coaches.
“Coach Bailey and the program really fit me well. It’s a real everyday attitude. Everyday you’ve got to get better,” said the globetrotter.
Bailey agrees.
“There’s probably no one on our team who works harder.”
For now Chester is contend to play out his college days en route to a possible pro career.
“I want to spend four years in America. I want to become as good as I possibly can be,” he said. “I’d love to make a career in golf.”