FARGO - Ben Freeman will accept his finance degree from Drake University (Iowa) in two weeks. The immediate plan is to put it to use in the game of golf.
He's turning pro.
The Fargo South graduate is the latest in a line of golfers to give the professional game a shot. Fellow Bruin Tom Hoge said earlier this month that he's turning professional after his NCAA career at Texas Christian is finished.
Former Fargo prep golfers Kane Hanson, Dave Schultz, Josh Persons and Brandon Askew are playing various pro tour events.
"Obviously I'm not quite at their level but on a given day, we can all compete," Freeman said. "You take their experience and learn off it and try to use it to benefit your game. Being able to play with those guys who have gone through it before me really helps."
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Freeman's Drake team is done for the season, but he's on the bubble to qualify for a Division I regional invitation. He'll find out next week.
Meanwhile, he's entered for a U.S. Open qualifier at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids, Minn., on May 9 as an amateur. If he doesn't qualify, he'll retain his amateur status through June and plan on playing professionally in the Dakotas Tour that starts in July.
He's also thinking of playing Monday qualifiers for Nationwide and Canadian tour events.
"It's always been a dream of mine," Freeman said. "I started playing better this spring and that gave me more reassurance that this was more of a possibility."
Specifically, he said his short game improved. Even on an average day, he said, he felt he could compete with anybody.
"There are 500,000 guys trying to do the same thing you're doing," he said, in an exaggeration. "If everyone else is doing it, you have to work that much harder. If it works out, awesome. If not, I have a good degree and something else to turn to."
Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack can be reached at (701) 241-5546.
Kolpack's NDSU media blog can be found
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