Celebrating the Centennial Open: Amateur Extraordinaire, Brian Komline
Brian Komline’s first love was baseball. But a rotator cuff injury during his budding career at Raritan Valley Community College buried those dreams for this aspiring pitcher.
The future two-time NJSGA Open champion and one of the state’s greatest amateurs ever, Komline needed a new outlet for his competitive fires.
“The funny part was I didn’t know anything about golf. I went to Bernards High School in Bernardsville and every day I would drive past Somerset Hills Country Club, see people golfing and wonder what those people were doing.
“If I only knew at the time what a beautiful gem it was and that it was the course that the high school golf team sometimes used, I would have quit baseball.”
Komline never aspired to take baseball beyond the collegiate level, and when he was forced to give up the sport, it was time to try something different.
“The good thing was I still had pretty good mobility in my arm, but I had no velocity. I could swing a golf club. The first times I went out were with my dad to Fox Hollow and Green Knoll, and then I went with my buddies, who were trying out different courses.
“That’s how I started. I was still competitive from baseball. While the other guys were knocking it around the golf course, my competitive spirit kicked in and I started working on my game. I bought clubs and quickly fell in love with it.”
The following summer, Komline took an entry-level job at the Bound Brook Golf Range on Route 22 where he “hit a ton of balls every day.”
His handicap continued to plummet. Within a year and a half, he was good enough to find his way onto the golf team at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck. He had been recommended there by Raritan Valley athletic director Augie Eosso, a good friend of FDU golf coach Gerry Oswald.
“Coach Oswald saw some talent in me and gave me a little scholarship money. Here I was, playing NCAA Division D1 golf and we were competitive. My game improved while I was there and a lot had to do with my equipment and learning the right way to play competitive golf.”
There he met a teammate named Niall Handley, a native of Ireland who had come to the United States to play soccer at Caldwell College. The two had something in common – both left their original sport for golf.
Following his 1997 graduation from FDU where he earned a degree in business and communications, Komline began a career with Citigroup’s Citi Capital in Mahwah. Golf was firmly on the back burner.
A few years later, he began testing himself in NJSGA events.
“I was getting some positive results, had some top 20 finishes. I realized that maybe I could compete with these guys if I put little more effort in it. I figured if I wasn’t going to practice, it would be very hard to win events. My competitive spirit wanted to do it. I was always a decent ball striker, but my short game improvement enabled me to make the jump to the next level,” Komline said.
He played regularly on weekends at High Bridge Hills with scratch golfers like Handley, Gregg Cartier, Ed Alden and Mike Deo and the competition was fierce in those friendly matches, which took place from 2003 to 2007.
“You had to shoot 67 or 68 to win some money in those matches,” Komline remembered.
Said Handley: “When I was playing with him at High Bridge Hills, I noticed he was hitting the ball differently than he had in college. His long game and putting was different than any amateur I knew. He drove it so straight, and when he got hot with his putter, you couldn’t beat him.
“He worked hard on his chipping. When he started winning those State Opens, his chipping was really good. Tee to green he was the best player out there. The thing about Brian, he’s not afraid to win and when he has the lead, he’s not afraid to keep going,” Handley added.
In 2005, at age 31, Komline shocked the New Jersey golf world by winning the NJSGA Open at Fairmount Country Club in impressive fashion.
“I shot 64 in the first round at Fairmount to take the lead. People didn’t recognize my name and expected me to fall. I played the final round with Brett Jones, who at the time was an assistant pro at Fairmount and a great player who knew that course. He was dominant, but I stood toe-to-toe with him and shot 64-70-72 and won pretty easily. I was 31 and probably wasn’t even one of the top amateurs in the field,” Komline remembered.
“I got started late playing golf. I really hadn’t won anything especially of that magnitude, so for me, it was an eye-opening experience. Besides the honor of doing it, it brought me a lot of confidence in what I could do in the golf world.”
Just two years later, came what he called his “most defining moment in my golf career in New Jersey.” At imposing Plainfield Country Club, Komline had what he felt was again a comfortable lead in the final round until professional Frank Esposito, a former Open champion, birdied four of his final five holes. Komline salvaged a one-stroke victory thanks to a birdie on the 17th hole.
“Plainfield’s conditions were so difficult for me. It’s an amazing golf course. That win at Plainfield was a hard-fought battle for three straight rounds. I look back at that as the best victory of my career.
“The mitigating factors were the strength of the field which included Esposito, Ed Whitman (four-time champion) and Jim Herman (future PGA Tour player), all playing at the height of their careers. For an amateur like myself to be able to go toe to toe with them and come out on top was special.”
From there, Komline’s career took flight. He became the only golfer to have won the Open, NJSGA Amateur (2010), Mid-Amateur (2012), Public Links (2008) and Four-Ball Championship (2008 with Handley).
Among other titles are two Bergen County Amateurs (2016, ’07), The Hochster Memorial (2015), the Boff Invitational (2015), the Eagle Oaks Invitational (2014), and the Met Public Links (2010).
“I took the same attitude I had when I was a pitcher. You’re out on the mound and there’s nobody there to help you. That has worked for me in golf. I am able to withstand pressure and not let it get to me. I know if I stay in the moment, I’m fine,” Komline said.
Rather than focus on length and accuracy, he says he worries about something else.
“For me, it’s never been about the technical aspects of golf. It’s always been about the tempo of my golf swing. I think of the pendulum of a grandfather clock, how it swings back and forth. I never cared for swing lines. I knew if the tempo was there, then I was going to get the club back to the impact position I was looking for.”
In earlier years, Komline was considered one of the biggest hitters in the amateur ranks. He has since been surpassed by any number of players in their 20s.
“I’ve never been a big believer in length because now I’ve seen guys much longer than me, but they couldn’t keep it on the planet. To me, it’s about hitting it straight. I never tried to overpower a golf course. I always tried to position myself for the next shot.
“I never worked that hard on chipping and putting because I felt I should hit each green out there. I know it seems impossible and maybe I was being aggressive, but I always played for the fat side of green and if I could avoid my weaknesses, I knew I’d be successful. I’ve always been a streaky putter.”
All of his achievements have come in a span of 15 years, a rather short golf career that has enabled him to succeed, play many of the finest golf courses, and see the world as a member of the MGA’s Carey Cup and French-American Challenge teams.
He annually plays in the Crump Cup at Pine Valley, which he rates as his favorite course. Others on his list include Ireland’s Royal County Down, Oakmont, Plainfield, Somerset Hills, New York’s Friar’s Head, and nearly all Tillinghast courses.
“Golf has been an amazing outlet for me to continue the competitive nature that I have. It’s also a great place to meet new people and make friends. I’ve fostered so many great relationships through golf and have played so many great golf courses I would have never experienced. I’m very thankful for that.
“Those are some things I’ll always look back on. When I think of golf, I think of the people and the great relationships I’ve formed.”
Spoken like a true champion.
