Faces of the NCGA: NCGA correspondent Garrett Johnston caught up with Stanford star Karl Vilips at the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills. Vilips is an E-Club San Francisco member.
What are you excited about for your senior year at Stanford?
I’m just really excited to play. It’s obviously a really big year with PGA Tour U and I think I clocked in at 24 on the preseason rankings. I’m just really pumped to see what I can do, I’ve put in a lot of work to get up there in those rankings because that’s obviously really important to me. I’m also excited to graduate, it’s been a quick three years, the first year kind of flew by because of COVID and the journey is almost over which is kind of crazy to me, but I’m excited to get out there and see what I can do during the season and then hopefully right after that.
Seeing your teammate Michael Thorbjornsen have a top 4 at Travelers last year, do you take a lot from his successes?
I think it’s cool and also very inspiring. I think we first met each other when we were six in U.S. Kids stuff. Then seeing each other grow and get better over the years has been really cool. Getting to Stanford and seeing both of us playing really well has been rewarding. Watching him succeed has been great for me as well. Obviously I would love to be doing that (T4 at Travelers) instead, but it pushes me to work harder. And I think it’s just great being on campus and practicing with someone who’s better than you. It’s great to consistently be trying to beat him and also have someone to look up to throughout the year so it’s been really cool to consistently see my best friend playing so well at the moment and also being the front-runner for PGA Tour U. I’s going to be really interesting to see where he goes in the next couple years.
What would you like to accomplish in golf, big picture, post Stanford, I know you’ve mentioned number 1 in the world before?
Yes, I would definitely love to be number one in the world. When I was younger I would definitely say that I want to break Tiger’s records but now I don’t think anyone’s touching that. Next year it’s a huge step going into the next level, and once I get there (pro golf) it’s hopefully I can eventually get to number one. I’m really excited because I just love competing and competing against the best so I’m just pumped to get out there and I just can’t wait to see what I can do.
You’re becoming a Northern California guy, so what courses have you gotten to like in your three years at Stanford?
I really enjoy playing a course like TPC Stonebrae. I think it’s just so fun. You can shoot anywhere from 62 to 80 there, it just depends on how you’re hitting it. I really like Lake Merced, I think that’s a super-solid course. The Olympic Club is also really fun. I know that there’s a couple courses there. We played the Par 3 (Cliffs Course) and the (Lakes) course. When we played the (Lakes) course the rough was up so it was playing pretty tough and a good challenge. When it’s cold and windy most of the year in the bay area, those courses are totally different beasts than when you play them in the summer.
What are you excited for at this week’s US Amateur?
I’m excited for more matchplay. I had some really good experience this summer at the North and South (2nd place) and I hadn’t really had a great history at it. I feel like I’m starting to get better and obviously you got to get there, but I’m just pumped to go back and play some matchplay-style golf and to play someone one-on-one. There’s a lot of rounds of matchplay with the U.S. Amateur, definitely more so than the North & South, but the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills, wow that’s going to be so good. Colorado Golf Club looks so good too and so I’m really pumped and excited for that course as well.
How will you take on these elevation changes?
I’ve heard it’s going to be 5-7 feet in elevation change. My caddie is bringing a simulator so we’ll be able to test some distances on the course and get a really good gauge of how far the ball is traveling.. From my experience playing in elevation before, drives are going to go miles and it’s going to become all position golf, which is going to be nice because you’re laying up with less club so I’m excited to see exactly what it is but it’s never a problem when you just can always hit it further. My junior golf coach Steven Bosdosh is caddying for me. He caddied for me at the Southern Amateur earlier this year and also at Woodmont where I qualified for the US Open.
For a full 30-minute interview with Karl on the Beyond the Clubhouse podcast:
Garrett Johnston is a Washington D.C.-based golf journalist who's covered 40 major championships over 13 years in golf journalism. He hosts the Beyond the Clubhouse Podcast with various players, caddies and broadcasters from the world of golf. Twitter: @JohnstonGarrett