Watch the Debut of Portlands-own Vincent Johnson

Vincent Johnson, a former Oregon Junior Golf standout and a player for Oregon State, is one of the competitors on “Big Break Disney Golf,” a reality competition on the Golf Channel.  The David Douglas High School graduate is one of 12 golfers selected to compete in the series, which airs over 10 weeks beginning tonight (Oct. 13 at 7pm)

“Big Break” is a long-running Golf Channel staple whose alumni include other northwest favorites including Julie Wells, a 3-time OSAA High School and Oregon Junior Amateur champion who recently left a job with the Oregon Golf Association to continue to pursue her dream of playing professional tour golf, and Kim Welch, a Washington State alum who won Big Break Ka’anapali.

This season’s Big Break Disney was shot in July at two courses at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, and the winner will receive an exemption into the PGA Tour’s Children’s Miracle Network Classic in 2010.

Johnson began playing golf at age six, and by 14, Johnson had set a course record score of 62 at his home course, Glendoveer Golf Club where his father Darren works on the superintendents crew. He earned 68 titles throughout his junior golf career, having served on the Junior America’s Cup and Hogan Cup teams and played for Team Tiger at the Junior World Championships. He played in the 2004 and 2007 U.S. Amateur Championships and the 2005, 2007 and 2008 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships.

Johnson graduated from Oregon State University in three years with a degree in finance and a minor in music and enrolled in the university’s MBA program while still on scholarship. He was named Oregon State’s captain and MVP in the ‘06 season and a co-captain in ‘08. He overcame Graves’ disease in the middle of 2007 to win the PGA Minority Collegiate National Golf Championship by 12 strokes in May 2007, marking the last of his two collegiate victories.

All of the symptoms of Graves’ disease are just about as bad as you can get for an athlete – an increased heart rate that makes exercising difficult and a shortened attention span making it hard to focus  “To have parts of my game taken away was almost as big of a mental leap as it was physical because you’re losing your ability,” said Johnson.  “Golf is the ultimate focus game and I couldn’t focus.  And because of muscle weakness, I also lost 20-30 yards off of my drives. You know what you used to be able to do, and now you can’t. I played in every tournament my first two years [at Oregon State], and then I couldn’t make the traveling squad. It was very difficult.”

Earlier this year, Johnson received national attention when he became the first recipient of the Charlie Sifford Exemption, an honor that enabled him to play in the PGA TOUR’s Northern Trust Open (LA Open). The Charlie Sifford Exemption awards a golfer of high character and accomplishment who advances the cause of diversity. “Mr. Sifford endured a lot for me to be able to play pro golf,” says Johnson, who had met Sifford years ago at an awards banquet. “It’s important to know your history and to know where the game has come from.”

“I played pretty well,” said Johnson reflecting on his PGA Tour debut.  Although he missed the cut by three shots (partly because of a rules infraction), the experience convinced him that he has the talent to compete on TOUR. “I started off with a birdie on my first hole (No. 10) and that calmed me down a little bit. All in all, I competed well even though I ended up missing the cut.  And until a minor rules infraction happened, I was a few under par. If I had made a couple more birdies, I was actually on the edge of being in contention, which was actually pretty wild.”

Since the Northern Trust Open, Johnson has competed on the Gateway Tour and several other state opens in an attempt to gain experience and prepare himself for PGA Tour Qualifying School.  He made his first start ever on the Nationwide Tour on October 1 at the Soboba Classic in San Jacinto, Calif. but missed the cut by 7-strokes after shooting 73-75—148.

“Of the ten professional events I competed in this year, my highest finsh is a tie for tenth which was at the Long Beach Open in July” said Johnson, “The tournament was four rounds and I wound up at 15 under par, thanks in part to a 66 in the third round.  I feel like my game has been going in the right direction for the past 6 months.  In late September, I played in the Prequalifying Stage of Q School because of my lack of status.  I played solid for four days and ended up tied for fourth.  This was a good tune up for the 1st stage of Q School because I have played in so few 4-day events.   The 1st stage of Q-school starts on October 27th in Santee, California.  It will be very competitive and I look forward to grinding it out there.

On competing in Big Break Disney, Johnson added, “I want to win this thing, but it would be an accomplishment to play for a while and just to see all of the crazy challenges that we’re going to do.”  On the show, Johnson will be competing against a diverse field of golfers that include Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani; Ed Moses, a gold medal-winning swimmer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics; Andreas Huber, the son of actress Susan Lucci; and Mike Perez, the brother of PGA Tour player Pat Perez.