Community Champion: Local golfer Greg Yellin headed to U.S. Amateur Championship

Local star golfer Greg Yellin will be competing at the 118th U.S. Amateur Championship next month, and he says he hopes to use the opportunity to put El Paso golf on the map.

“Just golf in El Paso, to get that to be bigger would be really good,” said Yellin. “And to play well at the U.S. Amateur would be a good start.”

Yellin is a former Coronado star who red-shirted as a freshman last season at UTEP. He says that really helped him elevate his game after a stretch right after high school in which he admitted he wasn’t playing up to his usual level.

“I kind of learned a lot about my golf game and about myself. And I think it’s gonna help a lot in the future having that year that I red-shirted,” he said.

It appears to already be paying dividends.

Yellin won a recent U.S. Amateur qualifier in Albuquerque to book his spot in the finals beginning Aug. 13 at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill Golf Course.

Yellin jumped out to an early lead after a strong first round and didn’t let up in the second and final round to punch his ticket to Pebble Beach.

Though he’s been playing well so far this summer, he knows that consistency will be key to future success.

“It’s a really tough game,” said Yellin. “You know, you can be playing really well one month and then playing awful the next, so just appreciate every moment and just keep working hard at it.”