Amateur Nick Gabrelcik rebounds from tough opener with Friday 67 at Valspar Championship

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – If you want to know the truth, Nick Gabrelcik really didn’t want to get out of bed early Friday morning. Who could blame him?

Making his second start in a PGA TOUR event in his hometown at the Valspar Championship, the talented senior and U.S. Walker Cup player from the University of North Florida had seen just about everything that could go wrong on Thursday go wrong.

In front of a nice gallery of friends and family that included a handful of his UNF teammates, he shot an opening 80. Ugh. It was embarrassing. Friday was all about showing others he was a lot better than that.

Gabrelcik knew he had little chance of making the cut to play on the weekend, but pulled things together nicely enough to score 13 shots lower, firing 4-under 67. The 21-year-old from nearby Trinity birdied all four of the Copperhead’s par-5 holes and for good measure, birdied his final hole – sinking a 12-footer – to earn a nice home-game ovation and walk off with his head held high.

“My ball-striking was a lot better, and I actually got some putts to fall, which is nice to see to build some confidence for down the road,” Gabrelcik said. “Overall, it was a pretty good day.”

A day earlier, it was as if somebody else was playing in his body. His usually reliable ball-striking was off, and he managed to get up-and-down only once among the 10 greens he missed. (His note to self: Best to work on the short game from those difficult lies in high rough around the firm greens.)

“The mental side last night was not the best,” he said as he cleaned out his locker late Friday afternoon. “I didn’t really want to talk to anybody. I had high hopes for this week, and it really didn’t work out on the first day. I talked to my family, and some of my friends that were around, and they all reassured me what I was capable of as a player. It was a nice pep talk.

“Honestly, it wasn’t the most fun to wake up this morning. But we came out and made the best of it. What I did today I think shows a lot about myself and what I’m capable of doing in the long term, so that was really good for me.”

Gabrelcik has been a standout at UNF, where he has won nine times in a solid career. He made the U.S. Walker Cup team that played at Seminole Golf Club. He has played in the Palmer Cup. Gabrelcik currently sits in third in the PGA TOUR University standings; the top five finishers at the end of the spring semester will earn immediate status on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Friday, Gabrelcik did not need to look far to see how one can take advantage of such access.

A year ago, when he shot 67 on Friday to make the cut at Valspar, Gabrelcik was one of two amateurs to play on the weekend at the Copperhead Course. The other was Ludvig Åberg, who months later not only would be a PGA TOUR champion, but also would represent Europe in the Ryder Cup.

In this week’s field at Valspar is former Oklahoma standout Chris Gotterup, who went from PGA TOUR U to the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023, and this season owns a PGA TOUR card.

Gabrelcik already is making summer plans to play on the Korn Ferry Tour after UNF’s college season concludes. His older brother, Donnie, who taught him the game early on, is an assistant coach at UNF and will serve as his caddie. Gabrelcik is still an amateur for two more months. Still, on Friday, his mission was all about performing like a professional, taking a difficult situation (that opening 80), and finding a way to produce something positive.

“The idea was to go out, put a round together, and try to build some confidence into the rest of the semester we have at North Florida,” he said. “That was the mindset.”

Not easy, but after a second-day 67, he had done what he came to do. For Nick Gabrelcik, thank goodness he had set an alarm. It had been worth waking up, after all.