Ollie Schniederjans seeks good vibes heading to Wichita

Ollie Schniederjans is digging it out of the dirt. That’s all he can do these days.

Inspired by the success of his fellow golfers from the heralded Class of 2011, Schniederjans admits he was “completely lost” for almost a year and a half after reaching the PGA TOUR. He saw every top-level coach there is in golf, he said, like George Gankas, Butch Harmon, and Sean Foley. Jeff Patton, his coach from college. He’s switched caddies too from longtime loopers to his middle brother, Ben, who is on his bag now.

He’s been a sponge for knowledge, just trying to figure out this wild and crazy game – and he seems to be turning a corner. And this week on the Korn Ferry Tour he returns to a place that he’s only known success.

Schniederjans has played the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth twice before, finishing T5 and winning the 2016 edition. He’s got a solid coaching duo now, too – he’s working with Bradley Hughes and Matt Killen – and he’s coming into the week four top-12 results in his last seven tournaments.

He looks back at everything he’s been through the last couple of seasons as just stepping stones in his long journey back to the PGA TOUR.

“I was trying a lot of things,” said Schniederjans.

He said, looking back, he could “get around” figuring out what he was feeling but he couldn’t bottle up the exact solution. He kept experimenting. He’d try to get “super jacked” for a month and gain weight to see if that helped. Different grips. His hair has remained, but his facial hair changed a bit. He said he wanted to get the feeling of control back to his game.

“I had never really fully understood why it felt good and why it didn’t. I didn’t have the full picture,” he said. The golf swing, he’s come to realize, is personal.

“I think there is a lot of golf instruction out there that is terrible and ideas that are terrible,” he said. “It’s such a personal thing, the golf swing, to hit the ball where you want to hit it that are unique to do and different to each person. When I hit the ball there are things that I’ve always done since I was kid that are always going to happen. It’s always different for every guy.”

He said he ended up seeing so many coaches because at the time he thought he needed to just work with one guy. In fact, he said, he’s just the kind of golfer who can take in a lot of information and wants to figure things out on his own.

“Hughes and Killen have helped me a lot but it’s been my journey,” he said of his new coaching squad. “I’m still going through it.”

Schniederjans is happy to be coming back to a place that jives with his game this week in Wichita. He can’t pinpoint what it is, exactly, but it’s a comfortable arena. For a guy that’s trying to cobble together a string of good finishes and build off that confidence – his T7 in Portland, for example, was his best result at a TOUR-sanctioned event since 2018 – this week’s event comes at a great time.

Not only that, but he’s baring witness to a run of success from many of the game’s young stars. He was part of that group for a while after leaving college, and he’s eager to get back into the conversation with the likes of Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Daniel Berger.

“I’m inspired by these guys who are doing amazing things from my class,” said Schniederjans. “I’m very inspired by what Bryson has done. I haven’t talked to him but I’d like to. Justin Thomas has been a great friend and he’s given me some insights on his process and what he’s learned from Tiger. Patrick Rodgers is a close friend so we talk about what we’re going through.”

The key, he said, is that guys like DeChambeau and Thomas have figured out their winning formulas. Schienderjans is still in the lab, working on the ingredients.

But one thing’s for sure: he’s not going to be stopping any time soon. And this week’s setting in Wichita could be what he needs to notch another good finish, and add another slice of positivity to his ever-growing confidence pie.

“Some guys have really figured it out and some are still trying to do that,” said Schniederjans. “At this point it’s trying to find the competence in this crazy game and not give up and put the work in. You have to put the work in.”