CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. – Give Rui Chang credit for being persistent.
For three years, Chang, who goes by Paul, peppered Virginia head coach Bowen Sargent with inquiries on how he could join the Cavaliers men’s golf team. Initially, Sargent directed Chang, who was born in China but attended boarding school in England and was relatively new to the game, to the school’s club team.
“He kept emailing me and emailing me, asking me, ‘What do I have to do to get on the team?’” Sargent said. “I kept telling him, ‘I don’t know if you can help us yet, but just keep working at it.’”
What’s happened since then is nothing short of remarkable.
Not only is Chang, who has two years left before he graduates, preparing for his first season of varsity golf at Virginia, but he also is still alive at the 123rd U.S. Amateur, his first individual USGA championship. Chang advanced to match play before knocking off Caden Fioroni in the Round of 64 on Wednesday at Cherry Hills, and on Thursday morning he’ll take on the world’s seventh-ranked amateur, Tennessee’s Caleb Surratt, as the only unranked player left in this field.
“It’s a fascinating journey to get to where he is,” Sargent said. “I hope the story continues. But it’s been a real good story even if it ends today.”
Chang has only been playing golf for about six years, ever since he was introduced to the game during his time at Oakham School in England. He dreamed of attending college in the U.S., and a bright kid, he narrowed his choices to Cal and Virginia, ultimately choosing the latter because it was closer to the U.K. When he arrived in Charlottesville, Chang sought out Sargent and asked what he needed to do to sign up for the golf team. Sargent politely informed Chang that it didn’t work like that, and Chang instead joined the club program, where he spent the last three years as he’s worked toward a degree in computer science.
Meanwhile, Chang would spend about six hours every day at Birdwood Golf Course, where the Cavaliers practice. He didn’t have a car, so he’d get to the course each day by renting a motorized scooter.
“Rain, snow, cold, hot, he’d ride one to the course every single day,” Sargent said.
Sargent’s players would occasionally mention that this club kid was pretty good, and Chang then went out last winter and qualified for the 2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, but Sargent never had a spot for Chang – that is until two potential transfers fell through this past summer. Chang then happened to be paired with a high-school player whom Sargent was recruiting at a two-day U.S. Amateur qualifier in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was the first time Sargent had actually seen Chang play.
“After about seven or eight holes, I’m like, man, this guy’s pretty good,” Sargent said.
Chang then birdied his second-to-last hole, followed it with a clutch 9-foot par save and then survived a 3-for-2 playoff to punch his ticket to Cherry Hills. The next day Sargent called Chang into his office and offered him a walk-on spot.
“It was just serendipitous,” Sargent added.
The unexpected has continued in Denver, where Chang is easily playing the biggest tournament of his life – he’s probably only logged a little over a dozen tournament reps in his career, Sargent estimates – and facing off against the biggest names in amateur golf.
Of course, Chang has no idea who most of these big names are.
“Aside from our guys, he doesn’t know a single player in that field,” Sargent said. “He’s in a land of giants.”
A few more wins and Chang could soon be one himself.
