Trainer keeping childhood dreams alive

The look on Martin Trainer’s face said it all.

The USC sophomore had just learned, by virtue of his 2011 Pac-10 individual championship won in early May, that he had received an exemption to play in the PGA Tour’s Reno Tahoe Open, achieving a lifelong goal of teeing it up at the sport’s highest level.

“It’s everyone’s dream,” Trainer said. “Every kid wants to play on the PGA Tour.”

It’s a dream that is becoming an increasing reality for USC golfers of the present and recent past.

Jamie Lovemark, who played three seasons for the Trojans from 2006 to 2009 and won the 2007 NCAA individual title, is playing full time on the PGA Tour this season.

Matt Giles and Tim Sluiter, who played with Lovemark on the 2008 USC team that finished two strokes shy of a national championship, are on the Nationwide and PGA European tours, respectively, both of which are a step below the PGA Tour.

Incoming freshman Anthony Paolucci, ranked the No. 1 high school golfer in the nation, has played in two PGA Tour events this season (including a tie for 29th at the Farmers Insurance Open in La Jolla, Calif., in January) before even beginning his college career.

“A really strong recruiting tool will be having guys on the tour,” USC coach Chris Zambri said.

Trainer said USC’s ability to prepare players for professional golf was one of the school’s top selling points.

“That was a huge factor,” Trainer said. “When was I was a senior in high school looking at all of the schools, Jamie Lovemark was one of the guys at USC, and he was probably the biggest name in college golf. Recently, there’s been an exceptional amount of talent that has come out of there and so that did factor into my decision.”

It starts with Zambri, who played six years on the Nationwide Tour — golf’s version of baseball’s triple-A — and qualified for two U.S. Opens during his professional career.

“It’s something I did myself for over 10 years and I feel like I know what they’re going through,” Zambri said. “Ideally, though, they’ll get to places in their careers that I never got to, which is where Jamie is now — fully exempt on the PGA Tour. I still think I can relate to what it’s like.”

Zambri preaches the importance of hard work to his players. Though the team can only practice together for 20 hours each week per NCAA regulations, the players can put in additional time on their own. Trainer said he puts in 15 to 20 hours extra per week.

The work doesn’t stop when the school year ends. Current USC players have summer schedules filled with individual tournaments.

It doesn’t get any easier after graduation, as a successful college career doesn’t guarantee a PGA Tour spot. Most players attend Q-school, the annual qualifying tournament for the PGA and Nationwide tours. A finish in the top 25 and ties at the fourth and final stage earns you a fully exempt status on the next season’s PGA Tour, while the following 50 players receive Nationwide Tour cards.

Last December, Giles shot 2-under-par in the six round final stage and placed in a tie for 74th, earning his Nationwide Tour card by one stroke.

Giles has made four cuts in nine Nationwide Tour starts this year and recorded a season best tie for 19th at an April tournament in the Bay Area.

Giles, however, feels confident about his chances of joining Lovemark — who is currently out with a torn back muscle — on the top circuit next season.

“I definitely think the tools are there to get out on the PGA Tour next year,” Giles said. “I just think like everyone else, it’s a matter of putting it all together.”

Current PGA Tour players Lovemark and 2002 Pac-10 Player of the Year Kevin Stadler represent the latest Trojans in a long line of USC success at the highest level in professional golf. Four Trojan alumni — Al “Mr. 59” Geibeger, Scott Simpson, Craig “The Walrus” Stadler and Dave Stockton — have won a combined three PGA Championships, one Masters and one U.S. Open.

The current batch of Trojans would all like to someday add their names to that prestigious list.

“Every single one of us on the team is talented enough to make the [PGA] Tour,” Trainer said. “It’s the guys that will really be able to seize that opportunity and pretty much put everything else aside besides school and make sacrifices that are going to make it.”

For now, Trainer is looking forward to the Reno Tahoe Open in August and the realization of a childhood dream.

“If I do well against the pros, then that will definitely turn some heads,” Trainer said. “It’s a huge opportunity to really advance my career before it has even started.”