An In-Depth Story, Written by Marty James, on Talented Sacramento Golfer: Chase Sienkiewicz
It was six years ago, in the spring of 2017, when Chase Sienkiewicz took time to travel from his home in Sacramento to meet with University of Arizona men’s golf coach Jim Anderson and his staff at their offices in Tucson. There was not a whole lot that Anderson knew about Sienkiewicz, a sophomore at Jesuit High School-Carmichael, at the time.
“We’ve had a few really, really strong players from that area,” Anderson said. “Chase was not necessarily on a rankings chart, hitting a level that would get us interested. Chase really wanted to visit with the coaching staff when he was on campus.”
The big take-away for Anderson during that 30-minute visit was just how impressed he was with Sienkiewicz, a member of First Tee – Greater Sacramento, who was playing his junior golf out of Catta Verdera Country Club, in Lincoln.
“For someone who’s shooting 75 in junior golf, I really liked that guy,” said Anderson. “He’s a great communicator.”
It was about a year later when Anderson saw something else in Sienkiewicz – a player with an all-around top game. Anderson was on hand to see Sienkiewicz play in the IMG Academy Junior World Championships, where he had rounds of 77, 67, 72, and 69 for a 3-under-par 285 total. This performance earned him second place in the boys 15-18 division at Torrey Pines-South in La Jolla, CA in 2018. Sienkiewicz qualified by advancing from a playoff at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento.
Sienkiewicz continued his stellar play that summer by also qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club, in Springfield, N.J.
“I knew he was already playing well, because he had already qualified for both these tournaments,” Anderson recalled in a phone interview. “At that point is when I thought, oh my gosh, we’ve got to watch him.”
“He was at Torrey Pines. Our assistant coach at the time, Chris Nallen, and I both watched him play different times during the week. And we both go, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ It was almost like it went from we don’t know if we want to recruit Chase to, oh, my gosh. How are we going to get Chase before everyone else wants him?
“Our relationship recruiting was important. I think Chase was really attracted to our university, our weather and so many other things. So, it worked out great for both of us. But I definitely feel very, very much indebted to him and his family. We were just lucky to find the right guy.”
Sienkiewicz went to the University of Arizona and put together a stellar four-year career, playing on the men’s golf team.
As a sophomore, in 2020-21, he helped the Wildcats to the title at the Pac-12 Championships at Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa.
As a junior, in 2021-22, his 71.51 scoring average for the season ranked in top 15 in school history, according to University of Arizona Athletics, at arizonawildcats.com. He was the runner-up at the NCAA Bryan Regional, which was won by Arizona. The Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2011.
As a senior, in 2022-23, his 70.78 scoring average for the year was sixth-best in program history, according to arizonawildcats.com. His 71.40 career scoring average over four seasons ranks No. 2 for the lowest career scoring in Arizona history, according to arizonawildcats.com.
“It was definitely an experience and I obviously wouldn’t change it for the world. I love that school. I love that coaching staff. And my team was amazing. It was a great four years,” Sienkiewicz said in a phone interview.
Sienkiewicz also excelled academically at Arizona. He graduated in May from the Eller College of Management with a degree in business marketing. He recently turned professional and is now in Dallas, playing out of Stonebriar Country Club, a private club in Frisco, Texas, that has two courses.
“I’ll be based here,” he said.
Based on finishing the 2022-23 collegiate season in the top 20 of the PGA Tour University rankings, Sienkiewicz earned fully exempt membership on PGA Tour Canada for 2023 and also an exemption to the Second Stage of 2023 PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, along with conditional status through the Latin America Swing of the 2024 PGA Tour Americas season, it was announced in a report at www.pgatour.com in May.
Sienkiewicz finished No. 19 in the final PGA Tour University Ranking. He is grouped with those on PGA Tour University Third Team.
“The path to get through to Second Stage of Korn Ferry Qualifying School is also a huge perk,” said Anderson. “It’s an amazing accomplishment to be among the top players in your class and to have Chase earn that status gives us a lot of pride and excitement for his future. He’s definitely someone that we believe can play professional golf, at a very high level. And if and when that happens, he’s the kind of guy who’s going to proudly wear the block ‘A’ on his bag or have it as a head cover and I hope, talks positively about his experience at the U of A. And that’s a part of what we’re trying to do, obviously, with our program is prepare our kids for the future. All of them don’t get to play pro golf. But for those who do, we want them to be successful. We want them to go on and pursue the PGA Tour.”
“I think that’s why Chase is so prepared. Just like when he was a junior golfer, and really made the commitment to all in on golf, because he was a multi-sport athlete in high school. He really started to bounce up and really rose the level of his play. And I think now the same is going to happen for him. I think it stands to reason the progression will continue. And when he sees what guys at that level are doing, and how they compete, and how they travel, how they prepare, and taking along the experience he picked up in college, I think he’s going to see himself rise to the top of that level. And when that happens, it opens up doors and opportunities to compete, for more and more prize money and you play in some of the tournaments that little kids dream of playing one day. It’s all part of that progression. I think he’s well on his way. We’re really excited for his pro career to start and we’ll be watching and rooting for him.”
The definition of PGA Tour University, according to www.pgatour.com, “means the program designed and administered to identify the best college golfers in the United States and to provide such players with playing opportunities on Tours operated under the PGA Tour umbrella.”
Sienkiewicz, a 2019 Jesuit High graduate, starts PGA Tour Canada at the Royal Beach Victoria Open presented by Times Colonist, June 15-18, at Uplands Golf Club, in Victoria, B.C.
From there, he goes to Waskesiu Lake, Saskatchewan, to play in the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open presented by Brandt, June 22-25, at Elk Ridge Resort-Tournament Course.
He tied for second in a 54-hole PGA Tour Canada qualifying tournament in April at Wigwam Golf Course, near Phoenix. The event is part of PGA Tour University.
“I’m fully exempt for the whole season. Additionally, I’m able to skip to second stage for Korn Ferry Q School, which is immense, because I won’t have to play in first stage,” the 6-foot-4 Sienkiewicz said.
PGA Tour Canada has 10 events. The season ends with the Fortinet Cup Championship, Sept. 7-10, at Country Hills Golf Club (Talons Course), in Calgary.
Sienkiewicz is a long-ball hitter – a definite strength and key to his game, said Anderson.
“One of the reasons I think he’s at a distinct advantage to really giving this professional golf a go is because he has just incredible length,” said Anderson. “So much of the game anymore has become speed and distance. Through the last couple of years, he’s really figured out some of the scoring parts of golf and really kind of become much more skilled on and around and into the greens. But his distance has been such a huge strength in his corner.”
Sienkiewicz said his game is good and added he is excited for the summer.
“I really do lean on the long game. But ultimately it comes down to getting the ball in the hole. And so, over the four years (of college golf), I’ve really learned how to course manage and use my strengths to my advantage rather than make it my penalty. I’m really excited to use my strengths of hitting the ball pretty far and pretty straight off the tee to my advantage this summer, especially in Canada where scores are going to be pretty crazy low and I know I have to go low to compete for a top spot,” he explained.
Junior Golf
Sienkiewicz played a lot of junior golf, starting out with First Tee – Greater Sacramento and U.S. Kids Golf. He also played in Junior Golf Association of Northern California events, as well as American Junior Golf Association and Northern California Golf Association events.
He qualified twice at Haggin Oaks for the IMG Academy Junior World Championships.
“A lot of coaches saw me play and saw my game at Torrey Pines. The biggest turning point in my junior career was Junior World,” said Sienkiewicz. “That was really the peak of my junior career, playing in that.”
Sienkiewicz started working with Phil Dawson, his swing coach, when he was 12 years old. He took his first golf lesson from Dawson, a PGA Class A Professional and a teaching professional at Catta Verdera CC and Winchester Country Club in Meadow Vista.
“He’s like a father figure to me in the sense that he cares so much about me. And throughout my whole college career, he’s always called me, he’s always texted me. He knows my game better than everyone. He knows my swing tendencies. The biggest thing with the golf swing, in my opinion, is just having someone that knows your tendencies,” said Sienkiewicz.
“It’s all about just a relationship that we’ve grown. My family has known him for 10 years now. And he’s just been someone I can always rely on. He wants the best for me.”
Sienkiewicz also played basketball for three years at Jesuit.
“That’s where I credit a lot of my competitiveness to, just because it’s a team sport,” he said.
He did not play basketball his senior year, electing to focus on golf year-round. He was Jesuit’s team captain in golf for three seasons and was also a two-time team MVP.
Sienkiewicz had an outstanding senior season, in 2019, as he was the Delta League MVP. Jesuit won the CIF Northern California title and finished third at state.
Jesuit won Delta League titles all four of the years that Sienkiewicz played.
He placed third at the NCGA Amateur Championship.
College Golf
Sienkiewicz had three Top-25 finishes for Arizona as a freshman in 2019-20 to start his college career. It was a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a sophomore, in 2020-21, he was named as a Golf Coaches Association of America All-American Scholar. He was also named to the Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll, as well as All-Pac-12 Second Team and to the Pac-12 All-Newcomer Team.
As a junior, in 2021-22, he was named as a GCAA All-American Scholar. He was also named Second Team All-Pac-12, PING All-Region, and to the Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll. He placed second in two events. His 71.51 scoring average for the season ranked in the top 15 in school history, according to Arizona Athletics, at arizonawildcats.com.
As a senior, in 2022-23, he was named All-Pac-12 Second Team and PING All-West Region. He had four Top-10 finishes, taking second place at the Cabo Collegiate and Thunderbirds Collegiate.
“He’s been the guy that has really embraced competition and really risen. His level of play has risen year after year. He improved every year,” said Anderson.
“He never once shied away from bringing his best to the team and to every competition he played. He’s not scared of having to play his best in any moment. And I think that’s a lot of the reason he picked Arizona.”
The Arizona program also has two players from Rocklin: Zach Pollo, a freshman out of Whitney High; and Sam Sommerhauser, a junior, who also went to Whitney High.
The Arizona team’s home courses are Tucson Country Club and Sewailo Golf Club.
Anderson said Sienkiewicz is an “incredibly skilled golfer” and a top student-athlete.
“He brought everything into student-athlete that you could ask for, and teammate for that matter,” Anderson said. “He’s exceptionally well rounded. I call him the CEO, because he is busy. He’s got his hands into a lot of different things. He’s made friends outside of golf and outside of athletics, and did an outstanding job earning a business degree here and got great grades.”
Sienkiewicz also served on Arizona Athletics’ Student-Athlete Advisory Council, University of Arizona Athletics reported at arizonawildcats.com.
Sienkiewicz tied for eighth place to lead Arizona at the Pac-12 Championships in late April at Stanford Golf Course.
“He made time to be a teammate and made time to work on his game and made time to meet other people,” said Anderson. “I think he really enjoyed his experience here. I don’t run across that many young people who are capable of being that well rounded and understanding in the moment, how important it is to take advantage of the time that they may have as a student athlete. He’s networked into some great opportunities for himself and he’s made himself visible.”
It’s on to PGA Tour Canada
It’s now on to PGA Tour Canada for Sienkiewicz, 22.
“I’ve got the opportunities ahead. I just have to capitalize on them now,” he said. “I think the biggest thing with golf is all about preparation. With me, the more I’m prepared, the easier the moment you get to the first tee. All the work is done. You just go play golf.
“I’ve kind of leaned on that a lot over my four years of college. I know I’m going to lean on it going forward. You just go do the thing we’ve done your whole life.”
Sienkiewicz said the Sacramento area is home for him. As he prepares to embark on a journey as a pro player, he wants to show that he can do it.
“It’s just showing people that doubted you, that you can do it. I think I can just show people, like I did in college, that I was not one of those junior golfers that were recruited at a young age. I really was not looked at by a single school until my last year and a half of high school. It kind of just shows that if you work hard and figure it out and put your time and effort toward something every day, it really does show in the long run. I turned out to be a pretty damn good collegiate player because of that, just because I knew I had the belief that I could do it. It’s all about consistency.
“I just hope and dream that I can be one of those top players in the world one day because of my experiences and because of my hunger to be the best. I think the biggest thing is just belief in yourself and just never doubting yourself. I put a lot of credit into my coaching staff – my coach back at home, Phil Dawson. Family and friends who I grew up with, playing golf, and just allowing myself to have the opportunity. “I’m very blessed to be able to play.”
*This article was written by Marty James. Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019, after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor, and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016.
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