Duke Erwin gives the ball a little push on the way to No. 17 at the area qualifier for State Amateur golf tournament at Edgewood Country Club.
The 30-year-old Hurricane dentist, though, has never ended the prestigious event anywhere higher than third place.
O'Dell doesn't expect that trend to change anytime soon.
Much of his time now is devoted, not to sharpening his short game, but to getting his own dental practice off and running and seeing to the needs of his wife and 1-year-old son.
That doesn't mean, however, that the former Hurricane High and Marshall University standout has given up his dream of winning the State Amateur.
"That's one of my goals for sure," O'Dell said.
It's just on hold right now until O'Dell can find the time to get his game to the level it needs to be to put him contention over a four-day, 72-hole tournament.
"After I get my business going and everything running smoothly," O'Dell said, "I can concentrate (on golf) more."
Until then, O'Dell will play and practice when he can on his home course at Sleepy Hollow Country Club and hope for the best.
That's what he got Monday at Edgewood Country Club during a local 36-hole qualifier for next month's State Amateur.
O'Dell, who had barely picked up a club in the last month, shot rounds of 70-76 over Edgewood's 6,902-yard, par-71 layout to finish second in the qualifier and secure a spot in the State Amateur at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs.
"I didn't feel good coming into this at all," O'Dell said.
HURRICANE -- For the past 10 years, Sam O'Dell has been a regular among the top 10 finishers at the State Amateur golf tournament.
The 30-year-old Hurricane dentist, though, has never ended the prestigious event anywhere higher than third place.
O'Dell doesn't expect that trend to change anytime soon.
Much of his time now is devoted, not to sharpening his short game, but to getting his own dental practice off and running and seeing to the needs of his wife and 1-year-old son.
That doesn't mean, however, that the former Hurricane High and Marshall University standout has given up his dream of winning the State Amateur.
"That's one of my goals for sure," O'Dell said.
It's just on hold right now until O'Dell can find the time to get his game to the level it needs to be to put him contention over a four-day, 72-hole tournament.
"After I get my business going and everything running smoothly," O'Dell said, "I can concentrate (on golf) more."
Until then, O'Dell will play and practice when he can on his home course at Sleepy Hollow Country Club and hope for the best.
That's what he got Monday at Edgewood Country Club during a local 36-hole qualifier for next month's State Amateur.
O'Dell, who had barely picked up a club in the last month, shot rounds of 70-76 over Edgewood's 6,902-yard, par-71 layout to finish second in the qualifier and secure a spot in the State Amateur at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs.
"I didn't feel good coming into this at all," O'Dell said.
Former Capital High star and incoming Marshall freshman Bosten Miller was the qualifier's medalist with rounds of 72-69.
Fifteen players earned spots in the Aug. 4-7 State Amateur at Monday's qualifier, which had a 53-player field.
And most of those 53 players had had enough of the day's sizzling sun and choking humidity by the time they were walking up the 36th fairway.
O'Dell, who was using Sleepy Hollow assistant pro Jimmy Harrison as his caddy, struggled to finish strong.
"It was brutal this afternoon," O'Dell said. "The last nine holes I was struggling. I said, 'Jimmy, this is the first time in 36 holes I feel tired to the point that it's affecting my golf shots.'''
O'Dell bogeyed five of his last seven holes.
"Some of those were good bogeys," O'Dell said. "They could have been worse."
O'Dell finished third in the 2002 State Amateur, one year after he was seriously injured in an ATV accident on the eve of the Amateur's final round.
O'Dell was tied for second that year after three rounds.
Those free-wheeling, ATV-riding days are over for O'Dell.
Heading into the final round of the State Amateur tied for second?
O'Dell hopes those days are not too far in the future.
