Johnny Spellerberg is not written about often, and he’s perfectly fine with that. We were not three minutes into our conversation when he stopped to tell me that he just hoped he could give me something of substance as a “humble Midwesterner.”
He mentioned his World Amateur Golf Ranking, which is exactly 2,491, and that there were many “actual really good golfers” that I should be interviewing instead.
Despite his efforts, I had to reassure Spellerberg that not only was he one of those “really good golfers,” but that he had a story worth sharing.
Spellerberg is right in that he doesn’t have the fame or the accomplishments yet to match the game’s most notable players. Yet, he’s one of the best mid-amateurs in the United States and is representative of a class of golfers that is keeping the amateur tradition alive in its purest form.
As those who follow golf know, with rare exception, the top players in high school or college eventually will turn professional. It’s the natural progression of the sport at its highest levels.
The rare exceptions are players like Spellerberg. They are excellent at golf, but they just do not feel the desire to chase success in the professional ranks for any number of reasons. Some simply don’t feel that they can compete and make a living playing professional golf. Others have more stable career options waiting after college. A few do not have the financial means to make a run at the PGA Tour.
“My game was a little too homemade for the big schools. It’s not going to impress anyone. I don’t hit it as far as I should. I play this weak fade, but I’m a competitor.”
Johnny Spellerberg
Spellerberg, a 31-year-old graduate of Creighton University in his native Nebraska, took a pragmatic approach to his decision to remain an amateur.
“It sounds terrible, but I never really had a goal of being on tour,” Spellerberg said. “I’m just not good enough to do that.”
Spellerberg started his golf career out of convenience. He grew up beside the 10th tee of a public course in Fremont, about 45 minutes west of Omaha. Not coming from a golfing family, Spellerberg and his brother would walk out of the back door and play whenever they had a chance. Spellerberg’s early years in golf were all trial and error as he slowly learned the game.
Spellerberg’s first swing coach? Fremont’s local butcher, who was the instructor at a junior golf camp.
A gifted athlete, Spellerberg quickly improved his game from the butcher’s worn hands into the highest levels of Nebraska junior golf. He competed in American Junior Golf Association events and won the Nebraska Junior Match Play and the Nebraska Class D state title as a sophomore in high school.
As a capstone to his junior accomplishments, Spellerberg was named the 2010 Nebraska Junior Golfer of the Year. He matriculated to Creighton in Omaha, a school that he knew was suited to his ability levels.
“My game was a little too homemade for the big schools,” Spellerberg said. “It’s not going to impress anyone. I don’t hit it as far as I should. I play this weak fade, but I’m a competitor.”
Over his career with the Bluejays, Spellerberg won once and consistently played in the starting lineup. It suited him just fine as someone who did not want to chase the tour life post-graduation. The courses were good, the travel was fun and most importantly, the camaraderie among his team was outstanding.
Even though it was fun, the intensity of collegiate golf burned Spellerberg out. After graduation, he went to work for the family business, Moostash Joe Tours, a specialty group tour company based in Fremont, and put down his clubs for a while.
During the intervening period, he got married, bought a house and built his career. The time away, as it often does, granted Spellerberg a new perspective on the game he had loved for so long.
“I found the passion I had when I was a kid, and [went back to playing] for something to do, as a hobby,” he said. “All of a sudden, I’ve started winning some small-town opens, and a couple of years after that I’m playing LACC and the Honors Course.”
Spellerberg has done more than win a few small-town opens in his mid-amateur renaissance. He claimed three consecutive Nebraska Mid-Amateur titles to go along with third place at last year’s Nebraska Match Play and sixth at the 2023 Nebraska Amateur. The Nebraska Golf Association honored Spellerberg as its Amateur Golfer of the Year in 2022 and 2023, only the second mid-amateur to repeat as the NGA’s top honoree.
“I have a much healthier relationship with golf now than I did.”
Spellerberg had the chance to play LACC as a competitor in the George C. Thomas Invitational, one of the top tournaments on the mid-amateur circuit. He made his way to the Country Club of Charleston for this year’s Azalea Invitational and the Honors Course for the prestigious John T. Lupton Memorial.
Those are pretty cool getaways for a guy from small-town Nebraska with a day job and a growing family. In a way, his toddler son gets to go on each trip, too, because Spellerberg plays with his child’s sock in his pocket to remind him of what really matters in life. He and his wife, Brittney, are expecting their second child in November.
Spellerberg is exactly the reason why high-level amateur golf is important, especially for those who are not using it as a stepping stone to the PGA Tour. Players get to unlock incredible, tradition-laden courses that hearken to a time when golf was played with hickory shafts.
“[Johnny's] the kind of the guy that's the ringleader," said Craig Ames, the executive director of the Nebraska Golf Association. “If there's an out-of-area event, he's the guy that rallies the troops, organizes the practices rounds and places to stay. He's just really good for the golf community and really good for our association, just because he loves to play so much.”
Tournaments provide an outlet for competition among a tight-knit community, allowing relationships to develop that would be unlikely anywhere else. Many competitors are like Spellerberg. They just get to have fun again.
“I have a much healthier relationship with golf now than I did,” said Spellerberg, who has Nebraska’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur championships on his summer schedule as well as a U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier. “Winning isn’t everything. It’s a great hobby, and the competition and camaraderie have been awesome.”
Solid perspective from a “humble Midwesterner.”
E-MAIL jake
Top: Johnny Spellerberg has found mid-amateur success after stepping away from the game for a short time.
BEN VIGIL, NEBRASKA GOLF ASSOCIATION