Devon Bling

Devondeep Singh Bling was born in Ridgecrest, Calif. His father, Tejbir, was an engineer for the U.S. Navy and coached his first son in his early years. Bling has a younger brother, Dillon. His mother, Sara, was very supportive in his golf development and drove him to many tournaments around Southern California.
Bling's passion for golf took root as soon as he started walking. When he first saw his dad hitting golf balls in the garage, he started swinging a plastic club.
His life changed in 2013 when his mother suffered a stroke and died the following day. At the time, Devon and his father were at a junior tournament in San Diego and both of them were shocked because there had been no hint of health issues.
It was a difficult time for the family and Devon dove more deeply into golf and his schoolwork. He graduated high school with a 4.2 grade-point average and many acquaintances have said he was mature beyond his years. Bling chose to attend UCLA, where he chose his specialty of business economics because he thought it offered the best balance between academics and athletics. In his first year on the UCLA golf squad, he was named to the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team and ranked 3rd on the college team with a 72.5 scoring average. He qualified and played in two U.S. Junior Amateurs, reaching match play both times. He also qualified for the U.S. Amateur for the first time in 2018 and made it into match play. As he was winning his matches at the Amateur, Bling remembered how proud his mother was that he not only played but also won a USGA championship. He reached the final but was defeated by Viktor Hovland 6 & 5 in the 36-hole match. Still, he felt that his mother was watching over him during his week at Pebble Beach. Three weeks later, Bling won the California State Fair Amateur. He wasn't able to compete much in the fall of 2018 due to a pair of right-wrist injuries. The first occurred during a swing when his club caught a tree root at impact and the second after he slipped and fell on the hand, straining a ligament.
Last year, Bling attended the Monday practice round at the Masters and hoped to play the course one day. With his runner-up finish in the U.S. Amateur, he got his wish. To get ready for the fast Augusta greens, he took a page out of Tiger Woods playbook. He got himself ready by practicing on the hardwood court of the UCLA basketball practice facility. Bling shot 74-73-71-73 and was one of four amateurs to make the cut. He wasn't the low amateur as he finished 55th.
Devon had his brother Dillon caddie for him at the Masters and is hoping to have UCLA assistant coach Andrew Larkin on the bag when he plays at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Shot rounds of 74-73-71-73 to finish 55th at 2019 Masters
Bling loves soccer, can play the piano by ear and also enjoys playing the guitar.