It’s a week to remember for Glasgow’s Kent Bulle, who will playing in the U.S. Open Golf Tournament which begins Thursday at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.

The 2006 Glasgow graduate, who played college golf at Middle Tennessee, earned a spot last week at a qualifying event and is now eager to see what he can do on the biggest stage since he began his professional career in 2010.

Bulle is scheduled to tee off at 11:41 a.m. CDT on the 10th hole.

During a phone interview on Monday, the 27-year-old said it is starting to set in that he is part of the U.S. Open field.

He got his first taste of Oakmont on Sunday, playing nine holes, then played the back nine on Monday – the first time he’s seen the course in person.

“(Sunday) it had the U.S. Open feel, being out there, but it wasn’t open to the public,” Bulle said. “(Monday) I couldn’t believe how many people were out for a Monday practice round. It’s really cool to see all the people out and see the golf course set up how it is.”

His playing partners Monday included Patton Kizzire and Jason Dufner.

“That was fun to get an up-close look of some of these guys’ games that are excelling at the highest level,” Bulle said. “It was really fun getting to see the golf course. They had it spaced out (Sunday) sort of a trial run to see how far they could push the ball club. (Sunday) was borderline impossible. (Monday) they watered it and made it a little more manageable.”

It’s been a slow climb through the professional ranks for Bulle, who has earned more than $10,000 this season on the Web.com Tour with one top-25 finish in nine starts.

“It just seems like it has taken a couple of years to get to each step,” Bulle said. “After college I played a couple of years on the PGA Tour in Latin America then moved to Web.com tour. It’s tough. There are a lot of guys that are bounced from the PGA tour back and a lot of guys moving up to the PGA Tour. It’s been a transition.”

That transition hit full throttle last week when he won a spot in the U.S. Open at a sectional qualifying event at Ansley Golf Club in Roswell, Ga.

Bulle carded an 11-under par total over 36 holes to win the event – shooting a 3-under 69 in the first round then following that up with an 8-under 64 over the final 18 holes to grab victory by three strokes. He had 12 birdies and an eagle on the day.

“It’s very exciting to be able to go through qualifying and get it done on a Monday,” Bulle said. “With that prize in front of you, being able to play in the U.S. Open, there is a lot to think about. I was just able to keep everything in front of me and keep my head wrapped around the fact that I was playing a golf tournament instead of trying to qualify for the U.S. Open.”

Bulle said following the sectional qualifying event he heard from people he hadn’t heard from in a long time, with his phone going off nonstop for about three days. There was a lull for a few days, but it has started back up this week.

He said his focus has turned to preparation for this week.

“It’s definitely a different mindset,” Bulle said. “There is a lot of preparation that goes into it. That is the key, dig into the preparation and not worry about everything else that goes on. That way when Thursday rolls around it is just like any other golf course.”

In some ways Bulle feels like his experience on the Web.com tour and Latin America PGA tour has prepared him for this week, but at the same time he understands this is a stage that will be very new for him.

“It’s hard to prepare for something like this because it’s going to be the hardest golf course you have ever seen and the amount of people that are going to be out here to watch it,” Bulle said. “It’s really tough to simulate that. I think the Web.com tour has prepared me, has for sure prepared, for a little bit for what is about to go on. It’s run the same way. Your tee times and practice rounds (are the same). I think it has prepared me for sure.”

Bulle will have a small contingency in the gallery to cheer him on – his parents, some family, his girlfriend and her family, and his high school coach Johnny Belcher.

Bulle is hopeful to give the group plenty to cheer about, but stops short of setting any personal goals for this week.

“I’m not much on goals and expectations or whatnot,” Bulle said. “I just like to get a really good game plan together and if I go out and follow that I think I will be where I want to be on Sunday. If I am not, then I won’t. You don’t want to put a number on. You don’t want to finish top 20 or top 50 or make the cut or win or whatever it is. I like to just put a pretty good game plan together and then go all there and follow it and see what happens.”

— Follow prep sports reporter Micheal Compton on Twitter @mcompton428 or visit bgdailynews.com.