As I transition into professional golf, I have been feeling God point me in the direction of starting this blog to take everyone on this journey with me. Being the private person that I am, I wrestled with this idea for a while, as I do not like sharing much online. God kept pointing out that this was because I am fearful of being judged by others. Through these thoughts and prayers I have decided to share what this journey looks like and to keep all those who are supporting me in the loop more often than I could if I told them the stories individually. 

In order to understand where I am in my journey we have to wind it back to the start. I was fortunate enough to grow up around golf with my Dad taking me out to the course and allowing me to run around and whack the ball until I got tired. Golf was not my first love but when I got into golf it was ever consuming in all the best ways. All I thought about was golf and I began to practice my golf swing while standing in line at the batting cages at baseball or in between suicides at football practice.

The day I got the golf bug is a similar story to a lot of kids that are from Georgia. The Masters has a program that kids can go for free to the tournament when they are with a ticket holder. My grandparents, who have had badges since before I was born, took all their grandkids with them when they turned 10 through The Masters kids program. That day was magical for me. My grandmother allowed me to enter their masters bet of picking the winner between them and their friends and she said I would get half the earnings. It was the 2011 Masters and I chose Charl Schwartzel, the eventual winner that year. While I never saw the winnings that I was promised, I got pride worth more than any money could offer; me thinking that my grandparents thought I was brilliant. Of course, I was just extremely lucky as I chose him because he tied the first round lead with a 65 and I thought his name was cool, but having your grandparents be proud of you is a feeling like no other.  I decided that I wanted to be a professional golfer that day when Ryan Palmer and Angel Cabrera gave me their golf balls when they walked past me. I told myself that I wanted to do what they did so that I could make kids feel as good as I did in that moment. 

My love for golf blossomed because of the amazing teachers (Bobby, Ray, Neal, and Brandon) and facilities at Idle Hour. Being a young kid I was able to go out there and play the par 3 as many times as I desired. That summer I would go out to the course early in the morning and stay all day until dark. I will never forget when a friend of mine told me that he was going to play “the big course” and asked if I wanted to join. I did not think that I was allowed and I was ecstatic to join. I joined him and would play as many holes as the guys in the pro shop would allow. My first birdie was a chip in from 20 yards off the green and my first eagle was a hole out from 88 yards. Those are some of the memories that I still reflect on when I am feeling low about my game. The love for the game was bred in me and still remains. Walking around Idle Hour reminds me of countless stories I can tell about growing up around that place - from rain delays to fun bets I made with my friends. Those are stories I will treasure for the rest of my life and will share later on in these posts. 

I have seen a lot of success from this game; winning tournaments, qualifying for numerous large events (including the 2022 United States Amateur), and playing Division 1 golf at Mercer University for the last 5 years while pursuing a degree in Finance and Economics, as well as spending my last year getting an MBA. Despite seeing the accomplishments golf has provided me with, there has been plenty of very difficult times. Those times have shaped me into the man I am. Golf truly does teach you a lot about life, and I cannot wait to share on this page.

Why a newsletter?

There are many reasons that I have thinking about as to why I am writing this newsletter. The main one being a saying that my mentor family, the Chans, remind me of, “Bringing people into the kingdom of heaven looks like someone grabbing onto you and pulling and when you feel ready you reach your other arm out and grab as many others as you can and pull them along with you.” God has been so good to me in providing me with numerous wiser people who have pulled me along my spiritual journey, as well as in my golf career. The amount of people who have influenced me in my golf game is something that I cherish. So many older guys have taken time to teach me about the nuances in golf as well as talk to me about life. When coming into college, I put what the Chan’s told me into practice and began working as a YoungLife leader. Having plenty of young guys coming up behind me who were interested in golf, I felt God tell me to return the favor and take time to teach them and be a mentor figure. What is so funny is that through attempting to mentor them, they have taught me more than I have taught them by asking hard questions and making me break down my own assumptions about my faith and life. As I transition into professional golf, while I will still keep up with them individually, this will be a way for them to see what their next steps look like in a more in depth manner than I have in the past as well as provide an understanding for other juniors who are interested in being a professional golfer.

God has blessed me with many people who are interested in my journey, some of which are willing to help me financially. This newsletter will give them more frequent updates to what my life looks like as I take everyone along with me. It also gives me an opportunity and platform to showcase their support through sponsorships and other avenues. I cannot thank them enough for their support and want to repay them in any way that I can. With that being said, because of the unknowns I wanted to get this newsletter out before I reached out to them for financial support and will be doing that as I become more informed on my needs in this field. I am also looking into other ways that others can support my journey if they feel inclined and may announce something later down the road.

Looking at my next step of going into the professional realm is daunting. There is not much that I know about it, but one thing that I do know is that it will be lonely. Traveling by myself, staying in hotels, and not having a set schedule will be challenging. It can be so easy to get complacent and become negative because of the difficulty of the profession. One thing that I have been discussing a lot with my mental coach, Josh Spell, is before anything that I do on the course and in life, is be in a posture of gratitude. That is easier said than done, especially when you get in your head and are alone a lot of the time. I want to use this newsletter as a way to hold myself accountable for the things I say. Saying them publicly will mean that I will have to continue to strive be disciplined and positive in every area of my life.

I also have been feeling God tell me that I need to be more authentic about struggles that I have faced and overcome, as well as things that I am currently overcoming. I believe that many struggles we face are universal and I would love to challenge anyone who comes across this with my thoughts as well as ask for guidance from anyone who reads and is more knowledgeable about a subject that I cover.

I know that God has blessed me to be able to walk a path that many people are not able to, so giving readers a glimpse into what a small time professional golfer’s life looks like can be very entertaining. I want to provide the raw version of that, not something that I doll up and make an instagram reel about. A few ideas that I have had and started brainstorming writing about is my swing evolution and things I have learned through the years, what my junior golf experience was like and advice for anyone who wants to start that journey or is already on that journey, and the mountains and valleys associated with this sport that I love. Of course most of this will be about the journey ahead, but taking a look at where I came from and how I got here will help everyone understand some of the choices I make. If anyone has any ideas on other topics they think would be good I am open to suggestions!

I am excited to see where God takes me over the next few years and for the upcoming posts on this page. I am stepping into what I dreamed of since I was 10 years old and I cannot wait to give everyone a glimpse into it!