My Biggest Fan

Proverbs 3:11-12 ... My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.  

When I was 18 years old, I had the world figured out.

I had a dream. I had a car. I had a craft. I enjoyed it. I was going places. 

It makes me laugh just looking at how many "I's" are in the above phrase.

(There's been some crashes a long the way)

Playing golf and traveling gives me so many opportunities to meet great people, develop relationships and earn fans along the way. Today though, on a rainy New England Friday, I'd like to take a moment to tell you all about my biggest fan.  

From my earliest memories of life my dad has always been by my side.  I have developed many great relationships along my journey but not one has had a greater impact on me than his.  To say I had a blessed childhood because of this man would be a massive understatement.  Looking back and thinking over the memories now makes me smile.  It would be impossible to to put them all in one blog post. Instead I'll try my best to share some stories with you that exemplify what I mean.

Growing up, my dad wore many different hats.

Family leader.

Provider.

Disciplinarian.

Baseball coach.

Basketball coach.

Football coach.

Golf swing coach. ("shot doctor" as he terms it)

The list could go on..

Thinking back and I can recall so many lessons and moments that define me today.  "Always try and do the right thing", "learn from your mistakes", "the value of a hard-earned dollar", "take care of your brother and sister", are all examples.

Thinking back I can remember so many trips in his truck to baseball games, golf tournaments, or just a Sunday morning drive to grab coffee and cruise around town.  Those memories are gold to me. 

There was the time he showed up unannounced to my first college tournament in Mississippi after he said he wasn't going to be able to make it.

There was the time he told me to "smell the roses" before I won't my first tournament in a playoff.

In a golf context, my favorite memory is from the spring of my middle school years.  Each day I would get done with track practice after school and ride my bike home as fast as I could.  After all, the snow had just melted and it was golf season.  With about two or three hours of daylight left the deal always was if I scooped up the dog poop in the front yard we could go play nine holes.  After a sackful of poop we'd throw the clubs in the back of an old beat up Toyota and take the backroad to Monroe for nine holes.  It's funny how after all the things I've done chasing this stupid game that is my absolute favorite memory. 

However, despite all the love, all the valuable lessons and all the support, I fell into a common mindset that many young adults do.  I started to rebel and believe I knew more than my dad.  After all he and others didn't understand me, all the knowledge I had acquired, and all the desire I had to be the best at what I did.  Did I mention that I'm an idiot sometimes?

I fell into the trap of being independent.  Yes, being independent is a trap.  

I don't mean that living in your parents basement at 40 is a good thing, I mean that to live a fulfilling life we depend on others just as they depend on us. It's foolish to think that you can do it all by yourself and you don't need help from others.  I'm not yet where I want to be in my golf career but I couldn't have even come close to where I'm at now without the help from my dad, mom, family, coaches, teammates, teachers, community, etc.  If being independent is the goal, then is being alone the reward? That's not a reward I want.

I needed my dad.

I needed his love.

I needed his discipline.

I needed his guidance.

I needed his comfort.

Sounds an awful lot like the love of another Father I know.

So dad, since I know you're going to read this.. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like I didn't need you, because I do.  Thank you for being the man you are, and raising our family the way you did.  I can only hope I have the opportunity to do the same one day.

So Father, since I know you're going to read this.. I'm sorry for falling into the trap of independence. I need you, continually. I cannot do this alone. You are the ultimate goal, and it's You who I strive to depend on and live like.  Thank you for providing examples like my dad to go by.  

I'm 25 years old. I don't have the world figured out.

God gave me a dream. God provided me with what I need. God gave me craft to master. God gave me a love for what I do. God is leading me around a big ball teaching me lessons along the way.

The journey continues.

Thank you for following, God bless!

Opening Doors

I'll never forget the time period in my life when I fell in love with golf.

I was 13 years old in a brand new school district as our family had just moved back to Jasper County.  Golf had always been present in my life until that point, but it was never my favorite sport. Tagging along with dad or an occasional junior clinic in the summer didn't compare to the enjoyment I had with baseball, basketball, or football. That all changed however when our family moved and I no longer had all my childhood friends to play a pickup game of basketball or football with.

One day in the spring I joined my Dad, Grandpa, and Uncle in a 9-hole round at our little golf course (Gateway National to those who know it best).  I played great that day and after it was over my score added up to a 42.  "Wow kid that's pretty good" they said.  "You have a nice swing" they said.  In the matter of one round I was hooked.  The preverbial "tuna fork" had rung in my loins as the great Tin Cup would say.

Fast forward to one year later and a transformation was taking place.  I literally couldn't get enough of the game.  A typical routine to my summer days would be to wake up at 5:30am - 6:00 am and get a ride to the course with my grandpa (course superintendent).  Walking 27-36 holes every day was a common thing, combined with practice, studying the pros on tv, and having matches with my new found friends at the golf course as often as possible. If I was forced to be at home you could find me hitting flop shots over pine trees or hitting shag balls into the cornfield next to our house.  Rainy day?  Not a problem! Study old Tiger Woods film and hit balls into a net located in the garage.

Sun up to sun down.

Every Day.

During that time there wasn't a thing I could find about the game that I didn't like.  The challenge of having no backups to cover you, the feeling of a well struck shot, the quiet hours spent practicing alone.  The game felt like it fit so perfectly into my life.

Fast forward to high school and now I had been starting to add some accolades to my new found passion.  Tournament golf only grew my love for the game.  Now I had something to prepare for and combine my love for the game with my competitive drive.  Add those two things together and I started to improve quickly, a few trophies even wound up on the shelf.  Naturally, as dreamers do, I started to wonder how I could play this game for the rest of my life.  I admired and looked up to most of the professionals I watched on t.v.  I started to dream and wonder if I could one day make it there.  Having a good sense of where I was and how far it would take to get there, I knew that the journey would be long and hard.  Strangely though I found that exciting.

When I look back on that time period I sometimes wonder if my family had decided not to move, would I have found the game in the way I did?  It almost seemed as if life could have gone in a million different directions but only one door opened up.

Coincidence?

Sophomore year at Prairie City - Monroe

"Hey man check out this article".  One morning before school, getting a couple extra hours of practice in my teammate brought to my attention an article written by a European Tour player about his journey to the top of the golf world.  I'll never forget the feeling I had reading that article.  He described the travel and endless hours of practicing as grueling.  Callused hands and thousands of traveled miles is what he described as normal. The tone of the article was trying to show people how hard it is to make it as a playing professional.  All I could help but feel is how that was exactly what I wanted.  I didn't know where, when, or how but I specifically remember feeling in my gut I would try something similar.

College golf started to come into the conversation and I began the process of trying to sell myself to golf coaches.  I remember building a resume and sending it to over 100 different schools south of the state of Iowa.  My only requirements were that the weather was better than Iowa's and that I could afford to go to school there.  Out of 100-ish schools, I may have received 10 response emails.  Out of those 10 response emails only one was able to offer a big enough scholarship to make it worthwhile.

1 out of 100.

Coincidence?

After a few weeks at Henderson State as a freshman I wanted nothing more than to go back home.  Being on my own for the first time definitely wasn't easy, but I stuck it out and I can confidently say it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. The friendships I made and experiences I had will last me a lifetime.  Thats not even including the amount of practice and competition I was able to put in on top of it being my most affordable option.  Combine all those factors and I can't picture a more perfect situation.

Senior year at Henderson State

After graduation the time had come to make a decision the world would classify as "insane".  I spent my summer after graduation raking bunkers and mowing greens at a local golf course while trying to maintain a competitive playing schedule.  As the end of the summer was rolling around I desperately wanted to find a job at a golf course in the south (preferably Arizona or Florida) where I could continue practicing and playing.  I started to exercise this with any connections I had to people in the those areas.  

Only one job offer came up.

Coincidence?

Team McArthur 2015 Battle for the bell

My time spent as a caddy at McArthur golf club thus far has been nothing short of an awesome experience.  Despite the sometimes long hours of being at work, I have been able to maintain a competitive playing schedule, be surrounded by other great players, make incredible connections and meet many new people all while saving a little money doing it.  Knowing what  I know now, there are not many spots in the country I would be able to accomplish all this... I'm amazed how I wound up there..  

As I sit here typing in Madrid Barajas International Airport waiting for my connection to Johannesburg its hard not to wonder how I wound up on this flight in the first place.  

After a failed attempt at Web.Com Qualifying School last fall I had to re-evaluate my plans for the upcoming season.  The main idea was to play somewhere other than standard min-tour events across the midwest.  While those tournaments are great, playing well in them only benefits you financially.  I found it would be a bonus to play somewhere that would reward good play not just financially but with incentives to move up a higher level.  In my search I had a couple requirements.  Firstly I had to be able afford it and secondly I wanted to have some sort of home base wherever I found myself.  Being in a foreign country it would be a huge benefit to have someone around to be able to answer questions and give advice about traveling in the area.  

The list of tours and information I came up with was interesting.  There were nine different options I had laid out and the one that kept sticking in my mind was a tour called the Sunshine Tour located in South Africa.  

Affordable? Comparative to the others yes.

Incentive to move up another level? Yes. 

 

Home base? The one thing I was missing.

About one week after I had been contemplating over where I would give the upcoming season a shot I walked into work and was in for a surprise.  I began having a conversation with a few of my co-workers.  The topic was over how Danny (fellow caddy) was going to move back to South Africa in a few weeks.  Where was he moving? Johannesburg.  Where is the Sunshine Tour qualifying tournament located? Johannesburg.

Coincidence? I'll leave that up to you. 

Personally I don't believe in coincidences.  Looking through the rear-view mirror of my life and others lives it's easy to see some of the paths, roadblocks, and detours God can send a person down.

As I span over the journey I've been on since I was 13 years old it's hard not to notice some things.  God planted a desire in my heart for competitive golf so strongly that I had no choice but to follow it.  Every time I've come to a crossroads in where my journey could go, there has always been one clear door open.  As I go about stepping into this new open door, I can't wait to see what He has in store. He is true security.  Proverbs 16:9.

The Journey continues,

Thank you for following! God bless!