-As told to Jordan Perez

I gave up my main sport to take a stab at high school golf and in four years, ended up on an SEC team.  

Let me explain. My dad spent some time on the European Tour, so golf was always around when I was a kid. We’d play a casual round with my two younger sisters, but he never pushed us to play. When we lived in Florida, I vividly remember spending our afternoons on the fairways betting on Coca-Cola Icees for the ride home.

We moved to Idaho when I got to high school. I spent five years playing tennis, and ended up making friends who played on the golf and tennis teams at a rival high school. Inspired, I approached my high school tennis coach and told him I wanted to do the same.

I was told no. Neither coach wanted one person taking up two roster spots. I could either stick to what I was good at or try out for the golf team, with no competitive background. I went for golf.

In one of my first events, I went to state and won my age division that year. My parents were excited but a little worried. I had never really practiced and won, so they thought I would lack the motivation to practice. I ended up having some difficulty making the team, but in all four years, we won state each time. Iron sharpens iron, and I ended up winning an individual title.

I dove in outside of the high school golf season and started competing on the AJGA. In my junior year, I won my first event. Six of the guys on my high school team ended up at D1 schools, and I wanted to do the same. But I was a late bloomer, which meant my recruiting process started even later. There were a lot of teams that had kids for my class, but the door wasn’t completely shut.

So I flew out to Georgia Tech to visit both there and Auburn. We spent a few days in Atlanta.  I went to a football game and did some sightseeing before road-tripping to Auburn. On the way, my dad contracted an infection in his bladder and he ended up having to go to the emergency room.

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That visit was terrible. I spent the whole time worried about my dad, but Auburn took great care of us. The team doctors kept me in the loop about my dad, and I was really impressed with how the head coach, Nick Clinard, handled the whole situation. He took care of some random kid – and later admitted that he thought I’d never end up there. I decided that was someone who I wanted to be my coach. I called Coach Clinard a week later and committed. I kept the good momentum going, winning two AJGA events back-to-back in my senior year.

Before I went on my official visit, I hardly even knew where Auburn was. I spent six years there and loved every second of it. In my first year in 2015, I only ended up playing in four events but had one win. My scoring average was a 74, but every year after it dropped by a shot. They even used that stat as a recruiting tool, which was pretty cool. We went to Nationals in 2019, and then COVID hit. We missed Nationals by a shot in my last year.

Around that time, a random qualifier in Miami popped up on my radar. I had no idea what it was for – the only details were that it was an 18-hole qualifier for 10 spots. I wasn’t sure whether to ride out the summer as an amateur or turn pro immediately, but I’ve always been taught to go for things like that.  

I shot five under and got a spot…for what, I still didn’t know. I found out shortly after that it was for a PGA Tour Latinoamerica event the week after. I came back a few days later and made my professional debut at The Club at Weston Hills Open and tied for fifth. That spiraled into me tying for fifth and playing half a season on Latinoamerica and earning my card. Welcome to pro golf.

It was a huge adjustment between travel, time changes, food, and a language barrier, but I firmly believe that the tour is a great character builder. If you can get used to all of that, you can play anywhere.  

At the end of the summer of 2022, I Monday qualified for my first Korn Ferry Tour event as a pro but missed the first stage of Q-School by a shot. I’ve maintained my card on Latinoamerica for two years now, but I also have conditional status on PGA Tour Canada.

I’ve always been a pretty good ball striker, and my strategy has usually been to fairway to green anybody to death, and hopefully make some putts. Recently, it’s gone the opposite way – I’ve been making the putts, but struggling with my shots.

The financial part has been tricky, and I’m still learning. My parents helped get me on my feet, but I made a good paycheck to jumpstart my Latinoamerica career. Even with several mini-tour wins, I’ve still ended up losing a lot of money, but have always tried to find a way to keep going.

I knew a player in last year’s Carry cohort who spoke highly of it, but I wasn’t sure what exactly it was. I saw some promo for it on social media and on a whim, I sent Donnie a resume. In my initial conversations with him, I quickly bought in. I like being attached to brands and people who share my same values. I’m an up-and-coming golfer; Carry is an up-and-coming brand. I like knowing that my success is their success.

I’ve learned to stop holding myself to this idea of playing perfect golf, because I know I’m closer than I think. The distance between myself and the guys playing on tour right now is not that far. With Carry behind me, I know I can eventually compete at the highest level.

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