The Beginning: My Road to the PGA Tour

• Posted on Grant
• in My Journey
• on February 2, 2012
• Comments Off on The Beginning: My Road to the PGA Tour

I am so thankful to be able to play golf as my career, and I am very grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,  who has allowed me to keep an eternal perspective through the good times and the tough times.

My wife, Jeree, and I  moved to Arizona in September of 2007 so I could start playing professional golf full time. I had played a couple of college golf tournaments and also had played some section tournaments, but I had only played a handful of real tournaments. For the two years prior to 2007, I was an assistant pro at Quail Creek CC in Oklahoma City. I could go out and shoot even par with the members at the country club, but I had no idea what tournament golf was really about. I am so thankful to my original sponsors who took a chance on me and allowed me to jump right in and get started playing professional events. It’s been almost five years since I began my pro career, which began with a bang, well maybe a fizzle…35 missed cuts in a row. That time period now seems like a lifetime ago; in the last two years I have won 5 tournaments and now hold two course records. One of those course records was a 60 in a competitive round.

Those missed cuts may sound hard to take, but I am actually very grateful for my first two years of learning in professional golf. If it would have been easy, I would not appreciate the good golf that I am playing now, and I probably would not have worked as hard or spent as many hours practicing and studying. During that time, I was able to practice and play eight to ten hours a day, six days a week. I believe that time in my life really showed me what I  needed to do to get better, and also let me know that it was God carrying me through. Looking back, there is no way  I could have kept a positive attitude tournament after tournament, practice session after practice session, without the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. The verse that has carried me through has been Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

GB