My Story
I’ve been trying to think of a way to help Passionate Golfers who Love the challenge of the game. Golf was one of my original passions along with baseball since I was a little boy. I remember spending hours and hours hitting putts on the carpet of my parents room using my Dad’s old Ping putter at 6 years old. My target hole was a green electrical putting return system that would perfectly return the ball if you hit it correctly. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! I loved a couple of group lessons I took at Visalia CC when I was around 7 or 8 but after that baseball pretty much took over. Also, back then it was basically a proven fact that playing golf would damage your baseball swing.
I had always dreamed of playing for the Giants and never wanted to do anything to jeopardize that. Could be some of the worst advice ever for an athlete at such a young age! I missed out on many, many years of golf for this reason. After moving to San Luis Obispo or SLO freshman year, I met some friends who played golf. We would play on occasion but with baseball still going it was pretty rare. I was on a traveling team during the summer and we played games more often than most MLB teams. When my coach threw me out of the game during an at bat for not swinging at the first pitch, I decided I had enough of baseball. It was a blessing in disguise because I fell in love with golf again!
After high school I moved to Lahaina, Maui where I went to school and worked part-time at a coffee shop. I volunteered at the Mercedes Championship in 2000 at Kapalua and was fortunate to be in the fairway on the 15th hole for the entire tournament. When the epic battle of Tiger and Ernie went to a 2nd playoff hole, I was the lucky one chosen to be on the green. I watched as their approach shots came in and rolled past the hole located on front of the green. Tiger was about 25 feet away and Ernie 20 feet away for birdie on same line. After going through his routine, Tiger stepped up and drained it! The fist pump was unforgettable and Ernie left his putt short. I was in shock to what had just taken place, what I had witnessed first hand, and still get chills to this day!
After moving back to SLO I worked at a sporting goods store in the golf department, so I was able to check out all the latest equipment. I practiced every chance I got and spent most of my time focused on putting and short game. After lowering my handicap to a 5, I shot even par 72 at SLOCC. The next week I injured my right wrist hitting a drive on 12th hole and took a long time off. Luckily, I found a job as a Tech Rep for Nike Golf and learned how to conduct demo days and club fitting. After 2 years at an office job selling air time for local radio stations, I made the move to San Marcos to attend the Golf Academy of America – San Diego. I played often and took vigorous notes. One teacher in particular, Mr. Flanagan, was everyone’s favorite and I never wanted to miss a second of his class.
Luck was on my side again when I was picked to play with him during my last semester for “Playing with the Pros.” It was a stormy, rainy day and on the 4th hole I saw lightning in the distance while looking at the green from 160 yards out. We played through it and somehow I managed to shoot even par 70 at Escondido CC. After the round he congratulated me and admitted they should have pulled us off the course with thunder so close! I’ll never forget that day or the impact Mr. Flanagan had on me at Golf Academy of America. During the start of my last semester I found a part-time job at a private course called The Santaluz Club.
Hard to believe it’s been 11 years and I finally found an awesome way to help passionate golfers eager to improve and learn more about golf. Helping others is something I’ve truly enjoyed doing since I can remember. For the last 20 years I’ve worked in sales (helping people find right products for them) and customer service. Why not try to make someone else’s day more enjoyable if you have the chance? What’s a couple seconds or minutes in your day to try and make a person’s life just a bit easier? You lose nothing and they gain something, so basically it’s a win-win! There were two traumatic events at the age of 10 that helped shape who I am today.
The first was having my appendix removed. I was at baseball practice when I felt an intense pain in my stomach. When I asked to go home, everyone knew it must be serious because playing baseball was my favorite thing in the world! I didn’t sleep much that night and the next morning it was like the worse gas pain ever times 1 million and I could barely walk. When my parents took me to the family doctor it felt like I was there only a couple minutes before he rushed me to the hospital. I remember the nurses that greeted me were so nice and made me feel safe. They even gave me a little stuffed animal! Before I knew it I was off to the ER.
Another 30 minutes or an hour and it would have burst. When I woke up the same nurses were right there by my side. They assured me everything went well and started feeding me little ice chips or crushed ice. I was so thirsty the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Crazy how something so simple had such a calming effect. They also gave me the stuffed animal back. As I was leaving it was hard to put into words how grateful I was to have the amazing help from those nurses during my entire stay there. I guess helping others in life is just my way of repaying the nurses from Tulare hospital that made such a scary experience into a positive one!
The next event occured on October 17th, 1989 at 5:04 p.m. My family and I were at Candlestick Park getting ready to watch Game 3, Battle of the Bay World Series between the Giants and Athletics. I heard the Earthquake before I felt it. It was very strange but sounded like 10 fighter jets about to do a flyover. When it shook the entire park around I thought I was on my favorite ride at Disneyland or Magic Mountain. At first I assumed it was somehow part of pregame festivities but when I saw all the players going onto the field looking for their family I knew it was something serious.
My Dad calmed us all down and said we needed to find my Mom and sister who were sitting separately in the upper deck. After waiting at the ramp intersection where the upper deck walks down for about 20 minutes, I was so thankful to see them safe and sound! In the parking lot walking to the car we felt a good size aftershock. It could have been a lot worse if the game hadn’t been that day but a lot of people were seriously injured or died from the quake. I learned just how precious life can be and how you can never take a day for granted. Another great lesson I learned is the importance of family!
Both of my parents were the best role models you could ask for and I can’t Thank them enough. I’m so excited to finally have the opportunity to help fellow Passionate Golfers! Using simple, easy to learn valuable tips and advice that can lead to Loving the challenge of the game and more overall enjoyment. Thank You So Much for reading, I can’t wait to start interacting with the golf world! Please leave any comments or ?’s you might have. Aloha!