by Jimmy Patrick

Created on: August 27, 2007   Last Updated: May 14, 2009

There I was, in my mid-forties, teeing up a golf ball on the first tee of the Anchorage Golf Course in Anchorage, Alaska. I didn't know they played golf in Alaska let alone had full, 18-hole courses. There was a time in my life that the first tee shot amongst a bunch of strangers would have made me nervous, but that time was long gone.

My last round of golf had probably been about six weeks prior and I hadn't had a chance to warm up at the range on this day, but I still wasn't nervous. I had been talked into playing in a skins game with a $100 entry fee and as luck would have it, got paired up with the head professional, a seemingly nice fella named Billy Black.

The two kids, I say kids because they didn't look old enough to have a beer in a public setting, that rounded out the foursome looked confident and their practice swings said they knew how to play golf. The thing is, so did I. I didn't play much anymore, but I knew how to play. Let me give you the nutshell version of my life prior to this tee shot.

I grew up in a small, small town in the middle of Idaho, a town called Graingeville. We had one nine-hole golf course and those nine holes didn't have much to offer. Still, I learned the game and loved the game and somehow got it in my head that I wanted to be a tour professional.

I had no idea what I was in for, but as soon as I turned 18, I headed out for California with about a thousand bucks to my name. I was young and full of dreams and ambition. I was gonna be the greatest golfer this world had ever seen. To make a long story short, I gave it my best shot and, though I got incredibly close to my dreams, I failed to realize them.

I played on some mini tours and even qualified for two PGA Tour events in 1985. I missed the cut both times, but I got to play a practice round with Tom Watson prior to one event, which was quite an experience. I actually shot a lower score than Watson that day, but it was meaningless. We had no match and nobody really cares about their score in practice rounds anyway. Still, it made me feel good on that day, knowing I had beaten Tom Watson.

Eventually, those two great pressures of time and money caught up to me. I met a beautiful woman and wanted to marry her. I needed a steady, year-round income; heck I just needed an income. Working at golf courses didn't pay enough to support a family and I wasn't quite good enough to win my living on the tour.

I took a job selling insurance and never looked back.

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