Hacker to Pebble Beach Head Pro

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birly-shirly

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This was posted on another thread which was already heading off the rails into a pseudo-therapy dispute. Rather than take the original thread even further off-topic, I'm posting this fresh in a new thread.

duckjr78 said:
[...]

The head pro at Pebble Beach a couple of years ago (maybe still there) was a guy who couldn't break 100. He devoted his life to golf and in 5 years, landed the head pro job at one of the greatest places on earth. [...]
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Anyone know more about this story? Sounds interesting.
 
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birly-shirly

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Many thanks, Bigwill.

"[...] and on his way out of town he stopped at a Costco and paid $199 for his first set of new clubs.

In Florida, Dunbar began to play every day and in 10 months had shaved his handicap from 24 to six."

Rather than "hacker" I should probably have said beginner. Sounds like a very driven guy - good story.
 
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golfdad

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i guess the story was written in a non-sugary way to sensationalize how a regular joe can turn into somebody. just like that. but, i suspect, this person has many other qualities that cannot be described in words. imo, his golf ability does not have much to do with it. i would venture to guess he is able to carry himself just right, dealing with people from all ranks, a quality that is a rare trait among "successful" people. to me, that is talent. good for him. only in america.
 
duckjr78

duckjr78

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Birly,

I came accross a blurb in Goof Digest about this man and thought it was interesting that they gave him 1/4th of a page for accomplishing something that 99% of people who have ever picked up a club would like to do. It's a truly amazing story. Then after flipping the page, they gave 2 full pages to the new Porsche Cayman. Exactly what I want to read about in my golf mag. Sheesh.

I think we all get a bit confused about "wanting it" and "doing it." We all want it. We aren't all doing it. This guy did it. Kudos to him, I wish I had the stones to do it.
 
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golfdad

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birly-shirly said:
what do you mean by your last sentence?
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birly, if you were asking me about my post, here is my explanation:

i have been around the States for many years, and have also lived in other countries and cultures prior to that. it is my view that america is great because the system rewards people who work hard and who can make the most of their talents. relatively speaking, in other cultures, that guy would have bumped into some invisible ceilings on his path...
 
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birly-shirly

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thanks golfdad - yes, I was asking about your post.

I asked because I didn't see anything in the SI story to indicate that the guy had transcended any sort of social or class disadvantage on his way to the top. He was a college graduate.

His story is remarkable because he didn't have much of a background in golf - but he made up for that in short time. Playing-ability-wise, he was probably on a level with his competitors by the time he went into the profession.

I haven't lived, worked or golfed anywhere outside of the UK - but I wouldn't think it ususual for someone from a working class background to make it as a golf pro here. Is that unusual in America?
 
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golfdad

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birly-shirly said:
thanks golfdad - yes, I was asking about your post.

I asked because I didn't see anything in the SI story to indicate that the guy had transcended any sort of social or class disadvantage on his way to the top. He was a college graduate.

His story is remarkable because he didn't have much of a background in golf - but he made up for that in short time. Playing-ability-wise, he was probably on a level with his competitors by the time he went into the profession.

I haven't lived, worked or golfed anywhere outside of the UK - but I wouldn't think it ususual for someone from a working class background to make it as a golf pro here. Is that unusual in America?
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could be my myopia to blame. i did not realize you are in the uk. i cannot speak for uk, but lets take hong kong as an example (since there is some type of connection there:). to be a head pro there, you must have some celebrated background, either family connection, or a very strong record as a pro.

in the usa, at times there are stuff that are plainly stupid or dumb, but at other times, there are break-through stories like this that ares just refreshing. and believable.
 
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birly-shirly

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Cool. I completely agree that this is still a great story.

I think it's great to hear about someone loving what he does, and succeeding at it. There's a lesson there, though not necessarily a comfortable one!
 
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eoscar

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I think Maximum Golf did a feature story on this guy a few years back. It included an instruction piece he did to help readers with their games.
 
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