Hey guys, I’m Pat McLamb. I’m 21 years old from Fairfax, VA. Where should I start? I began playing golf in April of 2004 at the age of 19, solely because my girlfriend played and I thought it was approproate that I be able to beat her. She’s the #1 golfer at Mercer University, so I had my hands full. Literally from the first terrible shot I hit, I was hooked, I didn’t even need a solid one to bring me back. Before Chuck I had never had any real training besides the knowledge my dad could give me or that I could read in magazines and hear on the golf channel. As you well know, reading magazines and listening to the TV isn’t the best place to go if you really want to improve. The first round I played I shot 94. Within six months I was in the low eighties with the occasional high seventies thrown in there. And then came the downfall of my game. I became so mechanical that I quickly started to struggle. This is something that Chuck and I are working on and something I will probably be working on my whole career.
In September of 2005 I decided to leave the 4 year college I was at (Virginia Tech) to pursue a career in golf at the Professional Golfers Career College in Orlando, FL. At this time I admit being a Pro Golfer was always a pipe dream, but I never really thought I could do it, so I allowed myself to think I was going to be a Club Pro or something of that nature.
Four things helped my decide that I was going to try and make it as a professional:
First – The overwhelming support of my family, especially my dad. He is the one person who never had any doubts that I could do this as long as I put in the work. He’s supporting me through the entire process and I am thankful for that.
Second – The support of my Girlfriend, Alex. She is behind me every step of the way. Not only that, she keeps me very grounded and is very matter-of-fact about the chances I knowingly have of becoming pro, which I love. I need someone to keep me grounded. Also, without her I am not sure I would even be golfing today.
Third – The time and effort Chuck is putting into this process. Knowing Chuck like I do, I know that if he didn’t believe this was possible, he wouldn’t be doing it. It will be taking up a lot of his time. Also, I know that he will be very straightforward with me, telling me if I am slacking off or trying to hard. I look forward to working with him for quite a while.
Fourth – The most important of them all, my extreme desire to make this my career. That’s what it comes down to guys, you can have all the resources in the world, but if you don’t want to be a professional, then you won’t become a professional. All I can see myself doing for a living is playing golf. I always want to be on the course, on the range, on the putting green getting better. I want to go out and kick everyone’s butt in tournaments. I don’t care about fame, and money isn’t that big of a deal to me either, I just want to win tournaments and smack that little ball around the course in as few strokes as I can.
At the moment, I know I am not very good, if I went out to a mini-tour event I would get beat into the ground. With training I believe I can get better everyday and work my way up in the golf ranks. I realize this could take years, and even then that it might not really happen. That’s all part of the process though. I plan on keeping all of you updated on my progress over the next few years and hope you enjoy reading about my experience. Thanks for reading guys.
