Forging My Own Path with Jack Goldasich
10/4/2022 2:52:00 PM | Men's Golf
I'm a very proud member of the golf team at the University of Alabama.
But my journey here was definitely a unique one.
Today, I'm beyond glad that I persevered and never gave up on myself.
For a while, I completely stepped away from the game. In fact, I even dropped out of college and started working.
So, how did I get to this point? Let's start from the beginning.
My love for golf started early in life - my father and uncle were avid golfers, so it was only natural for my brothers and I to follow in their footsteps.
They all competed collegiately at Lipscomb University in Nashville, so for as long as I can remember, golf and the Goldasich name have always been synonymous.
As a teenager, I made constant improvements to my game, but unfortunately, I didn't have the greatest high school career.
Kids often get a ton of offers early on - it makes things a bit more difficult for late bloomers like myself.
So, without any offers coming in, I decided to enroll in the University of Alabama as a regular student and see where that would lead me.
It's been a dream of mine to go to Alabama for as long as I can remember, so, in my mind, that was the next best thing to being a student-athlete there.
Since I wasn't playing golf or didn't have any other financial assistance, my father told me that I needed to maintain at least a 3.8 GPA to stay there.
My grades didn't even come close to that in my first semester.
So, during winter break, I had to drop out of Alabama and I enrolled in a junior college in Birmingham.
And in order to help pay for my expenses, I picked up a job at Dick's Sporting Goods.
Finding my passion again
At the time, my golf clubs were pretty much covered in dust and I had no real intentions of competing again.
But, as odd as it sounds, working at Dick's reignited a good chunk of my passion.
Not only was I constantly surrounded by golf equipment, but I also used every spare second I had to practice my game on the simulator. It really rekindled my love of the game and got the juices flowing to compete again!
On top of that, I was able to attend the Master's that year and witness Tiger Woods win it all - it really was an eye-opener.
It just showed me that it really is never too late. At the time, it was an incredibly important lesson.
Sometimes, I guess it takes a step back to advance two steps ahead, right?
With all that new-found motivation, I told my dad that I want to play again.
Joining Alabama. Again.
Once I had made my decision, we reached out to legendary Coach Dave Jennings at Central Alabama Community College who coached my brother a few years back.
I joined their program, and 10 months after pretty much putting my clubs away, I won the Alabama State Amateur Championship.
It's still surreal to say it out loud, but man - what an experience and feeling.
After winning that tournament, I finally started receiving some attention from Power-5 schools. And Alabama was one of those schools.
It felt like everything came full circle.
Like, it definitely wasn't your traditional path to D-I golf, but who says what's 'traditional' anyways, right?
At the end of the day, I got the opportunity to play golf for Alabama - literally, a dream come true.
When Coach Jay Seawell made the offer, I pretty much accepted on the spot. Well, I guess the next morning, but my mind was made up the moment he expressed interest.
Looking back on the journey it took to get here, there were many twists and turns, but one constant theme was to just never give up. And today, I'm very proud of persevering through these difficult times.
None of this would have been possible without my family, and especially my father keeping his word.
As bizarre as it may sound, dropping out of college was a game-changer. Honestly, I have no idea where I'd be today if it wasn't for all those tough life lessons.
One thing's for sure, though - I'm convinced I wouldn't be playing golf for Alabama right now.
Although I didn't see it then, all of these steps in the journey were pivotal and ultimately landed me exactly where I wanted to be all along.
So, if you're reading this, and things haven't panned out the way you hoped for, don't give up on your dreams. I'm living proof that there is a way if you're willing to accept the lessons and obstacles.
I can't tell you exactly what my future holds, but for now, I'm just focused on this season and can't wait to get out there again.
Roll Tide!
