Nick Watney: A Small Town Kid Turned Up and Coming PGA Tour Star

 

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**Disclaimer**: This was an article I wrote about former Fresno State golfer Nick Watney back on May 31st, 2010. It's one of my favorite articles I've done so I thought I'd re-post it here. Enjoy.

I’ve been around the game of golf since I was eight years old. But until this past Saturday, I had only walked a full 18 holes as a spectator once. It was with my late grandfather, who took me out to a tournament when I was probably 11 years old.

Looking back on it, he probably wanted to teach me about respecting the game, and how the players carried themselves on the course, as well as how they interacted with the fans.

Needless to say, I’ve watched countless tournaments on television. I've seen everyone from Tiger Woods to Phil Mickelson, David Duval to Fred Couples, and every player in between win golf tournaments.
But the one thing I didn’t know was how they carried themselves on the golf course.

Sure, you can watch them for all 18 holes on CBS Sports. But do you really know how they carry themselves when the cameras aren’t on them? Do you know how they react as they’re walking down the fairway to play their second shot, or while walking up to the green?

How do they interact with the fans? Do they acknowledge them at all? And do they toss golf balls to young kids who are watching them, wide-eyed, like they’re bigger than life?

At that age, they probably are.

As I came out to the Crowne Plaza Invitational here in Fort Worth, Texas, I wanted to follow around one golfer. He’s a former collegiate standout from Fresno State.

Nick Watney.

I’ve been watching his career since he was a sophomore at Fresno State, and I’ve seen the accolades he racked up during his time as a Bulldog.

Watney earned ten victories, was a three-time All-American, the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, and had countless top ten finishes.

He was as decorated as any golfer that Fresno State has ever seen. I knew he was going to be someone to watch once he finally turned professional.

He did so in 2003, after finishing his collegiate golfing career at Fresno State. Watney quickly realized that there was a huge difference between playing against players from other schools and playing against professionals.

Watney spent a year on the Nationwide Tour and he told John Berkovich of e-sports.com that, looking back, it was the best decision he ever made.

"I was glad I played in a few events and it was an unbelievable experience, but I knew I wasn’t ready," Watney told Berkovich . "Some guys get their card right away and get beaten up when they come out here. In those few events I realized for the first time how good the players on the PGA Tour really are."
Needless to say, it was a humbling experience for the recent college graduate.

He learned countless lessons on the Nationwide Tour and he brought those lessons with him to the PGA Tour, becoming one of the circuit's up and coming young stars.

So, I knew where I wanted to be on Saturday as I made my way from my home to the golf course and put some thoughts together before I headed out to the first tee.

Little did I know, this day would offer more than I ever anticipated.

I was a little late getting out to the first tee as Watney and his playing partner were already half way down the fairway. I caught up to them and watched as Watney bogeyed his first hole of the day. Watney, who began his third round at six under par, didn't want to start his day like that.

By the fifth hole, Nick had made a little bit of a comeback, birdieing two of his next four holes, and had moved to seven-under par, just a few shots back of the leader.

Not only had he started to flash that famous smile that so many fans had grown accustomed to, but I noticed that some friends and family members had joined his gallery.

I kept to myself, not really wanting to pry or ask questions that seemed inappropriate at the time. But there was one family in particular that caught my attention. It was a son, 18-years old as I would later learn, walking the course with his father. I figured they were friends from back in Fresno, so I didn’t think much of it.

But something inside me knew there was more to this friendship than I was realizing.

So, as Watney finished up the fifth hole, I turned to the father and asked if they knew Nick from his days at Fresno State. The father shook his head, saying he and his son had just met Nick a few years ago at the 2008 Byron Nelson Championship.

As we walked up to the sixth tee, I began talking to the son, Cade Grimm, and his father, Mike. Cade began to tell me the story of how he became a fan of Nick’s and how Watney had gone out of his way to treat him and his family like they were long time friends.

Cade is a high school senior, set to graduate in a few weeks from Mansfield High School. He'll be headed to Baylor University in the fall. Ironically enough, he is going to be joining the golf team, and wants to become good enough to turn pro when his college days are finished.

It's the same type of dream Nick had when he left Fresno State.

Cade began watching Nick back in 2008, when Watney was playing at the Mercedes Championship. He watched Nick on television and was immediately drawn to his intensity on the golf course. “He looked so into it,” Cade said of Watney. “He looked intense and had that competitive fire.”

As I later found out, it was at a golf tournament in San Antonio that this friendship took an even bigger turn in Cade’s life.

After following one of Watney’s rounds, Nick invited Cade and his father over to their family’s home to watch what was left of the Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma.

You can imagine that Cade couldn’t say "yes" fast enough. The 18-year old soon to be college student was getting to hang out with the golfer he wanted to be just like.

Since then, Cade has made sure that he makes it to all four rounds of whatever tournament his favorite golfer is playing in here in Texas. He told me he was hoping Nick would be playing in the Byron Nelson last weekend, but was excited to see that he had committed to playing at the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Forth Worth.

During Watney's third round at The Colonial, I watched as his caddie made sure to acknowledge both Cade and his father, Mike, and even jawed a little bit with Cade for showing up late.

It makes a regular kid, a fan, feel like he’s important. A feeling not often expressed by a lot of other golfers on the PGA Tour. I’m sure other fans that have had their brush with some of the “good guys” here on tour. But how many of them have actually gotten to spend time with their hero?

That’s the kind of person Nick is. He comes from a small town, growing up just outside of Sacramento, and has become one of the up and coming stars on the highest level of the sport he loves.

Not only that, he knows what it feels like to watch his favorite golfers, and has in turn given that experience to another young man.

I’ve often said that athletes aren’t role models. But Nick Watney has made me realize that there are exceptions to that rule.

So, Nick teed off on Sunday afternoon to begin his final round here at The Colonial. It wasn’t a great day for the 29-year old, who three-putted on the par three ninth hole for a bogey, then hit his second shot on the par-five 11th hole out-of-bounds, ending up with a double-bogey that all but ended his chance at a Sunday charge.

As I followed him around the course, I got a chance to talk to his fiance, Amber, and his future father-in-law, Rusty, about the kind of person that Nick is, both on and off the course.

As I talked with Rusty, I asked him to describe Nick's attitude between the ropes. His answer, “focused”.
Rusty did admit, though, to wanting to see Nick be more aggressive and take a few more risks. Off the course, Rusty said Watney is as big a sports fan as anyone.

“Nick loves sports and he’s a heck of an athlete. He loves to play basketball and he loves to throw the football around.”

Amber also talked about how focused Nick is on the course, but she also told me that he’s just like anyone else off the course. “He wears t-shirts, plays video games, and is a complete sports nut,” she told me.
She even told me that Nick is close to a few players on tour and keeps in touch with them by playing Mario Kart online.

Amber admitted that it would be tough with him being gone so much on tour, but now that she recently graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, she travels with him full time, and has really enjoyed it.
I asked her if he gets noticed at the airports and she told me, “after all of the television exposure at Dural, he was noticed a lot more than he had been before.”

She also told me that he was a little “shell shocked” at people recognizing him off the golf course, but doesn’t mind taking the time to sign autographs.

It was interesting watching his reaction to the fans rooting for him on Sunday. Fans were hoping he would make a run to the top of the leaderboard.

When he would hear someone yell, “let’s go Nick,” he’d just look up enough to acknowledge them and then put his focus right back on the golf course. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate it, but it seemed that he was still wondering how people knew about him, or even that they were out there watching him, and not some of the more high profile golfers that were still out on the course.

That’s just the kind of person he is.

He’s no different on the course than he is off it. He’s just as humble and as willing to be himself to his fans as he is to his family once Watney's day is over.

After a three-putt on the ninth hole, he looked up at me just after he teed off on ten and said, “oops,” with that same kid-like smile that you just can’t help but be drawn to.

He and his wife Amber boarded a plane on Sunday and headed for Columbus, Ohio for Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Golf Club. He’ll play his practice round on Wednesday and tee off for the first round of the tournament sometime on Thursday.

For Nick, this is just another tournament in the long journey still ahead of him. Besides that, he has another journey that will be a big chapter in his life.

In just a few short months, he will become a husband to his fiance, Amber. It didn’t take me long to be impressed with her.

There’s no question Watney will look back at The Colonial and wonder, “what if.” But those thoughts will be long gone come Thursday morning. His focus will be on what he needs to do to have a good day and keep himself in contention for all four days.

Who knows, maybe this up and coming PGA Tour star will touch the life of another young fan at the Memorial Tournament, just like he’s touched the life of young Cade Grimm.

Oh, and by the way, Cade might just be the next big golfer to watch as he begins his career at Baylor University.

I’m not making the biggest and boldest prediction in history. But for those of you who know him, and have played alongside this young man, you know that he has a talent that can flourish if he keeps at it.

After all, Grimm's favorite golfer has already wished him the best of luck at the next level. Believe me, that’s an email that is probably already printed and framed in the Grimm home.

So, for those of you that have a chance to get out to the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, make sure you find Nick Watney. Watch this young star and watch how he carries himself on the golf course.
You never know.

You may just become a fan, yourself.

TCU's Move to the Big East Leaves Boise State in the Dust

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For those of you who have ever played chess before, you'll know what I'm talking about as we move along.

For right now, those of you who don't, ask the person sitting next to you and I'm sure they'll be able to explain it to you.

In chess, when one person makes a move, most of us have already thought a few moves ahead. We know what move that person was going to make, and we move our pieces in accordance to what our opponent just did. But there are those times where the person we're playing against surprises us and makes a move we didn't see coming.

So, we sit back, we gather our thoughts, and we see the whole board. We look at what the opponent could possibly be after and why they would make that kind of move. Why would they go that way when we thought they would go this way.

In the same matter, Boise State and TCU were at the same chess board and the Broncos had the Horned Frogs pegged. They thought a few moves ahead and they made their move to go along with their thinking.

But, just when the Broncos thought they had it all worked out, just when they thought they had this game won, TCU did a 180 and went a completely different direction. It sent the Broncos into a panic, unable to think of what to do next.

Before Boise State knew it, TCU had them in a check-mate, leaving the Broncos absolutely stunned. It left them wondering if they shouldn't have sat back and saw the whole board before making their move. They had a fleeting thought in the back of their mind that something was amiss but didn't listen to that little thought.

Unfortunately, that fleeting thought came to reality on Monday morning as TCU jumped ship from the Mountain West Conference for an automatic qualifying bid into the BCS by joining the Big East Conference. But not just in football, but also in every other sport the school offered.

It was a move that a lot of us thought was coming but it seemed like a just a harmless flirtation. We had heard the Big East was interested in bringing TCU on board but there was also talk that Conference USA could also be interested in expansion.

The rumors died off, but not completely. They remained like standing water.

Then, a few months ago, the Mountain West announced that they had added Western Athletic Conference powerhouse Boise State, ripping the rug right out from under the feet of WAC commissioner Karl Benson.
Not long after that an invite was sent and accepted by both Fresno State and Nevada, taking three of the top teams in the WAC out of the conference and into what looked to be a strengthening Mountain West.

Though, most of us couldn't help but notice that it was beginning to look like the old WAC with schools like San Diego State, New Mexico, Colorado State, and now Fresno State and Nevada coming on board.

But just when it looked like the MWC was going to have the last laugh, TCU decided that they had had enough of the conference they were in and didn't want to be stuck in the shadow that had been cast by Boise State. They wanted out.

So, on a Monday morning in North Texas, TCU did just that. Signing an agreement with the Big East Conference that will add them to the conference rotation as of the 2012 season.

It has left Fresno State, Nevada, and most of all, Boise State shell shocked. They thought they had a solid top half of the conference with the Broncos, Wolfpack, and Bulldogs mixing with the Horned Frogs. It looked good, it looked strong. Then four became three.

The one school that just lost a huge boost in confidence i Boise State. They were making what looked to be a big jump into a stronger conference. They accepted the invitation to join the conference after the departure of Utah who headed to the PAC-10.

BYU and TCU were still there. Surely they couldn't have seen both schools leaving before the end of the 2010 football season? Surely they didn't see this coming? Could they really have signed the agreement knowing full well that both BYU and TCU would be on their way out? Had they known that, wouldn't they have held off on signing an agreement with anyone until they saw the whole picture?

It seems like insult has been added to injury. After a crushing loss to Nevada last Friday night, the Broncos are left holding the bag once more and believe me, college football fans couldn't be happier.

Boise State has been the big brother in the WAC. The team that the others schools looked up to, they wanted to be like them. Now, it's the Broncos who are begging TCU to stay like the little brother who doesn't want big brother to go off to college.

So why is everyone so thrilled about TCU leaving? Why are they thrilled about the Horned Frogs leaving for a conference that was called the "Big Least" most of this season?

There's a simple answer to that and it won't take a rocket scientist to explain this, though we could get one if you'd like to see him try and explain it? No? I didn't think so.

In the Mountain West, TCU would have had conference games against the likes of San Diego State, New Mexico, Colorado State, Boise State, Fresno State, among a few others.

Now, in the Big East, those conference games will come against UConn, Pitt, and West Virginia, just to name a few. To TCU, winning those games and going unbeaten in that conference gives them a better reputation and more national exposure than what they've been doing in the Mountain West.

I like what the Horned Frogs are doing to Boise. I like that they've left them in the dust. I like that when Boise is crying about not getting invited to a BCS bowl, TCU is sitting at the Orange Bowl in Florida, the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona, or the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, thumbing their nose at the teams left behind.

But in a moment of seriousness, TCU will look Boise State square in the eye and with a slight grin will say, "we didn't have to beg."

Boise, you talked the talk, but you didn't take care of business on the field. Say what you want about the Horned Frogs and their schedule, but they did what you couldn't.

I've defended you in the past, but you sat down for a game of chess with a team you continued to swear you could beat. But, when push came to shove, you couldn't beat a team that was lesser than.

So, lay down your queen, step away from the chess board, and walk away with your head hanging low.
You got beat.

The Fresno Bee: What Made Me Believe Newspapers Will Survive

I grew up with old school grandparents. They subscribed to our hometown newspaper called The Fresno Bee.

Every morning, I would come out of my bedroom after getting ready for school, and I'd find my grandfather already reading the paper at the kitchen table. What I always remembered the most was, he'd always have the sports page sitting there ready for me to read.

I would go through a few of the stories and then I slowly learned that my grandfather would give me enough time to formulate my opinion before asking about a certain story. Most of the time, it was on Fresno State and how they were doing in any particular season.

We would talk about the game, what they did right, what they did wrong, and the games coming up. As I told older, I realized that he wanted me to say what was on my mind, not what he wanted to hear.

I returned to my hometown for the first time since he died from cancer back in 2005. I hadn't been back in the house since his death but I knew he would not want me to change anything that he and I used to do.

So, this past Tuesday morning, I walked to the sun room in the back of the house, pulled out the sports page, and read articles from a few of my favorite writers.

I read 'Pat Hill, 'I wish I had answers' article from Bryant-Jon Anteola, 'Bulldogs football team keeps spirits high' from Daniel Lyght and 'Fresno-Chicago hoops connection broken' from Matt James. It made me thankful for how I grew up and what an amazing chance I had to read talented writers.

Not only did I get a chance to read the paper and formulate the opinions that I still have today, but I got a chance to learn how to be a writer from guys that have done it a lot longer than I have. Guys I respect and guys who have continued to push and grind even though the newspaper as we know it today isn't what it once was.

These are the guys that make me believe there is a comeback to be had. These are the guys that I look up to as far as being a writer. These are the guys that make me love being a hometown kid.

Say what you want about their opinions, say what you want about what they believe to be true, but you can't take away what they continue to do for the paper I still read every single morning. I may not read it in it's physical appearance, but I make sure I check in online to read what's new in Fresno State sports.

The newspaper may be changed, but the idea of it is not dead. Just check these guys out, and check out the guys that continue to bring content to newspapers around the country, and see how hard these guys work.

I'm not a professional, I'm still chasing the dream that they get to live every single day. It may not be glamorous, but I still respect the job these guys do.