The life of a golf pro is not easy. Somewhere beyond the shadows cast by =big names like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickleson and David Duval, the majority of tour players toil in relative obscurity. They travel from town to town each week, unsure of when their next paycheck will come. It can be a very trying life. And it’s a life that Stephen Reed craves.
Reed, a sophomore golfer for the Aggies, has seen the labors of a golf pro firsthand. His father, Paul Reed, is a pro who still plays on the Senior Tour. Reed says things were not always easy.
“I’ve watched it. I know how it is,” Reed said. “I know how the journeyman deal is, where you’re in a minivan, traveling to North Dakota and South Dakota. I did it all with my dad. But that appeals to me.”
Playing professional golf has been a lifelong dream for Reed. But while in high school, Reed says his play was nothing special.
“Coming to college, I was a good junior player, but I was not a great high school player,” Reed said. “I’ve gotten so much better in the year and a half that I’ve been here.”
Many in the golf world would agree with Reed’s assessment. Last year, as a freshman, he led the Aggies in scoring and helped stake them to a NCAA regional berth. He finished as an All-Big 12 selection and was only six strokes from winning the regional tournament and advancing to the NCAA championships last spring. Reed also played in last summer’s U.S. Amateur.
He has played in two tournaments this year, and in the Tucker Invitational, Reed finished in a tie for 46th. The finish left him feeling, as he said, “pretty disappointed.”
“I’m my biggest critic,” Reed says. “I think that being that makes me work harder, makes me always want to be at my best.”
Reed’s high expectations are not confined to his post-college golf career. His goal for this year is to be an All-American. There is at least one other person who feels he is capable of achieving that goal.
“I think he’s got every ability and every desire to do it,” said junior golfer and teammate Dwayne Morley. “If there’s one person on this team who really works hard enough and has the ability to make it happen, it’s this kid.”
If it seems that Reed’s life centers around golf, that’s because it does. Reed says that is the only way he would have it.
“Golf is what I really want to do. My life is totally focused on golf right now,” Reed said. “I’m focusing on golf as a career. It sounds bad, because I know I’m supposed to be a student-athlete. But I kind of think of myself as an athlete-student.”
Reed and the Aggies have a new head coach this year in J.T. Higgins. But it has not taken Higgins long to be impressed by Reed, both as a golfer and as a person.
“Stephen Reed is a coach’s dream. He works as hard as he can possibly work,” Higgins said. “He always tries to do the right thing, and he’s very talented. He has the makings of a great collegiate player, and possibly a professional player. I’m very excited to have the chance to coach Stephen.”
Reed, a general studies major, understands that nothing in the future is guaranteed. If his plan of playing professional golf falls through, he says he will pursue a career in broadcasting, maybe even doing golf. But he tries to put thoughts like those out of his mind as he chases his ultimate dream of one day playing on the PGA tour.
“You know, I’ve hit balls with Tiger, and I’ve talked to [his father] Earl,” Reed said. “I think I’ve seen what’s there, and it entices me. Big-time. I almost want it too much, too fast. But it’s in my blood. It’s what my life is all about.”