Whitney Hickman

In 2016, I started running my own graphic design business on the side after graduating college as a way to make extra money. I had played four years of college golf and at that point I had decided I wanted to pursue playing professionally, so I knew I had to have a flexible schedule when it came to my job. My husband and I moved to Arizona in October of 2016 and I was becoming fairly successful with my design business while keeping my amateur status and playing in as many tournaments as I could. I loved running my business, but I knew if I wanted to give this professional golf thing a real shot, I had to give it all my focus. 

So I stopped taking on clients, and for two years I focused as much of my energy on golf as I could. I only did some contract graphic design work for another small business to keep a little extra money coming in. As a way to fund my golf I put on my own tournament fundraiser two years in a row, and I started working for a company called Backswing Golf Events. BGE is a group of female professional golfers that helps charities raise money on the golf course during fundraising events through "Beat the Pro" competitions, pro-am style events, and "Long Drive" holes. Basically I was getting paid to show up to the golf course and swing a club, and I helped raise money for charity to boot, so I worked as many of those events as I could to pay for my tournament entry fees. 

During those two years of golf, I saw a personal trainer every week, had chiropractor appointments, physical therapy appointments, hours spent at the golf course, lots of travel away from my husband, while my business sat untouched. Looking back, I really missed flexing my creative muscles. 

In September of 2019, I decided the professional tour player life was not for me, and I wanted to go back to running my business full time. When I sat back down at my desk, I realized I was a completely different human. I was looking at my business through a different lens. I had realized that golf gave me the ability to see adversity and not run away, but actually dive head first into it. I tell people that I whole-heartedly believe that golf is the toughest sport on the planet. With the combination of the 5 hour rounds and the mental toughness and the technical know-how needed to be great, it is a grueling game. I sat back down to do my business a little beaten up and broken down because I had wanted to achieve my LPGA dreams so badly, and when I realized it wasn't in my cards, it was a shock to my system. But it made me so much tougher. I realized if I could do the golf grind day in and day out, I could do anything I set my mind to. I wasn't afraid of failure, because I had failed many times on the golf course, but there was always another round to be played and always more opportunities for birdies. Just as in life there is always a new day to start fresh and make something great happen.

Being about five months post "retirement", I can now see even more ways that golf has brought huge blessing to my life, just in a way I didn't imagine. I still work for Backswing Golf Events, so I still make money swinging a club, which was always my dream in the first place. I get to set my own schedule with my graphic design business so I get to work any Backswing Events that I am available for. I also have gained new graphic design clients from people I met throughout my golf career, which makes everything feel like it has come full circle. 

I guess the moral of the story is: Sometimes the things we are passionate about and are such a big part of our life end up looking different in the end than we originally thought, but what is meant for you will always find you. I wouldn't change a single thing because golf has made me into one tough cookie, and I will have these skills for a lifetime to go show the boys on the course who's boss.