Nate Gahman - 2022 Georgia Mid-Amateur Champion
Based on his frame and stature, you can tell Nate Gahman was once a baseball player turned golfer. Rotator cuff issues ended his little league career shortly before he entered high school and left him wondering what his next steps were. One of his friends introduced him to golf at the age of 12, and Gahman hasn’t looked back since.
It took him some time to fire the low scores we see today, but Gahman credits his rise in golf to Grand Island Golf Course (now closed), his buddies, and hard work over one summer.
“My freshman year of high school, I think I averaged around 85 in every tournament I played in and got the golf bug after that season,” Gahman said. “The summer of my sophomore year, my friends and I were at Grand Island every day, sunup to sundown, beating balls and having a good time. That period shaved 10 strokes off my tournament average, and I took off from there.”
Upon graduating, Gahman took his talents to Georgia Southwestern State University and had a solid career that included multiple top-five finishes and qualified for the Georgia Amateur Championship and Southeastern Amateur during his tenure there.
After going through three college coaches in four years, Gahman graduated from Georgia Southwestern with a degree in marketing and turned pro. Following a year on the mini-tours, Gahman walked away from golf for a while.
“I fell out of love with the game; I feel like that happens to a lot of people,” said Gahman. “I hated golf and didn’t play in 2015 or 2016.”
During this time Gahman turned professional in another sport: disc golf.
“I turned professional in disc golf, and I got pretty good. I played in local tournaments and sometimes traveled to Jacksonville or Atlanta, and won a little bit of money,” he said.
He didn't seem to regret the time he spent away from the game and praised his time off and mutual friends as to what helped him to get back on the links. There's no stress anymore and because of that, his game has grown tremendously.
“That was a fun time in my life. I met my wife, we had a kid and had a lot of mutual friends that got me dipping my foot back into the water of golf, and it didn’t take long for me to get that bug again,” Gahman said. “Now it’s just fun. It’s not do or die, it’s not like you don’t have money to pay the bills. I’m playing better now than ever because there’s no stress.”
Leading up to the 41st Georgia Mid-Amateur Championship, Gahman, a member of Doublegate Country Club in Albany, said his game felt great.
“I had never signed up to play in the mid-amateur before. I’ve got the game to win, my ball-striking is there, I’ve matured a lot mentally, and my putting has improved,” said Gahman.
Gahman breezed through his qualifier and was feeling confident on a course that suited him well. His first round didn’t go according to plan, but in the final 36 holes, he was untouchable and eventually won the championship.
“I was 3-over-par when I was in the cart, but once I started walking with my caddie, Chandler, I was 15-under for the rest of the tournament,” he said. "I got in a groove, didn’t go too fast, and treated it like a regular tournament with a buddy of mine on the bag.”
Gahman doesn’t care about winning prizes; he embraces competition and is always seeking that next opportunity to compete.
“Competition is the only reason I sign up,” Gahman said with a chuckle. “A lot of kids that are playing in these tournaments are trying to get recruited or turn professional, but for me, I’m just a middle-aged insurance agent who loves competition.”
Golf is a tough game, and it can teach anyone about life. For Gahman he’s learned multiple life values while on the course.
“Golf has taught me about patience. My parents’ engrained 'patience is a virtue' in my head when I was little, but I was always impatient,” he said. "Accountability is another big one because golf is a gentleman’s game, it's important to be honest and play by the rules.”
A quote Gahman loves is one of the reasons he’s matured as a player on the course.
“One of my mottos is you don’t have to be perfect,” Gahman said. "That goes with a lot of sports but especially golf. Hit the shot that gives that best chance."
Off the course, Gahman says his biggest non-golf accomplishment is starting a family and starting his insurance agency.
“My family is my number one accomplishment and it’s been awesome. I love my daughter Charlotte and my son Hollis to death,” said Gahman. "Aside from having kids, my biggest accomplishment would be having my own insurance agency and since I started there, I haven’t looked back ever since.”
When he isn’t crushing drives, you can catch Gahman either listening to music or making it. His parents have had a huge influence on him musically by teaching him how to play drums in the praise band at church
“I probably love music more than I love golf,” Gahman said laughing. “I played the drums in the praise band when I was in middle school and started playing guitar as a hobby when COVID hit. My mom and dad love music as they have made six or seven albums touring around Southern Baptist churches when I was a little kid.”
In addition to music, Gahman is a huge Atlanta Braves and Florida Gators fan and enjoys reading as well.
Gahman’s advice to all golfers would be the same quote he lives by: “You don’t have to be perfect.”
“As hard as it is, don’t get mad,” he said. “Take it one shot at a time.”
