I thought this was a pretty cool article.
If you like to watch golf and are sick of seeing Tiger and the same guys dominate, feel free to cheer for Dougie, he could use the help!The Detroit Free Press wrote:PGA TOUR | 2007 SONY OPEN: LaBelle's dream right on course
Michigan native debuts as PGA Tour pro today
January 11, 2007
BY CARLOS MONARREZ
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
It would have been easy for Doug LaBelle II to give up on his dream of playing on the PGA Tour.
A fluffed chip here, a missed putt there. No biggie.
After all, the Mt. Pleasant native knew what awaited him: a nice job in a corner office working for LaBelle Management, the business empire his father and uncle built into one of the largest restaurant and hotel operators in mid-Michigan.
But that was the problem. LaBelle knew he wasn't the office type. He knew he wasn't the club-pro type, either. Actually, LaBelle didn't know what type he was, if it didn't concern playing golf professionally.
Luckily for LaBelle, his dream comes true today when he tees off at the Sony Open as a regular on the PGA Tour.
"Knowing there's a desk job out there possibly waiting for me, that's my motivation because I know that's not me," LaBelle said. "I'm not a desk-jock kind of guy. I'm not the 9-to-5, doing the same thing everyday kind of guy."
He has known as much since he was a 10-year-old hanging out at Mt. Pleasant Country Club and winning Cokes and candy bars off members in chipping contests.
For the next five years, LaBelle spent nearly every summer day at the club. He played, he practiced, he hung out in the pro shop. All the while, his father, Doug, was working.
"I saw how hard the work was for my dad when I was kid," LaBelle said. "I saw the long hours, and the restaurant is a people-person business, and it's a tough business. I didn't think I wanted to do that."
When he was 12, LaBelle proclaimed to his father that he wanted to become a pro golfer.
"I said it's going to be easy, and I can make a lot of money doing it," LaBelle said. "And I remember when I got to college, I realized it's not as easy as I thought it was going to be. And then when I turned pro, I'm thinking: This is really not easy."
LaBelle's junior golf experience included getting national exposure through the American Junior Golf Association tour. He got a scholarship to the University of New Mexico and twice earned second-team All-America honors. Then it came time to turn pro in 1998 and join the brutal mini-tours.
LaBelle had a big advantage in receiving financial help from his father his first four years as a pro. LaBelle's dad, like any good businessman, was willing to help as long has he saw potential in his investment.
"My dad and I had talked about that," LaBelle said. "As long as we continued to see my game getting better, then let's keep going."
And LaBelle hasn't stopped. Through his strong play on the Nationwide Tour since 2003, he has been able to support himself financially the past four years. He had a breakthrough season in 2006, winning his first tournament at 27-under -- the second-lowest score in relation to par in the tour's history -- and earned his PGA Tour card by finishing among the top 22 on the Nationwide money list (he was 15th with $240,174).
Now LaBelle is ready to tee it up with the best of the best. The funny thing is that he's a rookie, but he speaks like a seasoned veteran. For almost any scenario presented, LaBelle has a well thought-out answer.
Is he going to be wowed by the crowds at his first PGA Tour event?
Nope. Been there, done that. As an amateur, he qualified for the 1997 Buick Open and learned a lesson.
"I sat out there and practiced out there all day every day and just wore myself out," he said.
LaBelle learned to pace himself better when he qualified for the 1999 Nissan Open and the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields. Work was work. He put his time in on the range and went home.
Of course, that doesn't mean LaBelle isn't looking forward to the perks of his new job. He'll be traveling with his fiancée, Julie Harry, this season and doesn't want to go through the experience with blinders on. He'll try to limit his time on the range -- which earned him the nickname Vijay LaBelle -- on the Nationwide Tour.
"I don't think you want to miss the opportunity to smell the roses, so to speak, and soak up all of your surroundings," he said.
LaBelle says he won't be swayed to play unfamiliar clubs if companies try to woo him with $100,000 endorsement deals. Billy Mayfair told him there's more money to be made by playing well.
LaBelle also won't be shy about approaching the best players in order to glean some knowledge. That includes Tiger Woods.
"I think what I'll do is, I'll just show up on the first tee on Tuesday at 5 a.m. when he goes to play, because he tees off in the dark," LaBelle said. "Hey, if I see him, I'll ask him."
But there is one scenario for which LaBelle has no answer. He stammers and struggles for a response.
What would he do if he couldn't play golf professionally?
"I don't even know," he said. "I haven't really given it a whole lot of thought because I know that this is really all that I want to do."
LaBelle hasn't had to think much about that possibility for the past 20 years. If history is any indicator, it may be a while before he does.
