Service Experts Sponsors Drew Evans, PGA Golfer

I became pretty interested at a very young age. My dad used to take me out to the range when I was 3 or 4 years old. So I have to say my dad is one of the biggest influences in my life. But it just started out by just going to the range on a Tuesday, Wednesday night hitting a couple balls, and then my game started to develop. I found a strong love for it and a passion, something that I felt like I could improve on and take to the next level. I was a big football fan growing up, but when I stopped growing I felt like golf was the sport I could play to get a scholarship. I definitely see myself in the future being professional in it.

Were your parents professional golfers?
My dad played recreationally, and my mom picked up the game when they married. It was just one of those things where when my parents would go out playing on the weekends, I’d go out and play with them too.

Do you think your skills came naturally?
At first when I was trying to get in the game my dad would come out and watch me swing the club. I always believed that I had good hand/eye coordination; it’s what you really need in the game of golf. So yeah it did come natural but as time went on I started seeing a coach where the technical stuff came in. My dad could only take me so far and once that ran its course, I picked up one of the best teachers here in town and I’ve been with him for 20 years now.

Tell us about how you got involved playing at Texas A&M.
In high school around my sophomore and junior year I was starting to get contacted by coaches in Texas, a couple coaches outside the state of Texas. I kind of did my homework just to see how the program was in the past, and where they were headed. Right off the bat my mom told me that Texas A&M and Texas [University] were not an option because the schools were just too big. So I didn’t even think twice about it, I thought that sounds fine to me. But I went down to College Station and played a golf tournament I actually played really well, and the coach approached me and we exchanged emails. So then I took an official visit out there in my senior year, and that’s when he offered me a scholarship to play, and as soon as he said that, I said “Done. Where do I sign?” Just because, College Station, it was one of those things where the atmosphere is amazing. And some of the best advice I got in high school was “go to a school you saw yourself having fun outside of the game of golf.” And A&M was that school. They have a great athletic program, and obviously I love football so they have a good football program. I just felt comfortable being there. The five years I spent there were some of the best five years of my life.

Is there a story that stands out from the college portion of your career that you’d like to share?
When I came into college I really didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t have high expectations for myself. We actually won the national championship my freshman year but I wasn’t part of the starting five that were there. I was kind of focused more on school at the time. I was trying to get my grades up when I was sitting out a year, and from then on nothing really caught on. I actually at one point during my sophomore year was considering quitting, just because nothing was going my way. And then something sparked and I worked really, really hard my junior and senior year, and by my senior year I was Second Team all SCC, Ping all Region, and played the number one spot for the entire year. I ended up finishing Top 50 in the nation, College Golfers.

Tell us how you ended up in the PGA Canada?
Every year they host a Q-School (qualifying school). There are three locations; California, Florida and British Columbia. I went to the one in California. The top 18 [players] at each site gets full status on that year. So no matter how bad or good you play, [when you are in the top 18] you’re automatically in all 12 events. So I actually finished tied for 18th at my site in California, and I had to go into a playoff, and then lost in the playoff. So that 19th spot is considered conditional status, meaning I might get into every event but I might not. I went out and had a strong finish in the first three events that basically secured my card in the rest of the year.