Joel Dahmen

 Joel Dahmen is a Pro Golfer from Clarkston Washington and was born in November 11, 1987. When he was in high school, he played football and basketball along with golf. While in high school his mom died of cancer which had a big effect of on him. He described her as a superhero, and she did everything for him and then suddenly, she was gone. This is hard for anyone to go through, especially for a sophomore in high school.

After high school he attended Washinton University to play college golf. He did this for a year before he had to drop out because he was diagnosed with cancer. This is an event that could lead to some people giving up on their dreams, but not Joel. He overcame being diagnosed with cancer, dropping out of college after one year, and the fear and doubts about his career through an 11-year grind on mini-tours and advances through the lower tours before making it on the PGA in 2017.

A couple years later when the US Open came along in 2020 because he was outside of the top 50 in the world golf rankings and had not qualified yet because of his past event. So, he was forced to qualify like an average golfer would have to do. He was able to make it through the local qualifier round and moved on to the final qualifying round. In his round, he wasn’t playing his best, but he managed to grab the final spot in the US Open and get his exemption for the tournament.

Now that he’s in the Open he went out on Thursday and Friday, and he found himself leading the tournament at 5 under par. He managed to be tied with most of the best players in the world despite having to qualify for the event. This is a great demonstration of overcoming adversity and going after your dreams. I believe that we can all learn from Joel Dahmen and always chase after our dreams even if they seem out of reach.