Austin Cook Choosing Q School Over Med School

“Some teachers were understanding and let me make up exams and papers. Others weren’t.”

- Stephen Hennessey​​​​​​​

IT’S WEDNESDAY BEFORE the 2016 Web.com Tour Championship. I’m sharing a house in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., with my wife, Crys, and Zack Sucher and his wife. We’re hanging on the beach in 40-mile-per-hour winds as Hurricane Matthew approaches. I’m 27th in the standings, needing to move into the top 25 to earn my PGA Tour card for 2016-’17. And I had just missed the cut by one shot in the third event of the Web.com Tour Finals. We’re hitting balls on the sand, trying to have fun. Then my caddie calls: “The tournament’s cancelled.” My season is suddenly over, my PGA Tour card ripped from me.

IT TOOK A LOT NOT TO CHUCK THE WEDGE I WAS HOLDING OUT INTO THE OCEAN. Zack and my wife just let me have a moment to myself. We had to evacuate the area, and so we drove from Jacksonville to Birmingham, where we’d stay for a night with the Suchers before driving home to northeast Arkansas. I wouldn’t calm down for a few days, but my wife’s advice sticks in my head: She said, “I know this is heartbreaking right now, but it’s gonna happen for you.” She was right. When you’ve worked hard for a lifetime for a goal, you’ve got to remember the bigger picture.

I’VE ALWAYS HAD TWO DREAMS—TO BECOME A PRO GOLFER OR A DOCTOR. My father and uncle are doctors, and my grandfather, who was a club pro in Minneapolis, played in 60 or so PGA Tour events. His career highlight was playing in the final pairing with Jack Nicklaus in the 1965 Memphis Open. My dad often told the story of being in the gallery, scrambling for a look of his father walking side by side with Nicklaus at his peak. Though Granddad didn’t play well that day, that planted the seed that maybe I could succeed at golf, too.