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 The former California State Amateur and Nationwide Tour player can be found at the far end of the driving range at Arroyo Seco Golf Course in South Pasadena. It’s the same place where he hit bucket after bucket in high school and college before attaining his goal of becoming a professional golfer. Now he gets a thrill helping golfers of all levels better understand their swings. Jim Cain, who has been working with Sanday for eight months, has seen improvement in his game. “Jeff knows how to express the golf swing in a simple manner,” Cain said. “My ball striking has improved as well the amount of fun I have when I play.” Becoming a teaching professional at this stage of his life and career was not on Sanday’s mind a decade ago. “If somebody would have told me 10 years ago that I would be working at Arroyo Seco instead of playing professional golf, I would have laughed in their face,” Sanday said. Sanday, who completed his four years of golf eligibility at Cal State Northridge in 1994 but still had a semester of courses to take before receving a bachelor’s deree in business finance, thought about leaving school early to pursue his dream. But his mother had other ideas. “Jeff had mentioned leaving school early,” Linda Sanday said. “I told him if he is that anxious to leave school, he better find a place to live.” Heeding his mother’s advice, Sanday put away his clubs and took his remaining upper division courses. The only time he spent at the golf course was as a caddy at Annandale Country Club. After graduating with his business degree, Sanday worked on his game every day and qualified for the 1995 California State Amateur, where he grinded out a 1-up victory over John Pate. Later that year, Sanday turned pro and spent the next two years on the mini-tours before having a break-out year in 1998 that included a 16th-place finish at the Buick Invitational after sharing the first-round lead with Davis Love III. Sanday won twice on the TearDrop Tour that year and returned to Torrey Pines to play in the San Diego County Open, where he won the 54-hole tournament with rounds of 66-66-70. In all, Sanday earned $108,000 that year. “That was a good year for me,” he said. “My putter was blazing hot, and it was a thrill for me to play courses I’d never seen and shoot in the 60s.” Sanday failed to earn his PGA Tour card at the end of the year at Qualifying School, but he earned a card to play on the 1999 Nike Tour, where he made only three cuts in 12 events. His only highlight of the year was winning the Long Beach Open and receiving a check for $26,000. Sanday came painfully close to earning his PGA Tour card in 2000 when he finished tied for 28th at Qualifying School, and he fared better on the Buy.com Tour in 2001 where finished 61st on the money list with $61,654. His success soured in 2002, however, where he had only conditional status on the Buy.Com Tour after placing 155th at Qualifying School. With his conditional status, Sanday didn’t have a set schedule or know if he would be able to participate in tournaments from week to week. The pressure to play well and expenses of $1,500 a week were becoming overwhelming. “Golf didn’t seem fun anymore and the adventure of traveling on the road got tiring,” he said. “I got burned out being at the golf course and getting allergic to staying in hotels. I just wanted to take a break from living out of my suit case and trying to make a living.” While his lifestyle today is simpler, it is just as time-consuming. Sanday works six days a week at Arroyo Seco and gives 20 to 40 lessons a week. It beats driving from tournament to tournament, however, and Sanday is comfortable knowing he has a stable job close to home. “Now I have the opportunity to enjoy the finer things in life and help a golfer become better,” he said. n |
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