Former Providence Christian golfer Calum Masters returns home as a pro

The former Providence Christian standout who turned professional late last summer following time at Troy University and the University of Georgia, shot a 6-over par 78 Wednesday a day after shooting a 3-under 69 in the first round of the four-day event.

“I’ve been putting and shooting it well, today was just one of those days where I couldn’t get it going,” Masters said following his second round. “I felt like I hit a lot of good shots throughout the whole day, but I would like hit a good shot that skipped past the pin and then I’m stuck with a really hard two-putt. Things like that. I put a lot of stress on my putter today considering even though I was hitting it well.”

Masters is among 100 golfers in Dothan this week trying to earn status onto the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada for the upcoming season. The tournament continues on Thursday and concludes Friday afternoon.

After playing three years at Troy and last year at Georgia before the season shut down due to COVID-19, Masters opted to turn professional in August instead of taking advantage of the NCAA ruling which would allow an extra year of eligibility for spring sports athletes.

“I stayed amateur during the summer because I could just play in some better events as an amateur before turning pro,” Masters said. “About August, I turned pro and pretty much have been playing mini-tour stuff since then.”

He started off his pro career with a bang, winning a tournament on the Emerald Coast Golf Tour in Gulf Shores.

“I was like, ‘Don’t get suckered in. It’s not going to be that easy,’” Masters said. “It’s definitely nice to start off that way making a check but it’s a grind. Some weeks you’re good and you take home some money and some weeks it’s not that good.”

Kind of like his first two rounds this week. On Tuesday, it was very good for Masters as he carded the 69.

“Yesterday (Tuesday) I was hitting it in the right spots,” Masters said. “I was leaving myself with the right putts on tough pins. I was being aggressive to the positions I needed to be putting from, not necessarily where the pin was.

“I did a lot better job of leaving myself with a makeable birdie putt, but nothing that’s like a crazy par and putting myself in a tough position.”

Masters said the Highland Oaks course is in great shape and is certainly challenging for the golfers. While being so familiar with the layout is an advantage for him, the pin placements are much different than he’s seen before.

“There’s definitely a factor of being more comfortable because you know where all the slopes are on the greens,” Masters said. “You can see a pin and you know exactly what’s around it, basically, so there’s no second-guessing there.

“Still, there are pins I’ve never seen before, so even knowing where the slopes are, you still have to really pay attention to where those pins are. We don’t see those throughout the year. This is really the only week or time we’ll see pins that are right on ridges or just over ridges.”

He understands the competition level is greater every step of the way on the pro level and there is a fine line between those on the smaller tours and those who have reached the PGA Tour.

“It’s usually coming down to who’s wedging and putting it,” Masters said. “When you look at the guys on the (PGA) Tour, those guys are wedging it and putting it like crazy. That’s probably the biggest difference.”

While disappointed in his round Wednesday, Masters knows there is plenty of golf left to be played.

“I hate that I did what I did today and kind of worked my way backwards after such a good opening round, but that’s usually how it goes,” Masters said. “At least I did it today, because now I have 36 holes to try and get it back.

And Masters knows he can go low on this course. He once shot a 9-under at Highland Oaks.

“Two of those and I’ll be fine,” he laughed.