ATHENS — Russell Henley’s life has changed dramatically since winning the Stadion Classic at UGA golf tournament as a Georgia senior a year ago. He’s a professional now, which doesn’t mean he’s flying around on private jets and staying in exclusive hotels.
Henley said he didn’t realize how good he had it as a college golfer until he turned pro in September.
“It hits you when you start buying your plane tickets on your own and paying for your food, and taxes just came around and I was dealing with that,” said Henley, a native of Macon now playing full time on the Nationwide Tour. “Just the whole aspect of it is different. You see so much more the money part of it. That’s talked about so much. Now it feels like you’re playing for something different.”
Henley played his first round as the Stadion’s defending champion Thursday. He got off to a good start, shooting a 2-under-par 69 on the 7,253-yard University of Georgia Golf Course.
“I shot 1 over last year with no birdies, so it was nice to go a little bit lower this year,” said Henley, who was tied for 30th among 156 players.
As it is, that’s six shots off the lead. Kent Jones, a 43-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., shot a course-record 63 to take the first-round lead at 8 under. Longtime PGA star Lee Janzen was in a tie for second at 6 under, and Henley’s former teammate Hudson Swafford shot 65 for a fifth-place tie with Luke List, last week’s Nationwide winner in Valdosta.
“It was a solid round without many headaches,” Swafford said. “I saw that 8 [under] up there in the morning, so I knew there were going to be some low numbers out there. But you can’t get caught up in the leaderboard on the first day.”
Tremendous success was predicted for Henley when he became a pro. The three-time All-American became the second amateur to win a Nationwide Tour event when he won the Stadion with a 12 under on a sponsor’s exemption last year.
The first chapter to Henley’s pro career has yet to be written, but it has been a relative tough go so far. He has made four cuts in seven events and earned just $13,310. His best finish to date was a tie for 23rd in the Chile Classic in South America.
“Playing pro golf is fun for sure, but you’re not around a set of guys each week, you’re not practicing with a bunch of the same guys and there’s not that team aspect,” Henley said. “I don’t want to use the word lonely, but lonely. I’ve met some great guys out here and it’s nice to have some people to talk to, but it’s still not the same.”
Returning to Athens has proved to be a salve for Henley. He’s bunking in the home of Georgia golf coach Chris Haack, who has offered sage advice. And his remedy for the loneliness has been to spend quality time with his girlfriend Molly Rumph, a UGA senior who will graduate next week.
“You go from being in college and traveling around and playing in a few tournaments, and all you have to do is show up and get in the van because we’ve taken care of everything to having to take care of everything,” Haack said. “The reality is this isn’t college golf any more. This is a living; this is a job. And he’s having a hard time separating the two. He wants to be the guy who’s having fun because that’s when he plays better, but he also feels like maybe he needs to be more serious.”
Haack said his advice to Henley has been to be himself.
“I’ve been trying to tell him, even though it’s a living it’s still a game,” Haack said. “So just go be the guy you are and quit trying to be somebody you’re not. I think the best is yet to come for Russell.”
Haack’s message is coming through loud and clear to Henley.
“I don’t like to take myself too seriously,” he said. “I like to have fun and enjoy it because at the end of the day, we’re just playing golf. It’s not like we’re out here solving the problems of the world. We’re just chasing a white ball around the course. I try not to let it determine my attitude.”
And that, in itself, is a good attitude.
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