This week, HC got a chance to catch up with one of the premier golfers at Stetson University. Dustin Dingus, a freshmen from Palm Harbor, Florida has quickly made a name for himself on the golf course and is a key component to the success of the Stetson Golf Team. With this much success early on in his college career, he’s an up and coming Campus Celeb you’ll want to keep an eye on!
Q: How did you get started playing golf and when did you decide it was something you wanted to pursue in College?
I am truly blessed that I got started playing golf from a very young age, and I would say that my passion for the game came from my dad. He played on the PGA Tour for a short period of time in the early 1980’s, and he has been a club professional and PGA member for over 25 years. He always wanted what was best for me and didn’t want me to be narrow-minded and just play golf, so I played other sports including baseball and basketball up until my junior year of high school. I always wanted to be a professional golfer, but I didn’t really put the work into becoming one until my junior year of high school.
Q: What would you say is your greatest accomplishment thus far?
I would say I have two greatest accomplishments so far. The first definitely has to be winning the Florida State Junior Match Play Championship. Winning this state championship helped me realize that I do have the talent and ability to compete on a collegiate and national level and propelled me to take my game to a higher level. My second greatest accomplishment would definitely have to be winning the Atlantic Sun Player of the Week award this early into my collegiate career. I held two leads in back to back tournaments eventually resulting in two back to back top 10s, and while I was disappointed that I did not get those victories, it is keeping me hungry to get my first collegiate win. I know that if I continue to play at a high level week in and week out it will eventually come.
Q: How does having this much success early on in your college career make you feel about the rest of your time here at Stetson?
It just gives me an extreme amount of confidence. I came to Stetson hoping to just qualify for every tournament, much less maybe get a top 20 or two during the season. Now, my expectations have risen tremendously, and I plan on playing at a high level and being in contention every single tournament that I play in.
Q: What do you plan on doing after you graduate from Stetson?
I actually brought in 62 credits here to Stetson out of high school, so I will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree almost two years earlier than the four-year plan. This limits the amount of time I have to make this decision, but it has always been my dream to play golf at a professional level for a number of years. I want to pursue that as long as I possibly can, and realistically I can see that happening if my game keeps improving exponentially over the next two years as it has been. You can’t just rely on being a professional golfer though, so I am pursuing a B.S. in Integrative Health Sciences here at Stetson in pursuit to be either an Upper Cervical Chiropractor or a Doctor of Orthopedics.
You can view Dustin’s entire bio at http://www.gohatters.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=14600&ATCLID=205716144