After the worst two seasons of a solid career, Daniel Summerhays has decided that he will not be returning to Q School later this year. Instead, he will return to high school.
The 36-year-old tour pro walks away from the game to return to his alma mater, Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah. There, he plans to teach and serve as the school’s golf coach.
“It’s hard to say, but after a fairly long and above-average race on the PGA Tour, I’m going to walk away and take another direction for a while,” Summerhays told the Deseret News earlier this week. “I’m going to test the educational system and move to a mentor-mentor role instead of the professional golfer role.”
Summerhays was an outstanding golfer and member of the Davis Cup state champion basketball team before becoming an All-American at BYU. He won a Korn Ferry Tour event when he was still a fan, and then racked up nearly $ 9 million in earnings during his full eight seasons on the PGA Tour, where he recorded two finalists and a third solo at the 2016 PGA Championship.
It’s on the development tour where Summerhays will play a final event before riding into the sunset running to the classroom. He will rise to the occasion at this week’s Utah Championship, where he finished just sixth for his only top 25 last season.
But even if this week had the definitive ending to the storybook, Daniel Summerhays seems pretty determined on his fall plans.
“When I thought about how I would like to make a difference and an impact, that was one of the ways that I felt I could touch many children and spread my influence a little,” the father of four told Deseret News. “The past few years have been in the back of my mind. Your children grow up and you love being around them and you start looking for ways to be home more and more. So I loved being home, especially through the coronavirus. “
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