Ask a hundred people to give a word that best links to professional golf and a reasonable number would say ‘money’. How could they not, given all that’s transpired in the pro ranks since LIV Golf’s appearance on the scene a couple of years ago. While the pursuit of glory and forging a legacy is still the main motivation for a good percentage of professional golfers, the objective observer may conclude that, in 2024, chasing dollars is more important than chasing titles as pro golf’s overarching modus operandi.
And yet in Joel Dahmen’s episode on Full Swing Season 2, we don’t see a man obsessing over money at all – we see a tormented soul and someone struggling with form, motivation, relationships and fame, ironically something the first season of Full Swing helped create. It’s the most emotive episode and it serves as a poignant reminder that things are rarely easy when you make your living hitting a ball around a field.
The vast majority of professional golfers struggle to make ends meet, and even if you’re lucky enough to play in events with huge prize pools, like Dahmen, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll be happy or fulfilled. The American made just under $2m during the 2023 season, but is his life better because of it? Absolutely not.
“Being famous and shooting 76 is f***ing the worst thing in my life. It’s the worst f***ing thing in the world,” he says.
The episode is so good because you sympathise with Dahmen while simultaneously finding his lack of motivation and listlessness frustrating. This is a man with a golden ticket, but he risks throwing it all away because he’s consumed by apathy.
A persistent theme during the episode is his caddie, Geno Bonnalie, urging him to speak to a sports psychologist. Later, we find out Dahmen had a bad experience with a psychologist in the wake of his mum’s untimely passing due to cancer, something that’s covered in the first series.
Every time you start to feel annoyance at Dahmen, the empathy comes roaring back. He’s presented as a flawed human and so much of his likeability is rooted in that. You wish you could help him reignite his passion and shake him into action, but you soon realise it’s something he has to do for himself.
“I was always in a pretty good mental headspace playing golf, and this year it just kind of got very blurred for me,” Dahmen says, talking about 2023. “I was just showing up and going through the motions. A lot of times you feel like you’re alone when going through these tough times. It just slowly happens. And then, before you know it, you feel like you’re drowning a little bit.”
His relationship with Geno is fascinating to watch, too, and helps highlight the complexity of the player-caddie dynamic. They’re clearly great friends, but one of them is the other one’s boss and either of them can leave the partnership at any time. Generally, when a player splits with a caddie, it’s the former’s decision, but in this instance, Geno admits he’ll consider walking away if Dahmen doesn’t get help.
“I definitely thought about giving him an ultimatum. If he doesn’t see someone then what’s the point of me being here anymore? Why would we keep showing up to events and not trying?” he says.
But you get the sense Geno would only do that as a last resort. He cares deeply for his boss and is doing everything he can to help shake him out of his malaise. What makes this episode so riveting is the contrast between Dahmen and Wyndham Clark, who share a lot of similarities but have ultimately gone down different paths.
Clark used to lock himself in a room, be really hard on himself and drink – something we see Dahmen doing a lot during the episode. But with help from his caddie, John Ellis, Clark sought help from sports psychologist Julie Elion and turned things around.
The images of him winning the 2023 US Open and soundbites from his new approach to the mental game are interspersed with footage of Dahmen’s reluctance to seek help. You can’t help but wonder if Dahmen could have been a Major Champion if he’d dedicated himself more to the game and spoken to a psychologist.
But it’s not all doom and gloom and the episode ends on a positive note. In golf, as with life in general, there’s always an opportunity to turn things around if you apply yourself and care enough. One of the best scenes in Full Swing Season 2 takes place on a private jet as we witness a (possibly alcohol-infused) conversation between Dahmen and Geno.
Dahmen tells Geno he needs to be tougher on him, to which the caddie replies: “If you don’t speak to this guy [a sports psychologist Geno has found] in the next little bit….”
Dahmen: “What are you going to do? Leave me?”
Geno: “Yeah”
Damen: “I’m going to find you a job on LIV”
Geno: “I don’t want a job on LIV, I want to work for you”
After a bit more back and forth, Dahmen agrees to see someone. “You have to care,” he says about himself. What follows is an emotional and tearful embrace between the two friends as Dahmen declares it a “turning point” and thanks Geno for caring about him.
The interaction ends with Dahmen, can of beer in hand, saying: “Hey, I love the f**k out of you. I wish you would’ve got another bag. But now we might be okay. I’m gonna go and get rich.” It’s raw, unscripted and powerful and a crescendo befitting the episode as a whole.
