Gamble finished T7 at the Carolinas PGA Professional Championship to earn a spot in his first PGA Professional Championship
Over the years, competing in tournaments, Robert Gamble would look at the list of golfers and a thought would frequently enter his head — “Man, those are really good players.”
And on July 11, entering the final round of the Carolinas PGA Professional Championship, the thought came again. Heading into the final round, the 43-year-old Senior Director of Operations at GOLFTEC was sitting at 5-under par and in the second-to-last group along with two of the best golfers in the section.
But something changed. Another thought pushed its way forward.
“You know what? I’m a really good player, too.”
A calm came over him, and the final round was a joy, not a burden. Gamble scored a 1-under 71 at Cape Fear Country Club in Wilmington, N.C., good enough to qualify for his first PGA Professional Championship, which takes place next April.
What outsiders may not have known is that thought was a significant waypoint in an ongoing journey for Gamble, balancing family, golf, work, and his mental health.
A year prior, Gamble couldn’t compete. Qualifying for the PGA Professional Championship through the Carolinas PGA section has long been a goal, but in 2023 the weight of everything was too much to bear. So, before the section championship, he dropped out, abruptly stopped playing golf, and even took time away from GOLFTEC, where he has been working since 2007.
“It’s hard to describe it. You don’t really know you’re going through something like that until you’re in it,” Gamble said. “When you set ambitious goals in life, it brings in these new stress factors that you aren’t aware of and prepared for.”
He wasn’t sleeping, golf stopped being fun, he wasn’t present during family time, and small things began to slip through the cracks at work. Something had to change.
“When I realized what was happening, I had to walk away from everything,” Gamble said.
Unplugged from the stressors of work and competitive golf, time away with his family was the salve to pull him out of the hole he had dug for himself. When he returned to work, the company allowed him to strike the appropriate balance between work and family, and then slowly he brought golf back into the equation.
GOLFTEC instruction also played a significant role in balancing Gamble’s life, to the point he said he eventually found a “sweet spot.” Unlike other competitive golfers who can spend their entire lives practicing or playing, Gamble has other priorities, so the focused instruction from GOLFTEC and detailed feedback through SKYTRAK allows him to keep his game sharp and competitive without consuming him. And building confidence in the more technical aspects of his game, inside and out, through that focused GOLFTEC approach, allows Gamble to fully take on the mental aspects of the game on the course.
“The tools GOLFTEC has — you can be more efficient with your time,” Gamble said. “You don’t have to go stand on an outdoor range and just hit ball after ball, guessing what’s going on. I can go indoors, spend 30 minutes or an hour, and accomplish a lot of what I need to accomplish.
“There are constraints that normal people have in their life — time, family, work, money. Just because you have a family and a demanding job doesn’t mean you can’t reach your goals in competitive golf or golf in general.”
Now, if there is a tense situation on the golf course or a moment where Gamble needs to find a sense of calm, all he has to do is look down to his wrists. Not for any markers about his stance or setup, but for the rubber-band bracelets he wears during every competition.
The bracelets are made by his sons, 6-year-old Beckett and 10-year-old Finley. They make their dad a fresh set for each tournament, and a new design will be on display when he tees it up at April’s PGA Professional Championship in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
With spots in the PGA Championship on the line, goals have shifted and preparations will be made to ensure Gamble’s golf game is ready for its toughest challenge yet, but those bracelets always serve as a reminder of what is most important in his life.
“They do something special for me,” Gamble said. “You can have the stressful moments, pressure packed, or you make a mistake and you’re upset with yourself — and then you look down, and think of a happy memory with them, and that can snap me out of whatever funk I’m in.”