Money matters weigh on Glenbard's Hince
Darren Hince is still chasing his dream. His dream just happened to develop a slight hook.
A 2000 Glenbard North graduate who played in the IHSA state golf sectionals with current PGA pro Kevin Streelman of Wheaton Warrenville South, Hince also had the itch to go pro.
After twice being named the NAIA Region VII Tournament men's golfer of the year while at St. Ambrose University, Hince did turn professional. Moving in October 2004 to Scottsdale, Ariz., he played in events on the Gateway and Hooters tours, the Canadian Tour and in a couple U.S. Open qualifiers.
After three unsuccessful attempts to gain his PGA Tour card through "Q-School," Hince made his last professional appearance on the Gateway Tour in May 2008, missing the cut by a stroke.
"It's a lot more difficult than it appears," said Hince, 26, a tad rusty but confident he can still shoot par.
With an imminent marriage this June 13 to St. Ambrose sweetheart Allison Dunn, a ninth-grade biology teacher from Ottawa, Ill., Hince postponed a playing career that had earned about $15,000. Throughout, he waited tables to help make ends meet.
"She's been very patient with me," Hince said of his fiancee. Dunn noted they celebrated seven years as a couple on April 16.
"It's a very expensive sport to fund on your own," he said. "We had exhausted our options and it was time to find something else to do.
"In a perfect world I would be able to make some money, save some money and then stay in the game. If five years from now, four years from now, I get some money together, hey, I'd like to give this another try."
Money matters may have sidelined his PGA pursuit - he has a major in finance and a minor in economics, after all - but not his ability to "stay in the game."
Hince is a junior golf instructor, working for his own former shot doctor at the Dan Campbell Golf Academy on the Tatum Ranch in Scottsdale.
"I think one day he will make it (on the Tour)," Dunn said. "Just right now I think he was stressed out because we are getting married. I have not seen Darren this happy in months."
Teaching youngsters the sport he loves and putting bread on the table - not at Outback Steakhouse but his own - has softened the blow of delaying his own golf ambition.
"Do I wish I could have played better? Obviously, I would love to still be playing. But when it came down to it, it was time to find something else," Hince said.
"Overall, I found out a lot about myself. I thought I grew as a person. Hopefully, it's made me a better person. It's taken me to a point where I'm very satisfied where I am now. Without golf I wouldn't be in this position. I take a lot of positives out of it."
Such as a life partner.
"One day," Dunn said, "he will make it."