Hometown: Pismo Beach, Calif.
Residence: Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Home Course: Monarch Dune, Nipomo, Calif.
College: San Diego State
Interests: Music, body boarding, fitness, skateboarding, poetry
Occupation: Golf professional
About Joshua Warthen:
The Golf Channel says:
Meet "The Big Break: Mesquite's" version of Will MacKenzie. Somewhat like the current PGA Tour star who took a sabbatical from golf to snow ski and surf before making it on Tour, Joshua Warthen is a surfer-turned-filmmaker-turned-golfer. Picture Payne Stewart meeting Jeff Spicoli and you have Warthen.His professional career got off to a righteous start last October when he won the first event he played on the California Players Tour. He still plays the circuit and has continued practicing to make the most of both his talent and life.
"I feel like I have this talent for a reason and that's why I'm going for it," said Warthen. "God put golf in my life to teach me to be a responsible human being. This life isn't just about yourself. I am going to be able to act in a certain way and say stuff that will make people feel good and want to make people see themselves that way."
Heavy stuff from a surfer dude. But while Warthen may never get the salt out of his blood, there is more to this guy who lists poetry as a hobby.
Growing up in Pismo Beach, Calif., he played golf only a handful of times because the game was too slow for him. Warthen's love was for the ocean and during high school he made a documentary on body boarding called "Adolescence." In addition, he would spend winters in Hawaii making a living shooting videos of surfers and body boarders.
After the film, at 19, he started playing golf again and instantly fell in love with the game. His enthusiasm led to both a job at a golf course and purchasing a set of clubs.
"I had a natural feel," Warthen said about being reintroduced to the game. "When I first came back to golf I could chip and putt but couldn't hit the ball straight. I was hooked on trying to figure out how to hit it straight."
He figured it out soon enough. After playing at Allen Hancock Junior College in Santa Maria, Calif., where he was the 2003 Southern California Community College individual champion, he earned a scholarship to play at San Diego State. After redshirting in 2004, he played on the team the next two years with his best finish a tie for first in the 2005 Club Glove Intercollegiate Tournament.
While still young in the game, Warthen has an ocean-sized talent that has this surfer hoping to ride "The Big Break: Mesquite" all the way to the PGA Tour.
Biography courtesy of The Golf Channel; used with permission
