Mike Foster Jr. - "Big Break II" Contestant

36

Savannah, Ga.

Vacaville, Calif.

Marketing representative

Married/1

Crosswinds Golf Club

San Jose State University

Coaching youth athletics, boating

Hawaiian Mike

You wouldn't know Mike was a native Californian with the gentlemanly drawl he has developed since moving to Georgia. With an impressive golf resume behind him, he is looking to rekindle the competitiveness missing from his game for the last four years since retiring from full-time competition. He says his career took a major turn in 1999 when his son, 3 years old at the time, asked why daddy was never home.

Mike started golfing at age 4, but he played other sports, as well. It wasn't until high school when he decided to concentrate on golf and, subsequently, earned a scholarship to play for San Jose State. In 1988, he won low medalist honors at the U.S. Publinx Championship, competing against current notable pros like Robert Gamez and Kevin Sutherland.

In 1991, he qualified for the final round of the PGA Tour Qualifying School, and missed earning his Tour card by a mere two strokes. He went on to play successfully on the Hooters and Hogan/Nike (now Nationwide) tours in the early '90s, and teed it up with today's headliners such as Ernie Els, Tom Lehman, Robert Gamez, David Duval, Olin Browne, Stephen Ames and The Golf Channel's own Jerry Foltz.

At 6-feet-4 inches tall and topping 300 pounds, Mike can make the biggest person feel small, but feels his size offers no significant advantages or disadvantages on the golf course. "I'm an aggressive player no matter how you look at it," he said. "The Big Break will be great competition at the highest level, and I came to win."

Source: The Golf Channel

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