With Nate Lashley’s impressive golf background, it’s no surprise that he made it onto the PGA Tour.
However, Nate’s journey has been anything but smooth.
This year, Nate went from rookie to PGA Tour winner. He’s making himself known in the golf world, and recently became the newest Diamond Celebrity ambassador.
Lashley’s father taught him the game of golf at the age of seven, and he played so well that he was able to earn a scholarship and play golf at the University of Arizona. During his junior year, Lashley’s mom, dad and girlfriend flew to Oregon to watch him compete in the NCAA Regionals. His dad was a pilot and flew the family in from their home state of Nebraska for the event. On their flight home, the unthinkable happened: the plane went down and all three were killed.
Nate took a decade-long hiatus from professional golf. In 2015, he finally took golf off the back burner and started competing seriously again.
Nate began with the PGA Latin America Tour and continued to qualify and compete in more tournaments. He was invited to play on the PGA tour in 2018, but suffered a knee injury, taking him out for a recovery period.
This didn’t stop Nate either.
He returned to the PGA tour in 2019, attempting to qualify for tournaments. His attempts failed at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit in May, but he pressed on and registered as an alternate. Lucky for Nate, another player dropped out at the last minute, and he became the last player accepted into the tournament.
He went in as a rookie, and came out a champion.
Diamond CEO Mike Flaskey spoke about the company’s relationship with Nate on a radio interview after the golfer’s big PGA win. Flaskey elaborated on his decision to partner with Nate, saying, “We base it upon people who will engage well with our members.”
Flaskey said Diamond caught “lightning in a bottle” with Nate, and he looks forward to what the new partnership will bring to the company’s Events of a Lifetime series.