golfrewind.com

Craig Kanada (a member of The Grind and Nationwide Tour in 2006) recently competed in the US Open and wrote about it:

The 2007 United States Open. My first ever. My first Major, for that matter. I’m glad to finally have the opportunity of facing the ultimate challenge of trying to win a major. And the challenges come from many different aspects.

It is such a great entry (read the rest of it here: http://thegrind2007.com/journals/kanada/). And really cool to hear from someone who has dedicated their entire life to the game, only now reaching the culmination of his career and fulfilling a lifelong dream. This guy is such a class act.

I can't even imagine what it felt like. Anybody ever accomplish something like this? Golf or otherwise?

its a shame that guys like this aren't heralded as the stars. instead we have prima donnas that think everything should be given to them. guys like Kanada truly appreciate what they have earned. I will say that there are "good stars" - Woods is classy and does a lot of charitable activities, Phile donates a lot of money, and there are many others, but some of the top guys lose focus - just try getting an autograph from Lanny Wadkins and he acts like he was just asked to hug Gary McCord.

I have actually followed Kanada every step of his career. He won the Western Amateur - which is a great event with a tradition which ranks only behind the US Am in the states - his senior year at Ohio State. Canadian Tour for several years, on and off the Nationwide, finally got his big Tour card back this year. Several times he and his wife have discussed giving up the dream, just going home to be a teaching pro.

He's having a solid year, and should retain his card. Good on him.