Inland Northwest Golf 2023: Joel Dahmen on busy year, fatherhood, rising popularity and rollercoaster season

May 20—It's been a few years since we checked in with Joel Dahmen.

That's far too long, especially with the personable Clarkston native experiencing a season like no other in his life and PGA career.

In roughly the past eight months, Dahmen has played perhaps the best golf of his seven years on tour, some not-so-great golf, celebrated the arrival of son Riggs, moved into a new house, adjusted to the new-look PGA Tour and watched his popularity soar after being the focus of an episode on Netflix's PGA Tour documentary "Full Swing."

So there's lots of ground to cover on those topics and more. We'd call it Joel Dahmen Unfiltered except he's been that way since first meeting him when he was a senior at Clarkston High firing a course-record 61 at Indian Canyon in 2006 and a week later winning the second of his two State 3A titles at the same course.

Q: How's fatherhood?

JD: Little Riggs is absolutely amazing. We're so lucky. He sleeps, he eats, he laughs, always smiling. He's sleeping through the night. He's four months and he's been doing it for three months. My wife (Lona) is very good at keeping a schedule.

It's a game-changer. We're joking about having another one and it'll ruin everything.

Q: Does Riggs travel with you to events?

JD: He traveled at 6 or 7 weeks to Florida, drove to Mexico with him for vacation, South Carolina. Texas is coming up and he's going to go to Ohio.

It's fun to have him on the road. Lona does a great job with him and the Tour has a great day care. She can drop him off for four to five hours so she can take a nap or go watch golf.

Q: Apparently there wasn't enough going on, you also moved?

JD: It was something we've worked on for almost three years, closed in July 2020. We only moved five minutes away (in Scottsdale), just a bigger lot and tore down the original house and built our dream home at a younger age than I would have ever imagined.

Lona puts it all together. We got the nursery done right away and the kitchen, but all the things are still in boxes. It's good enough to live in, but it's still a long way from being finished.

Q: Were you at a Kraken playoff game recently?

JD: I was. It was a ton of fun with my cousin Josh, he caddied for me for a little while there. We've actually had season tickets for their first two seasons, but it's the first time I've actually been to it. I split 'em with Josh.

I'm a huge Seattle sports fan. We have Seahawks season tickets and split those with my cousin as well. We go to two to three games a year.

Q: What's been the reaction and impact of the Netflix episode featuring you and longtime friend and caddie Geno Bonnalie?

JD: The Netflix thing ... my life on and off the course, the opportunities that have come my way have been unbelievable. Now there's more stuff going on, I'm recognized more, I'm in feature groups more. It was easy for me to blend in at a typical event. Now the autographs and the stuff all the top guys deal with, I'm dealing with more of that now.

I never imagined Geno's and my story would resonate with so many people. We're just a couple of fun-loving guys from the Inland Empire and it's really amazing to see our popularity rise the way it did. It's all positive, but it's more time and responsibilities. All that means less time at home, less down time and less time to practice. It's a balance I'm working on.

I'm not very good at saying no. I have to really work on my time and what's important, figure that out and I'll see some better results on the course.

Q: Nearly all of the Netflix shows were about superstars and major winners such as Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy. Were you surprised they asked you?

JD: It definitely hit me as a surprise. One of the things when they reached out with this idea, I said no at first. My wife and I didn't necessarily want to be on camera. We're normal people and we play golf and hang out. But as we talked to the producers and figured out all the names signed up for it, holy cow, it'd be a really bad idea to say no. It could be a pretty good thing for our lives and we didn't have anything to hide.

We gave them probably more (access) than anyone else, everyone else was superstars and top 10 players. We had no idea what their plan was, no editing rights or say in that part, but as it was building up and the year goes on, the cameramen and people producing it were like, 'This is good, you're going to blow up.'

A few weeks before it came out, we were able to watch it. It's just a couple of boys growing up together and goofing off. They did a good job of telling our story. We enjoy each other's company and we're living out a childhood dream.

Q: You come across as the guy people would want to play with in their weekend foursomes. Why do you think you and Geno strike a chord with fans?

JD: I hear a lot that I'm a relatable, normal guy, like you would play your Saturday morning game with but I'm just slightly better (at golf). I'm not afraid to have an adult beverage and hang out. You see a lot of guys become robots on the tour, and I understand that. You have to concentrate and focus and you're winning majors and have the drive to be the best in the world.

I don't necessarily have that, but I'm blown away by hanging out (on tour) for seven years and having the success I'm having. I think they see me as an everyman and a normal guy.

Q: You started strong in the fall with three straight top-10 finishes (two in top five) and five top 16s in six tournaments, but it's been a bit of struggle lately. What's going on with your game?

JD: I think there's a strong correlation to being unsettled this last year. Having a kid is just life-changing, moving into a new house is difficult and then with Netflix, it's a lot of distractions for me that I've never had before, very dramatic changes. I don't think I've done a great job of managing that time wisely and that bleeds over to the golf course.

A lot of that is fixable with a little time of managing that. A lot of times my mind has wandered this spring when I'm playing. It's just one of those things I have to be ready to play when I show up. I just did a little work with my coach and I realize I'm not that far off. Alignment is key for me and also staying patient on the course.

I'm not going to go out and shoot a bunch of low 60s. Stay patient and trust the process, it sounds so lame, but I'll be fine. I have a big stretch coming up playing six of seven weeks, two majors and two designated events, so it's big-time golf. I really believe I'm going to have a good stretch."

Q: Do people sometimes forget that you're one of the best players on the planet? Do you?

JD: That's actually pretty accurate. I would say that Geno does a good job reminding me that, 'Hey, you've been in a little slump and you're still in the top 80 in the FedEx Cup.' That gives me a lot of confidence going forward. I did have a good fall.

There's probably times that I do lean into that everyman, kind of having fun, but I would say the fire burns pretty competitively. I'm a little frustrated my game hasn't turned around like it should. Highs and lows in golf, I've been on lower side for a bit, that's the way golf is. You don't stay there for long.

Q: Do people miss the fire, passion, work that you put in?

JD: One hundred percent. People I'm close with, my coach, Geno, they know I have an internal flame that burns pretty good, I wouldn't be where I am if I wasn't competitive. I think my self-deprecation or if I talk about a lack of practice ... if people saw the work I'm putting in, it might be reading a book, or diving down other holes to make myself better.

I'm not good enough to fake it here. At this point, I've done something that a lot of good players do. I do like being unassuming and I'm not always the last one on the range, but I'm still doing a lot of stuff.

Q: What do you make of the PGA's new tournament schedule, some designated events with smaller fields and no cuts, and the FedEx Cup changes. Good, bad or indifferent for you?

JD: It's a little indifferent for me. If I finish top 50 and I'm in all the designated events and majors, playing for $20 million 12 times a year, it's just incredible, but if I miss a cut at another event I still make zero dollars.

I can see where people think it mirrors LIV a little bit, but I think the other way. You're still playing in all of the other events and you're not playing with all the top guys and you're playing for $8, $10 million. You're still playing high-level golf and not always playing against the best players every week. I don't see a real downside to it.'

Q: Do you set goals, whether it's winning X number of times, playing X number of years, playing in a Ryder Cup or winning a major?

JD: I would love to get 10 more years out here. That's maybe a stretch, but it gets me to 45 (years old). I think it would be a hell of a career. My family would be set up and Riggs wouldn't have to worry about a lot growing up and that point I could be with the kids, be their basketball coach, T-ball coach.

If I could get 15 (years) on tour, it'd be pretty great. I do want to win again, I don't want to be a one-hit wonder. I feel like I'll have plenty of chances to do that. There's nothing like when your hands gets sweaty in contention, I want to be part of that. I truly believe the next few years of golf are going to be my best. If I can get the putter to be a little better, I truly believe that.