From Yale to Q School: James Nicholas's Journey of Dedication

Segment Spotlight: Quick Hits From The Smylie Kaufman Show

From Yale’s Starting Lineup to a Korn Ferry Tour Card

After joining Yale’s golf team as a sophomore, he started the first event of the season and remained in the lineup for every event through graduation. Although the team was not especially strong, stepping directly from football into a Division I golf lineup was still a significant accomplishment.

His guiding motto was, “How I do anything is how I do everything.” That applied to making his bed, picking up trash on the golf course and dedicating himself fully to golf. He did not want to treat the team as a résumé builder before pursuing a job after graduation. Instead, he wanted to give the game everything he had and discover how good he could become.

He averaged around 74 during his sophomore season. The following summer, his father asked whether he planned to get a job. He responded that he wanted to see how good he could become at golf. His family’s arrangement was that he and his siblings did not need internships if they were seriously working toward something. For them, that became sports.

That dedication produced a major leap. He returned for his junior year and won three times, then qualified for the U.S. Amateur that summer. He won three more times as a senior and again made the U.S. Amateur. During the fall of his senior year, he led Division I in scoring.

He still has a screenshot showing James Nicholas ahead of Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff and Stephen Fisk. Seeing his name alongside those players was the first time he felt that he could compete at that level.

By the end of the year, however, he finished near the bottom of the field at regionals. It became a recurring cycle: moments that convinced him he could succeed, followed by humbling results that showed how much work remained.

He signed up for Q-School that year and earned his Korn Ferry Tour card directly out of college. That achievement reinforced his belief that he could pursue professional golf.

The biggest improvement came between his sophomore and junior years. At Yale, he created an accountability system and invited several friends to wake up at 4 a.m., reach the indoor team room by 4:30 and practice until classes began at 9. The plan was to return to the course at 2 p.m. and continue practicing until dark.

Four or five students said they would join him, but he was the only one who arrived on the first morning. At that point, he realized he would have to drive himself. He listened to Eric Thomas and created an accountability board in his dorm room featuring quotes from LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.

The board also included a picture of Woods holding a club twirl after hitting a memorable low draw at the Presidents Cup in California. Looking at the board motivated him every day. He learned a great deal at Yale and remains grateful for his time there.