Blaine Dickens
(April 4, 2011)–Blaine Dickens loves to play golf and keeps his swing tight by staying on the course as much as he can. “I’ve only been playing golf for 4-years and I am self-taught,” he says.
“It all started when I got a hold of a set of my brother’s hand-me down clubs that he used in college. I took them and headed out to a course about ½-mile from my house.”
“At first, I would just stand on the side just chipping and putting. Then, I got some golf videos and magazines and just started playing. My handicap has be as low as a 6,” he says.
Dickens considers himself a ‘down-home’ southern type of guy. He grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana and currently works with the Department of Veteran Affairs and prior to that he worked as a Police officer with the Dallas Police Department and with the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Department.
He served with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, during Operation Desert Storm and he also servers in the Air Force. He is currently in graduate school studying Public Administration and Health Policy at the American Military University with plans to finish in December with an MPA. He also has a Master’s degree from Villanova in Government Contracting.
Dickens is a member of the Louisiana Golf Association, Huntington Park Golf Club, USGA and actually has had breakfast with Charlie Sifford at the U.S. Open in New York.
“I go every year, because my brother does corporate work for Lexus and Charlie was one of the presenters in the corporate tent. Since Lexus sponsored Sifford, I was able to get the opportunity to meet him. It all started when I met Chi Chi Rodriguez (who was with Mr. Sifford).”
“I was sitting at breakfast and Charlie came up and tapped me on the shoulder—asking if anybody was sitting at my table and introduced himself. It was unbelievable! We sat for about 2 hours chatting about golf and having a wonderful breakfast. It made my whole experience,” says Dickens. Sifford is the only African American to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
“I started playing golf because I had some injuries from the military and from my police work and I chose golf to use as a walking exercise for health reasons.”
“Along the way, I learned to develop my game. I have never worked with a personal coach, but in Las Vegas this past January while at the Callaway Center looking to buy a hat, I struck up a conversation with Bob Lawrence (an online writer for Callaway) and spent several hours in the lobby of the Callaway Center giving me an impromptu lesson. It made all of the difference in the world,” says Dickens.
Dickens is also getting ready to start playing in some local tournaments. “I have already played at the Minority Business Owners tournament in Dallas (TX). 
I borrowed my brother’s new golf clubs this time and showed up sharp as a tack, with a tour bag and everything, looking like a real pro.
At tee-off, I made good contact, but the ball probably didn’t even go 50 yards. It hit the water and a whole gaggle of geese,” he says. The embarrassing episode stopped him from playing for three years.
Dickens has a positive attitude about his game development and will surely have an exciting season this year.
