Nationwide Tour Insider: Dickerson off to a good start

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Bubba Dickerson has only one win on the Nationside Tour. Will he earn another this season?

Bubba Dickerson's swing, not to mention his mind, is flowing a lot more freely these days.

Dickerson, who not that long ago was one of the top amateurs in the country, is 29 now and has gained experience and knowledge that has helped tremendously. So far in the early goings this season on the Nationwide Tour Dickerson has three quality finishes under his belt.

"It's been a good start," said Dickerson, who is fourth on the money list with just over $80,000 this season.

Dickerson, a former standout at the University of Florida, has improved each tournament -- opening the season with a tie for 16th then tying for eighth before a third-place finish at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open last week. He wound up firing four straight rounds in the 60s in Louisiana, good enough to finish at 11 under for the tournament.

With two weeks off before the next Tour stop at the Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae, Dickerson is content with watching his two children, ages 7 and 5, play baseball.

"It's kind of cool because my 7-year-old is getting competitive and knows when his team wins or loses," Dickerson said. "So it's been fun to be home for awhile before we hit the road again."

Another bonus for Dickerson this season is a clearer mind thanks to an eight-year lawsuit that involved his first agent. The lawsuit finally went to trial last year and now that it's over Dickerson says it's one reason he's playing well in 2011.

"I don't want to say that's the sole reason why I haven't played as well but that was definitely a factor," Dickerson said. What made the lawsuit such a burden was how long the process took and the uncertainly of it.

"I also couldn't talk about it because it was an on-going thing so now that I can talk about it feels like I've had a weight lifted off me," Dickerson said. "I knew I was always in the right but anytime you are involved in something like that it puts undue stress on you."

Dickerson, who got his nickname because his younger brother had a hard time pronouncing "brother", hit the golf world by storm in 2001 when he won both the Western Amateur and the U.S. Amateur in the same summer. He turned professional during his junior year at Florida.

Dickerson spent 2006 and '07 on the PGA TOUR, but lost his card and has spent the last three years on the Nationwide Tour. In 2009 he won his only Nationwide Tour event, the Chitimacha Louisiana Open, but wasn't consistent enough late in the season and wound up 36th on the money list.

Last season, though, was a "lost year," according to Dickerson, as he made just 11 cuts in 28 tournaments and finished a dismal 114th on the Nationwide Tour money list.

"I just went back and I did a lot of searching last year," Dickerson said. "I was working with a bunch of different people with my swing and I decided that I just needed to play golf and not think about it so much."

Dickerson, who admits to always being a feel player, had fallen into the same trap a lot of pro golfers do. They tend to tinker with the swing looking for an edge or more distance.

"I kind of thought back to college and I'd hit a cut shot and somebody would ask me 'How did you do that?'" he recalled about this days at Florida. "And I wouldn't know because I just tended to do that naturally so it was all about feel back then."

Dickerson, who has combined to make $1.4 million with 132 starts on the Nationwide Tour and 64 more on the PGA TOUR, says even though he will turn 30 in May he doesn't feel like too much of a veteran on the Nationwide Tour.

"My wife, Mindy, and I joke that we are the youngest old people in the world," Dickerson said.

As for his outlook on the rest of the season Dickerson plans on changing his approach a little bit.

"I used to play in just about every tournament and that really didn't help me too much," Dickerson said. "So we'll see how the season goes and if I take breaks or whatever. But I don't think we play three weeks in a row until June so I have some time to decide how I'll approach it."

Dickerson, who lives just north of Jacksonville, Fla., admits he's grown up a lot thanks to nine years of marriage and two kids. But he also realizes that a fast start this season has him in a great frame of mind.

"The main thing is staying patient and not to read too much into everything," he said. "I just want to keep it simple."

John Dell has covered golf for the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina for the last 17 years. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR. You can reach him at johndell@triad.rr.com.