After tough year, Joel Dahmen feels his game is ‘clicking’ after a little practice

Practice makes perfect.

Joel Dahmen might be learning that the hard way after a taxing year on the course.

In 2023, the world No. 174 became a household name after being featured on the Netflix series “Full Swing.” However, the name recognition didn’t come with success on Tour. The affable Dahmen has one top-10 this year and has missed 12 of 28 cuts.

But after 36 holes of the Sanderson Farms Championship, the 35-year-old is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, sitting T-16, six shots off the lead at 8 under following rounds of 69-67.

“I’ve struggled a lot with golf recently, so it was nice to keep it together,” he said.

What’s been the spark of Dahmen’s improved play? Nothing extensive — just a little practice.

“It’s amazing what happens when you work with your golf coach at home and you hit a couple balls,” said the 2021 Corales Puntacana Championship winner. “I had a great lesson with him last week and played really well at home with some buddies on a Thursday, and I was like, ‘I think this is kind of clicking, coming together.’ You never know until you bring it out here, but it’s working.”

Part of the equation is Dahmen’s caddie, Geno Bonnalie. Their tight-knit relationship was on full display in the Netflix series. And their camaraderie is still going strong, as after the second round, Dahmen playfully said, “Today the ball went in the hole. My amazing caddie Geno gave me a couple reads today, so that was good. Gave me some terrible reads, like usual, but it was nice.”

This week, however, Bonnalie is taking on an additional assignment, making his debut on the PGA Tour Live broadcast during Friday’s afternoon wave.

“Geno is exceptional at that stuff,” Dahmen said. “He did a little bit last year. Just some of the commentary that he has with me, I hope that he gets to show on the broadcast. He’s going to be great.”

As Dahmen hopes to continue his upward trajectory, he’ll first spend the rest of his Friday watching Bonnalie perform his broadcasting duties. Then, the two will look to continue climbing up the leaderboard on Saturday.

But however they fare this week, Dahmen feels he’s unlocked the not-so-secret secret to better golf.

“Maybe there is something to hitting golf balls and practicing a little bit,” Dahmen said. “We’ll just keep going down that route.”