MADISON- For most young athletes dreams are made when playing sandlot sports early in their lives with most of those dreams remaining intact into adulthood. For Gary Glassman, his original dream of playing in the National Hockey League was replaced as a young man to include playing on the Professional Golf Tour.

Today, at age 23, Glassman is busy building on his newest dream as a member of the Martin Methodist College golf team and recently won his first ever golf tournament with a two under par 70 at the Old Waverly Golf Course in West Point, Miss. as part of the U.S. Amateur Tour.

“It felt amazing to win my first tournament as there are no words to describe how I felt about knowing all of my hard work paid off,” said Glassman, whose mother was in attendance for the winning hug and trophy presentation. “She was more excited than me.”

As a young boy to parents David and Kim Glassman, hockey was his first love following in his father’s footsteps as the senior Glassman was a player and referee for the sport on the ice. The young Glassman played hockey throughout his life and even played Jr. Hockey as a goalie before deciding he was burned out on the cold ice and took up golf in 2017 playing Point Mallard Golf Course in Decatur as often as possible.

Glassman soon saw he was talented in his new sport and took lessons at Madison Golf Center from both Jimmy Taylor and Billy Eastep. He watched golf on television as often as he could and became enthralled with the sport.

“The more I played, the more I loved it,” said Glassman as he prepares for his senior year with the Red Hawks as the team’s No. 3 player located in Pulaski, Tenn. “I began using my dad’s old set of clubs and finally got my own new set of sticks. I consider myself a long hitter averaging around 300 yards off the tee and good ball striking efforts. I’m best at hitting greens with plenty of accuracy with my iron play. My putter is good as it was with my putter I won the tournament.”

At 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds, he has the physical build of a good, limber golfer. Like his parents, Glassman is an all-round athlete as he plays slo-pitch softball on a travel team handling duties at both second and third base. Due to many years as a hockey player and now a golfer, he has tremendous eye-hand coordination which comes in handy for both of his current sports.

Glassman was named to the Southern States Athletic Conference All-Academic Team and was named to the President’s List at Martin Methodist carrying a 4.0 grade point average. He’s majoring in business management and would love to one day be a professional golfer on the PGA Tour and teach the game he came to love as a young man. The Red Hawks call Canebrake Golf Course in Athens as its home course, which is about a 45-minute drive to Pulaski and a 15-minute jaunt to his home in Madison.

“I pretty much ran my dream most of my life as it was hockey, but now it’s golf,” said Glassman. “Three years ago, I decided to try something new as we are scheduled to return to school Sept. 8. My sister, Jessica, had an offer to play soccer at the school and we asked to visit the golf coach, Tim King, and after an evaluation I was offered a scholarship. My playing college golf at both Jeff State and now Martin Methodist and winning my first tournament has given me reason to think dreams come true.”