Mulbe Dillard IV has got game. The Chicago native and Florida A&M University golf teamcaptainearlier this month won first place at the Championship Flight, Golfweek amateur tournament at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.
“The course was set up extremely tough. The conditions that we had for the first day were 100 percent not ideal. We were playing in 40-degree weather, it was raining, and the second day was about 50 degrees with a little bit of overcast and it was pretty windy,” Dillard said. “The conditions were not great, but I was able to play well and pull out the win by a pretty significant number of strokes, I ended up winning by 12 strokes.”
Dillard has been playing golf for nearly his whole life. He first picked up a golf club at the age of 2. He then started playing in golf tournaments around the age of 6 but he says he really didn’t take golf seriously until after a conversation with his dad, Mulbe Dillard III.
“I was probably 10 or 11 and I was talking to my dad and at this time I wasn’t playing the best golf, I was always finishing middle to last of my tournaments and my dad actually told me if you want to take this seriously you’re going to have to put in a little more effort.” Dillard said. “He had been taking off work to take me to tournaments over the summer, after he had that pep talk conversation with me, it was almost like I turned into a completely different person and that’s when I started talking golf seriously.”
Dillard’s father can attest to his son putting more work into his game.
“He would hit and chip balls 20 minutes before practice, practice for two hours, and work on his swing for a half hour with his coach after practice. He did this two to three times per week in the off season for seven months and has never missed a practice,” his father said.
Dillard was recruited heavily in high school but chose FAMU over other schools and golf programs. FAMU’s School of Business and Industry and the school’s diversity that helped him make what he calls the best decision he’s ever made.
“I chose FAMU specifically for the school of business and also for golf and because I wanted to see a different end of the stick. I went to a mostly white middle school, my high school was a little bit more diverse, so for college I wanted to see all sides of how schooling was. I definitely wanted to go to an HBCU and coming to FAMU was the best decision I’ve ever made,” Dillard said.
FAMU men’s golf coach Mike Rice spoke highly of Dillard and how significant his leadership is.
“We are fortunate that he picked FAMU. He works his butt off but more importantly he is such a leader. He’s been our captain for the last two years going on three,” Rice said. “It was really a role that he decided to take on, it wasn’t something where I reached out to him, he stepped up and became the leader and captain of the team. The success that he has had is from how hard he works.”
Due to the effects of COVID-19, Dillard’s senior season was postponed until spring. But that hasn’t stopped him from competing and staying in golf mode.
“I’m competing in these amateur tournaments just because I love competing and I want to be able to keep that competition in the back of my head for when we do play that I’m ready and still have that tournament mindset in my head,” Dillard said.
For more information on the FAMU men’s golf team and its upcoming spring season, go to: www.FAMUAthletics.com.