The Merritt native’s drive to get there will soon be heightened as he and wife, Casey, will welcome their first child come late September, a baby girl to make it a playing threesome.
The 30-year-old Web.com Tour member has two top-5 finishes this season and sits 39th on the order of merit. The top 25 move on to the parent PGA Tour at year’s end and the next 25 will attempt to survive the Web.com finals, over a gruelling four-week stretch, another route claim their PGA cards.
“There’s a lot of really good players out there,” said Sloan, who is an official Bear Mountain Golf Resort ambassador who is in Victoria this week. “They’re all vying for those 50 spots on the PGA tour next season.
“It’s difficult when you look at it like that, but at the same time you can only focus on what you need to do. That’s what we’re doing this year, focusing on the job at hand, taking care of business and, if we do, we will be one of those 50 or 25 guys at the end of the season.”
Sloan knows what it takes, having played a season on the PGA Tour, before losing that card after the 2015 campaign. His best finish there was tied for 18th at the John Deere Classic.
“My rookie campaign was the same as both Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin,” he said of fellow Canadians and British Columbians, who have since both won on PGA Tour. “I know what it takes to keep your card and have success out there and also to see what they’ve been able to do the last couple years.
“That definitely encourages me to play better and get back out there with them. As good as they are, I know that my potential is just as good as theirs. That’s a good piece of motivation for me to get back out there,” added Sloan.
As far as competing in the cut-throat business of professional golf, Sloan said: “You’ve got to put the work in and you have to sacrifice a little bit. You’re in a work environment that may not be conducive to laughs and giggles, but it’s always nice to do a good job and get rewarded for it. That’s what we do.”
He’s seeing some rewards for his efforts this season.
“We got off to a good start this year so I’m looking forward to the closing stretch and the last half of the season,” he said of taking a break from Web.com Tour this week.
Sloan was on hand at the Langford course on Wednesday, taking part in the second annual ALS Charity — 100 Holes of Golf. The event is inspired by Bear Mountain Golf sales manager Chris Currie, who lost his father, Len, to ALS in 2015.
Along with several other competitors, including director of golf Jordan Ray and Currie, the group completed the 100 holes and raised $11,000 for ALS research and services.
“What better place to come and recharge,” said Sloan, who became an ambassador for the course in 2015 when he made the PGA Tour. “This is my home away from home. I love being here on the mountain.
“I’ve developed a lot of great friendships with guys out here. This golf for ALS raises good money for a charity that hits close to home for Chris Currie. It’s good camaraderie and that’s what makes this community so good.
“They all get behind events like this. For me to come up here, I get to take a week off, recharge my batteries and participate in an event like this that is for a good cause and it’s just good for everybody.”
Sloan, who has earned $59,932 US in 12 Web.com events this year (currently behind the important 25th place mark of $87,973 which Nicholas Thompson holds down), also worked a clinic on Thursday with the Bear Mountain membership.
Now based in Houston with his wife, Sloan will leave Saturday for the next stop in Nashville, which begins five straight weeks of competition.
