The famous Michelin star chef, Soo ‘Eric’ Ahn, was once a professional golfer. However, when the demanding life as a golfer filled with back-to-back weekly travel stopped aligning with the Duke University graduate, he chose to dig deeper into his innate talents and found his passion for cooking.

Inspired by his grandmother, the retired professional golfer turned chef worked hard in the realm of the culinary arts and established himself, earning a spot in Top Chef Season 21. But before turning to the food industry, was Ahn able to win a golf tournament?

Soo Ahn’s luck with golf before he tapped into his love for cooking

The Dallas native was a part of the Minor League GOLF Tour and earned a total of $2,963.49 in his career. Fortunately, Ahn could win his third event in the league, the TPC March Open in 2012, with a 7-under-par score of 65. He earned his highest prize money of $1,000 out of the $8,115 prize purse at the TPC at Eagle Trace. Notably, thanks to his nine birdies and two bogeys, he shot to earn three strokes over the runner-up, Alfredo Adrian.

While the executive chef of Adalina could only win on a golf course once, he earned five top-ten finishes between 2011 and 2013 before he turned to his present vocation. But his journey was no fairytale.

Trending

Greg Norman’s LIV Golf Becomes a Laughing Stock in Golf World After Video From Singapore Event Hit the Internet

May 03, 2024 06:30 PM EDT

2024 Volvo China Open: Prize Money Breakdown and Winner’s Payout

May 05, 2024 09:04 AM EDT

2024 LIV Golf Singapore: Prize Money Breakdown and Winner’s Payout

May 04, 2024 07:00 PM EDT

‘Vandalism’: Fans Throw a Fit at Patrick Reed After His ‘Disrespectful’ Locker Room Video Went Viral

May 04, 2024 09:15 PM EDT

2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson: Concerning Final Round Weather Reports Explored

May 05, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Get instantly notified of the hottest Golf stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

His career as executive chef had rather humble beginnings, with him starting up with serving and bartending. He soon followed up his newfound passion with a degree in culinary arts from Johnson and Wales University.

Thereafter, he tried his luck at EL Ideas, Grace, The Ritz-Carlton, and even the Band of Bohemia. But luck knocked on his door when he entered the newly opened Gold Coast restaurant Adalina, which famously features contemporary Italian plates. But in his move to a glorious future studded with Michelin stars, could the former pro golfer find any similarities to his even greener past?

Ahn’s take on the similarity between life as a golfer and as a chef

A training in the game of golf enlightened Ahn’s present in more ways than one. Even though they were miles apart, the basic tenet of hard work over talent that the former pro golfer learned acted as a beacon of light in his much newer passions, born in the kitchens of fancy restaurants.

In his words, “Hard work beats talent any day, and nothing is ever given to you. It hasn’t been in my culinary career, and it wasn’t in golf, either—I was always practicing more than the guy next to me, and I try to do the same in my role as a chef. For me, it’s about coming in earlier than everyone else, staying longer, and seeing what more I can do to help me advance in my endeavors. That is definitely something I have taken with me from my golf experience.”

While his golf experience has served him right till now in the periphery of restaurants, it remains to see if the same would be true on a much bigger stage of Top Chef.