WELL-TAUGHT
Sandia Golf Club teaching pro Nick Knee is inspired by his father
As a very athletic youngster, Nick Knee was wise beyond his years.
He truly understood work ethic. He knew it was a necessity for success — in sports, in school, in life.
“We all knew that from a very young age,” said Knee, 29, a teaching pro at Sandia Golf Club who specializes in instructing junior golfers. “My parents really instilled that into us. My dad (Steve Knee) always taught us to strive for our dreams, whatever they might be. My dad was a man of character. He taught us that we shouldn’t be afraid to be different; to try to accomplish whatever dreams we had. ‘Be someone you want to be, not what others want you to be.’ “We’ve all lived like that.” The “we” being Knee, his five siblings and his mother, Helen.
“The kid just works nonstop,” Helen said of Nick. “He’s pretty much been
like that his whole life. When he sets his mind to doing something, he achieves it. All my kids are like that.”
Nick’s dad, Steve Knee, was his coach in Little League, YAFL and for a while on the La Cueva High football team.
Steve was also Nick’s life coach. Until Steve’s life ended with a heart attack at age 44 during Nick’s senior year of high school.
“I was on the golf course when Nick called me and told me,” said Nick’s best friend, Justin Dahrling. “I drove to his house right away. I remember hugging his mom, and she asked me talk to Nick in his room. She said he didn’t want to talk to anybody else.”
Nick dedicated everything he did to his late father, who was an electrical engineer. And come December, tears rolled down his cheeks as he cradled the blue state championship trophy he and his La Cueva football teammates had won — dismantling Clovis 40-0 on the road in the title game — like he was cradling his father.
“My family and I have been saying all season, ‘Do it for dad,’” Knee said that day. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s what we did.”
Nick was a wide receiver/ defensive back at La Cueva. Despite his stature, the 5-foot-5, 145-pound Knee could deliver a hit — as could all the Bears, who went 13-0 and allowed just 21 points all season.
“He had a good nose for the ball,” said Dana Lehner, the executive director of the Sun Country Golf Association PGA, then an assistant football coach at Del Norte. “He was a lot of fun to watch. Once I met him through Justin (Dahrling), I found out he was just as good a person as an athlete. I have never seen him in a bad mood.
“I’ve always been one of his biggest fans, and we’re very fortunate to have him in our section. He’s a phenomenal teaching pro and inspiration to our kids.”
Knee was also a high-scoring guard on the La Cueva basketball team. But golf?
“Never,” Knee, now 5-8, 150 pounds, says with a laugh. “I never even considered it until Justin convinced me when we were seniors.”
Dahrling, also a multisport athlete who had been on the same Steve Knee-coached teams with Nick since they were kids, was part of La Cueva’s golf dynasty in the early 2000s.
When basketball season ended his senior year, Nick joined Dahrling on the links.
“I was so bad at golf,” Knee said. “I was just trying to make contact. But then came that one good shot, and I was hooked.”
That shot came on Acoma No. 6 at Tanoan Country Club — where the Dahrlings were members — a par 3 over water.
“It was a 5-iron from about 160 yards out,” Knee says. “I was determined not to hit it in the water. It gave me that ‘Wow factor.’ It’s what brings every golfer back.”
Knee didn’t just return. He committed to taking that old set of clubs Dahrling loaned him and becoming a topnotch player.
Knee got a job at Sandia Golf Club on the service staff. Meanwhile, the Dahrling family worked with Knee on his game.
“When it comes to golf, I really owe the Dahrlings everything,” Knee said.
Knee and Justin Dahrling attended New Mexico State as freshmen and were roommates before Knee came back to Albuquerque and got a degree from CNM.
“But I really wanted to do what Justin was doing,” Knee said. “He was in the (Pro Golf Management) program at New Mexico State, studying to be a golf pro.”
Knee worked his way up the ladder at Sandia while studying to become a member of the PGA. He received PGA Class A status in 2013 and got a job at Royal Oaks Country Club in Houston.
“It was a good experience working with the private sector,” he said, “but Sandia and Albuquerque have always been home to me. I’ve always felt the need to get back.
“(Sandia director of golf) Matt Molloy and (head pro) Matt Long have given so much to me, and I wanted to give something back to them and the community.”
Knee returned to Albuquerque this spring and is one of the section’s top players. But his primary focus is working with junior golfers.
“He is just great with kids,” said Zac Haas, whose daughter, Adelyn Haas, started lessons with Knee three years ago at age 4. “He provided an environment that she really enjoyed because he’s so relatable.”
Knee’s wife, Daniele, and their 5-year-old son, Nixon, are scheduled to move back to Albuquerque from Houston soon. Daniele is a teacher and needed to finish the semester.
Daniele and Nick are expecting their second child in December.
Meanwhile, Nick spends countless hours at Sandia but still finds plenty of time for his mom and siblings, Peter (age 33), Danielle (31), Amanda (27), Ciara (23) and Kristiana (21).
And there is his other hobby, not one typically associated with golfers.
“There’s a lot of training, but it’s just a matter of trying to find time,” Knee said of his competing in marathons. “Sometimes, it’s early morning or late at night. But I love running. I took it up just before my son was born. It really clears my mind.”
Knee has finished three full marathons and a number of half-marathons. He plans to compete in the Dopey Challenge in January at Walt Disney World in Florida.
“It’s four races in four days,” he said. “There’s a 5K, a 10K, a half-marathon and a full marathon. I’m going to do all four and try to raise money for either autism or cancer.
“I have been blessed with being able to participate in so many athletics. There are many who can’t, and I really want to do it for them.”
Similar to ‘doing it for dad,’ and so many others Knee has already touched in his young life.