Ryan Blaum on music, surfing and life beyond golf

Ryan Blaum didn’t want to just sit around and play video games. He had just graduated from Duke and was in the process of getting his golf career off the ground. He had some down time, though, and he was looking for something worthwhile to do. “Duke is one of the rare universities where you get out of college and you have more time on your hands because of how much school and golf took up,â€� he explains. “So, I was trying to pick up some hobby that was productive. I didn’t want to play Halo on my Xbox.â€� A friend of his who was in a band suggested Blaum learn to play the drums. But not just any drum. He helped Blaum buy a djembe, which is a rope-tuned, skin-covered goblet drum from West Africa. Blaum was still living in Durham, North Carolina at the time. He volunteered with the Athletes in Action at Duke and as it turns out, he could incorporate the djembe into that campus ministry. And it’s hard to imagine an instrument better suited to worship leading. The name djembe comes from the Bambara saying “Anke Dje, ank beâ€� – which means: everyone gather together in peace. “I had no idea what I was doing,â€� admits Blaum, who was part of a trio with the other two playing the guitar. “Usually the percussion player kind of sets the beat and leads. Well, when you’re a rookie like I was I kind of just following the veteran doing my own thing.â€� The djembe, which stands about 30 inches tall, is a versatile drum. A skilled player like Blaum can produce at least three distinct sounds – bass, tone and slap – depending on how and where the drum is struck. “You basically kind of put it between your legs and play like that,â€� Blaum says. “So it’s like tilted out and then you can play and there’s different kind of noises and stuff you can make based off where you hit on the drum. “Like the middle of it would be more like the bass kind of sound and (when you) hit the outskirts (it’s) kind of like hitting wood like where to tap a guitar.â€� Blaum says he can’t sing “worth a lickâ€� but he’s always enjoyed the instrumental side, an interest he got from his grandfather, who played the trumpet. In fact, Blaum played the saxophone in high school– he was first chair in the band at Westminster Christian in Miami that won the state title. He still has the saxophone, too. “Christmas time I tend to bring it out and just do a private show for my wife, just play some Christmas songs — even like ‘Amazing Grace’ is probably my favorite thing to play,â€� Blaum says. The second-year PGA TOUR pro’s current hobby is far removed from music, though. He bought a surfboard last summer and “that’s kind of what happens when I have time on my hands,â€� Blaum says. An estimated “20 handicap at surfing,â€� Blaum nonetheless was able to get up on a board the first time he tried it. He also did some skimboarding when he was growing up in Miami. “The getting up aspect and balance aspect is actually great for golf and kind of translates,â€� he says. “You go, you can be out there alone in nature kind of like when we practice on our own. “There’s a lot of things that are parallel. It’s cool.â€� The Jacksonville Beach area in Florida near where Blaum lives has good waves – “probably top three of the East Coast,â€� he says. Right now, though, he’s most comfortable on the sand beaches of his home state. “Lot of places that I want to go are surf underneath breaking over a reef,â€� Blaum says. “I’m not experienced enough for that yet. I need to be smart about it.â€� Not that he’s ready for one or anything but Blaum has a working knowledge of surfing competitions, too. In an interview when he played in the Wyndham Championship, he mentioned an event being held the same week on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. “I kind of watch that,â€� Blaum says. “I envy those guys. But I take them to play golf and they envy me.â€�

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