Sal Rende knows athletic talent when he sees it. The former Chattanooga Lookouts baseball standout is now the hitting coordinator for the farm system of Major League Baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies. The stance, the swing, all the mechanics are there in the big leaguers of tomorrow, and Sal helps hone those skills.
When Sal’s son Derek, now a senior and criminal justice major at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was just a little boy, it didn’t take long to recognize the talent his own son possessed. Although his son grew to love baseball quickly, it was a different sport – golf – which captured his imagination.
“Derek was so interested in golf at an early age,” Sal remembers. “When he was in diapers, he had a little plastic golf club and whacked the ball around the house cross-handed – he had the cutest little swing. As he got older, we had some cut-down clubs made for him. I would let him hit a drive, and we would go out to where my ball was, and he would hit it to the green. He would go out in the backyard and hit the ball continuously – chase it and hit it, on and on. Even then he showed the patience to do what he had to do to improve.”
During winter breaks from the grind of baseball season, Sal and then Lookouts General Manager Bill Lee often hit the links and Derek would accompany them, sometimes riding in a car seat as the golf cart made its way along the course. The boy was destined, it seemed, to make his mark in golf at a young age.
True enough, although Derek was all-district in basketball three times and all-district and all-region in baseball at Soddy Daisy High School, those achievements took a back seat to his prowess as a golfer. Ranked as the top junior golfer in the state of Tennessee and in the top 40 nationally by Junior Golf Scoreboard, he led the Trojans to district and region titles for three straight years and tied for medalist honors at the TSSAA state tournament as a senior. Since then, he has captured the 2007 Tennessee Open and 2008 Tennessee Amateur tournaments while qualifying for the 2007 U.S. Amateur.
In 2009, Derek paced the UTC golf team, coached by Mark Guhne, to a brief, but yet honorable Division I national top ranking, a third-straight Southern Conference team championship, and a top 20 finish in the NCAA tournament.
“Coming out of high school, I knew the UTC program was going in the right direction and the future was bright,” comments Derek, who also credits Council Fire pro Hunt Gilliland with helping him to develop. “I didn’t know how good we could be. It has been pretty amazing to be part of the program these last few years. We have a great group of guys, and everybody pushes each other every day.”
Citing his play from the tee, as well as chipping and putting, as strengths of his game, Derek acknowledges that mental preparation is a key element of golf and that the sport offers unique challenges. “I would say about 75 percent of the game is mental, and in golf you are out there on your own,” he remarks. “My dad has taught me that whatever I am going to do, to work at it, have fun when you’re out there, and always keep a good attitude. We talk about attitude a lot, and that has been tough at times. It is that way in all sports, especially golf.”
Derek rose to one particular challenge when the UTC team reached the NCAA Regionals in Atlanta in 2007 and he had an opportunity to make the national championship tournament field. “I shot an 89, lost all my golf balls, and had to borrow a ball to finish,” he remembers. “I started questioning whether I wanted to play golf again. Then, two or three days after the last round, I went to the State Open with no expectations and ended up winning the tournament by four strokes. Then I said to myself, ‘Maybe I am supposed to play golf.’ ”
Mental toughness and staying power do provide Derek with an edge in competition, thanks in a big way to the work ethic instilled by his father, who demonstrated the commitment and dedication of a professional baseball player. Prior to assuming his present duties with the Phillies organization, Sal played seven seasons in the minor leagues, most of them with Chattanooga, and managed minor league teams for 12 seasons.
“Through the years, Derek spent a lot of time around me during ball season, going to the park every day and going through the workouts and having to do it with the right attitude,” remarks Sal. “He got it ingrained in his mind that you have to work. I remember telling him, ‘You don’t have to practice today, but I’m sure somebody is out there practicing.’ He got to the point where he knew that no matter what I said he was going to have to make himself practice. I knew he had all the physical talent in the world, but that the separator is always what’s going on between your ears.”
For Derek, his expectation is that the mental and physical aspects of the game of golf remain in lock-step. A successful senior season with the Mocs golf team may well be followed by a concerted effort to succeed at professional golf.
“There are a bunch of mini tours out there, and there is also the Q-school, which is held in three stages every fall,” he explains. “If you make it to the final stage and finish in the top 30, you can get your tour card. In a year, I would like to say that I will be getting ready to start my professional golf career. Five years from now, I would love to be on the PGA tour and contending out there. It might come sooner, or later, so I just have to be patient and work hard. So far, any success has been a combination of the support of a great family and a God-given ability to play this game. So, I have been very blessed.”
Certainly, Sal and Toni, his wife of 28 years, recognize that their son has an opportunity that is seldom experienced in athletics, but their real pride transcends sports.
“We are proud of Derek because we know what golf means to him,” relates Sal, “but also because of the way he carries himself around other people and the type of person he is – that is what really makes Toni and me proud. We want him to be wherever he wants to be with golf. I have been through the minor leagues in baseball, and I am sure it is every bit as tough in golf. He will deal with it, and we will be there to support him. It is truly rewarding to see his hard work pay off.”
No doubt, the future holds unknown twists and turns for both the Rende father and son. But for now there is satisfaction in two fine careers, one continuing as a mentor and instructor to up-and-coming major leaguers and the other discovering the possibilities from tee to fairway to green.