About Jaacob Bowden & His History

About Jaacob

Professional golfer Jaacob Bowden, PGA stands atop Riverside Park with the Ambassador Bridge and downtown Detroit in the background

Full Name: Robert Jaacob Bowden
Height: 6'2" (1.88m)
Weight: 215 lbs (97.5kg or 15.3 stone), fluctuating from around 202 to 236 lbs
Birthdate: 04 January 1976 (Capricorn)
Birth time: 15:09
Birthplace: Festus, Missouri, USA
Residence: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Places Lived: Missouri, Kansas, California, Arizona, Switzerland, New York, District of Columbia, Michigan
Family: Wife, Jennifer (m. 2006 in Maui, Hawaii)
Formal Education: University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis 1993-1998, St. Pius X High School 1989-1993
Special Interests: Playing Sports (Golf, Tennis, Weights, etc), Travel, Nature, Animals, Self-Help & Spirituality

DNA Testing

Although DNA research databases are still growing, and DNA only shows half the picture from what you inherited from each parent, there does seem to be consensus amongst two major testing companies that, minus a bit of Native American, Jaacob largely traces back in recent centuries from the US (in part via French Canada) to the region around Northwestern Europe…after, of course, all of our species expanded out of Eastern Africa.

Ancestry DNA (updated 22 October 2024):

47% Germanic Europe (primarily Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Switzerland but also Czech Republic, Hungary, Netherlands, and Slovenia)
21% Sweden
19% England & Northwestern Europe (primarily Channel Islands and England but also Belgium, France, Germany, Isle of Man, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Wales)
5% Denmark
3% Cornwall
3% Wales
1% Finland
1% Central & Eastern Europe (primarily Austria, Belarus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine but also Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, and Serbia)

23andMe DNA (updated 22 October 2024):

35.4% French & German (Germany & Switzerland)
22.3% Broadly Northwestern European (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Iceland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom)
18.9% British & Irish
18.2% Scandinavia (Sweden)
3.4% Eastern European (Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Belarus, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine,
0.7% Finnish
0.4% Indigenous American
0.2% Bengali & Northeast Indian (Bangladesh, Nepal)
0.2% Broadly Northern West Asian (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq, Iran)
0.2% Iranian, Caucasian, and Mesopotamian (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey)
0.1% Unassigned

Charities

Supporting charitable work is important to Jaacob.

Currently, each month he and his wife both volunteer and also support a number of charities that get a high percentage of money through to making impact, both locally in Detroit and across the US and globe. These include but aren't limited to the following:

ALS Association - Jaacob's aunt and Jen's grandma both passed from ALS
Breast Cancer Research Foundation - multiple friends and family have had breast cancer
Hubbard Richard Resident's Association - Jaacob and Jennifer's local neighborhood association in which Jennifer serves on the board of directors
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation - Jaacob's Dad along with several other people he knows have passed from multiple myeloma
National Parks Foundation - nature and parks are incredibly important to Jaacob
The Conservation Fund - similarly the environment is also very key to Jaacob
The Green Party of the United States - a political party for people and the planet…focusing on peace, ecology, social justice, and democracy

History

Jaacob Bowden has always had a love of sports and fitness. As a child Jaacob played competitive soccer, cross country, basketball, baseball, track and field, tennis, golf…and dreamt about playing in the NBA or MLB. Although he played NAIA Division II basketball and was invited to a tryout at the Metrodome for the Minnesota Twins, after pharmacy college Jaacob thought any aspirations to become a Professional Athlete were gone and thus he began working as a computer engineer in St. Louis and then Kansas City.

Jaacob Bowden dunks a basketball on a court in Lenexa, KS in 2002

Jaacob Bowden poses in a fitness magazine and demonstrates exercises in 2002

Jaacob Bowden poses during a fitness model photo shoot in a pool in 2002

Jaacob Bowden shows off his abs during a fitness model photo shoot in 2002

In 2003, uninspired in his daily work and realizing that playing golf gave him tremendous satisfaction, Jaacob traded in his corporate career to pursue the dream of becoming a Professional Golfer. This was despite then being a 27 year old average golfer who typically drove the ball 220-275 yards/drive.

After moving from the Midwest to California, Jaacob was taken under the wing of Dan Shauger who introduced Jaacob to Guinness World Record Long Driver Mike Austin. Jaacob progressed quickly and in July of 2003 won the Pinnacle Distance Challenge using the Mike Austin swing with a televised drive of 381 yards.

Jaacob Bowden won the 2003 Pinnacle Distance Challenge with a 381-yard televised drive

Over the next few years, he continued to compete in long drive in 2006 and 2007, winning multiple qualifiers for the World Long Drive Championships, including a grid-record 421-yard blast at a World Local Qualifier in Temecula, California.

In 2007, Jaacob shot his first tournament round in the 60s as a professional at the Long Beach Open, using single length irons.

Between 2005 and 2012, Jaacob competed in approximately 30 weeklong tour events around the world in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa, making multiple cuts and shooting many rounds in the 60s and 70s.

Jaacob Bowden made the cut during a tour event in Poland in 2008

Jaacob Bowden hits an 8-iron on a par-3 during British Open Qualifying in England

Jaacob Bowden assesses a putt during a tour event in Morocco in 2010

Jaacob Bowden tees off during a tour event held in Morocco in 2010

Jaacob is a 4-time competitor in the Speedgolf World Championships.

In 2012, Jaacob took 5th place at the CBS-televised Speed Golf World Championships at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.

Jaacob Bowden runs on to the putting green on his way to a 5th place finish at the 2012 Speedgolf World Championships at Bandon Dunes

In 2013, he shot the World Championship record for low golf round with a 72 in 55 minutes and 42 seconds using only 6 clubs.

Jaacob Bowden hits a bunker shot during the 2013 Speedgolf World Championships at Bandon Dunes

In 2018, he took 11th place for Team USA in the ISGA World Cup with fellow team member Garrett Holt, PGA.

Garrett Holt and Jaacob Bowden took 11th place for Team USA in the ISGA World Cup

But not only is Jaacob a great player, he has ventured in to other areas of the game as well.

He comes from a family of teachers and has been blessed with the gift of being able to help others with their golf games as well. His background in physics, calculus, anatomy, kinesiology, and physiology from the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis Doctorate program has ended up serving him well as an athlete and a teacher…and has helped him lead an injury-free golf career.

Jaacob Bowden demonstrates how to hit bunker shots to a group of students during a golf holiday in Marrakech, Morocco in 2011

Jaacob Bowden works with a fellow pro on Trackman

Jaacob Bowden performs a shot demonstration during a clinic at Golfpark Thalwil in Switzerland in 2012

Jaacob is a Class A member of the PGA of America and became a Top 100 Most Popular Instructor.

Jaacob founded and contributes regularly to Swing Man Golf, an instructional/training website with thousands of buying customers and millions of video views on it's YouTube Channel.

Jaacob is also considered to be the world's leading expert when it comes to swing speed training, working with both amateur, professional golf, and long drive clients who routinely pick up 12-16 mph (30-40 yards) of additional driver swing speed in their first 30 days of training.

Jaacob Bowden helps a fellow golf professional during a swing speed training clinic for the Swiss PGA in 2013

From 2013-2015, Jaacob was the Official Swing Speed Trainer for the Swing Thought TOUR and in 2015-2016 he was the Official Swing Speed Trainer for the Michael Breed Golf Academy in New York.

He has taught on the subject of swing speed training for the Swiss PGA and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology…and he created a Swing Speed Training certification program for PGA Professionals, coaches, and trainers, which is available online at Swing Man Golf.

Jaacob Bowden has a laugh with a group of Swiss PGA pros during a swing speed training clinic

Additionally, Jaacob is a Senior Writer at GolfWRX and wrote GolfWRX's two most viewed articles of all time…and his 2011 golf tips e-book reached #1 on Amazon.com's Bestsellers in Golf.

Jaacob Bowden is a Senior Writer at GolfWRX

He has caddied on the PGA TOUR as well as the PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS.

John Daly and Jaacob Bowden have a chat during the 2017 Senior PGA Championship

And he is the visionary of Sterling Irons® single length irons, whose first generation sold from 2016-2021 brought the world of single length irons to an entirely new level!

Jaacob is the co-creator & original visionary of Sterling Irons® single length irons

In The Media

Jaacob has been featured, interviewed, a guest, etc in virtually every major platform in golf media.

11/22/16 - Listen to Jaacob being interviewed on Golf Channel Live Extra with Matt Adams on Fairways of Life.

Also check out Jaacob's interview with the Golf Channel's Casey Bierer here.