Kody King, who has won the Austin City Championship and is the winner of the Austin Amateur Championship points race for the last three years, has decided to turn professional. Shown here with the 2013 Bluebonnet Cup Trophy, he is headed to his first professional tournament Wednesday of this week. The tournament is the Golfcrest Classic on the Adams Tour and it is being held in Pearland, Texas, just south of Houston. To track the Adams Tour and Kody’s progress, click here.
When asked why he is turning professional he commented that the timing was right with respect to several factors. First, he has wanted to play profession golf for a while and his wife and family are supportive of this endeavor. Second, the company he worked for recently sold and his contract was up. He has just turned 28 and feels like the timing is right to give it a try.
We asked, What do you have to do to turn professional? He said “Well, you just start signing up for tournaments as professional. I’ve played in a few Adams Tour events as an amateur and now I’m doing so as a professional.”
Having missed the 2013 qualifying schools for the PGA and Web.Com tours he will spend 2014 playing mostly on the Adams Tour. That tour hosts events in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas. These are 72 hole events with a 36 hole cut, similar to PGA and Web.Com events.
King views this season as mostly a preparatory stage for the larger tour qualifying schools in the fall. He says the experience will help him and he can do some Monday qualifiers for the Web.com tour during this season.
With respect to the current condition of his game he commented: “It’s good because I’m playing a lot. I am a lot more consistent now because I’m practicing a lot more. I am concentrating mostly on the short game, although the long game is good as well. I went through a club fitting process that has helped my ball flight and my confidence.”
In the bag now are a Ping Answer Driver with an Oban Kyoshi shaft that has produced a launch angle and spin rate that he feels is appropriate for him. He said “It’s easier to hit straight and I’m a little longer with this club.
He’s playing Titleist irons with a special dynamic gold shaft and is putting with a Scotty Cameron Newport II. Although the putter has been in the bag for years, the fitting process flattened out the lie of the putter so it soles properly. He’s made no changes in the putting stroke.
King indicated that he will miss playing in Austin amateur tournaments but he feels that the local golf scene has helped him learn how to win and he’s excited about trying to become a professional golfer.
His home course is Great Hills Country Club and he says he has been wearing that course out trying to get ready.
We all wish Kody the best in his new adventure.
Robby Ormand, also of Austin will be in the field in Houston. Ormand won the Kandy Waters Memorial Classic in 2012, shooting 21 under par. See the story here.
