How a local legend inspires US Amateur Noah Kent

CHASKA, Minn. – Noah Kent is not afraid to admit that it bothers him. But it also inspires him.

The rising Iowa sophomore may be ranked 560th in the world, but no one watching the 2024 US Amateur would have guessed that based on Kent’s play over the last four days in Minnesota.

“Yeah, I mean, they talk about it, and it’s like he’s 560 in the world, but I know I can beat anybody here,” Kent said Friday. “It doesn’t matter if they’re ranked 1, 1,000, 10, 20 — it doesn’t matter to me. It’s just a game.”

The 19-year-old beat Ethan Fang 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the US Am on Friday at Hazeltine National Golf Club, the latest of his four playoff appearances. He has won two more games 4 and 2 and has yet to play the 18th hole. All of this comes after he shot a six-under 64 at the Chaska Town Course on Tuesday, which allowed him to move into the Top 64 and move into the playoffs after posting a 77 at Hazeltine on Monday.

But since that opening day at Hazeltine – he called it bad swings – no one has been better.

“I didn’t get off to a good start, then I got burned in Chaska,” said Kent on Thursday. “I knew my game, I hit it very far. I don’t get into trouble that often. I would be really hard to beat in a balancing act. I have proven that.”

Kent grew up playing hockey and quit when he was 14, and didn’t start playing golf seriously until his freshman year in high school. (Meeting Rory McIlroy at that time with the help of Kent’s stepfather, course designer Dana Fry, also helped cement his love for the game.) Kent was named first-team all-conference three times and won Southwest Florida Player of the Year. , but the kid from Florida finally found his way to Iowa because he says it was the first school to believe in him and give him a chance.

His 72.8 goals-against average led the Hawkeyes last season and his 63 shots tied for the second-lowest 18-hole mark in team history. He also recorded the three-lowest 54-hole score (202) in school history.

He qualified for the US Junior Amateur last year but was unable to play after breaking his left wrist. Now, in his first US Amateur – with his big drives and hot putter – he’s drawing the competition.

On Friday against Fang, Kent birdied the first 12 and birdied the 11th. He bogeyed the next hole to play the first 12 in seven under. Fang, who went 14-for-11 in the playoffs to lead the game, wasn’t bad — it was tough to beat Kent on Friday.

“I got into the zone early,” he said, “and everything just felt right at the beginning of the round.”

Kent faces Jackson Buchanan of Illinois in the semifinals (their match is at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday). He has about 15 family and friends following him this week, and there may be more on the way. His college coach, Tyler Stith, arrived on Friday, as did a rowdy group that included Kent’s uncle and some of his friends.

“I made a comment to my friend, ‘There’s me in the first game, somebody else is down and they’re all going crazy,'” Kent said.

You play for others and not on the site, either. She texted John Harris every day this week, and they spoke on the phone Friday morning. Harris, who now lives in Naples, Fla., was a star athlete at the University of Minnesota in the 1970s, helping the Gophers men’s hockey team win the 1974 NCAA Division I national championship while also competing as a standout on the golf team.

Harris later won the 1993 US Amateur at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas. He was 43 at the time, and remains the last average player (25 or older) to win the Havemeyer Trophy.

Connected through a former college coach, Kent and Harris have become close, and Kent even calls him a mentor. Harris, 72, is battling health problems but is keeping an eye on things. “I do it for you, Mr. Harris,” said Kent during an interview with the Golf Channel.

Kent has three sets of initials written on his golf glove this week: his, his girlfriend’s, and Harris’s. In their conversation Friday morning, Harris told Kent to keep it simple.

He said: “Keep doing what you are doing. “You’re good enough – and you belong here.”

Josh Behow

Golf.com Editor

As managing editor of GOLF.com, Berhow manages the day-to-day and long-term programming of one of the most widely read news and service websites in the sport. He spends most of his days writing, planning, organizing and wondering if he will ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and two children. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.