CHASKA, Minn. – Sunday morning at Hazeltine National Golf Club and a cool breeze danced around the two contenders preparing to face off against each other. Noah Kent out of Naples set up to compete against World number 10, Jose Luis Ballester, in the U.S. Amateur Championship Match.
Kent, a sophomore at the University of Iowa, was winning on the Florida Junior Tour only two years prior to this moment. Yet, in the meantime, he also suffered what easily could have been a career-ending injury. So, to say that Kent was grateful to be standing on the tee of a National event preparing to face off for one of the most coveted amateur trophies in golf, would be an understatement. In fact, Kent told Golf Digest that, “It was all up here in my heart.” The Naples native broke his wrist in an ATV accident last summer which forced him to withdraw from the first USGA event he ever qualified for, the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. Yet, in that same statement he declared, “I have more drive and belief in myself now. I feel like I just want it a lot more than I used to.” After an 11-week recovery period, Kent entered into his Freshman year at the University of Iowa where he is a member of the Men’s Golf Team. Kent was only one of two players on the team to compete in every tournament for the entire Fall and Spring season.
Golf is a peculiar game in that on occasion, time off (whether forced or not), can be the best remedy. This notion certainly proved true for Kent who not only made a mark his freshman year at Iowa, but also played some truly remarkable golf in the marathon of the U.S. Amateur. Kent defeated Jackson Buchanan in the Semifinals to advance to the Championship match. He proved how much fight he had bottled up within as the match lasted the entire 36 holes, despite being four down after 18 holes. The match lasted until the 36th hole where Jose Luis Ballester ultimately won 2up. In a statement to the USGA, Kent said, “I fought like crazy out there… You can hang your head coming in second, but to fight like that, I talked to Mr. [John] Harris, it’s like, if you fight, you know in your heart you’re not going to be upset. If you don’t fight, it’s going to leave you haunted.” Yet, Kent did not walk away from the U.S. Amateur empty handed. With his spectacular play came a silver medal, an exemption into the 2025 U.S. Open, and likely an invitation to the Masters Tournament, as well as exemptions into the next three U.S. Amateur Championships.
Kent has a unique story, one that is very much his own. The injury igniting a fire within and releasing his unmistakable talent to the world of golf. However, before the injury, college, and his U.S. Amateur debut, Kent was playing on the Florida Junior Tour. In 2022, he captured a win at the FJT Skyview Open and secured a top-10 finish at the 68th Boys’ Junior Championship. In addition, he captured three top-10 finishes in six events played in 2021, which included a second place finish at the FJT Florida State University Major.
The FSGA is proud to provide a starting place on the Florida Junior Tour to jumpstart the careers of future college golfers and players making the leap to the national stage. Watching these young golfers carve their path through the Florida Junior Tour, to college, to having success on the national stage, is a rewarding experience that never grows old for us here at the FSGA.
