Before this month, Kyle Martin probably thought playing golf for Team USA while in college was a foreign concept.
Now, golf is about to take him to a foreign country.
Martin, 22, has accepted an invitation to represent his country in the 2014 World University Championships in June, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Is there a better way to leave America for the first time than to compete with the national team?
“I’ve never even been out of the country before, so it’s a pretty neat experience for me,” Martin says.
The invitation, which he accepted on Feb. 12, was just the icing on the cake for the Plant City native’s highly successful senior season. This tournament, which will be held from June 21 to 28, will be a nice way for Martin to transition into his post-collegiate hopes of going pro.
FROM THE BACK YARD TO BREVARD
Martin was born and raised in Plant City, and it didn’t take very long to pick up the game. At 2 years old, he was taking swings in the yard and learning about the game from his father. When he was 6 years old, he started competing in tournaments — and even won one. He never looked back, citing both his father and grandfather as huge influences on his love of the game.
He played for the Plant City Raiders throughout his high school career, constantly improving his skills. In 2008, Martin was named Hillsborough County Senior MVP and was also named First-Team All-Conference in 2008 and 2009.
After graduation, he chose to play for Brevard Community College and was named an NJCAA All-American in 2010 and 2011. Despite his success at Brevard, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to be there.
“I went to Brevard, and then took a year off to figure out what I really wanted to do,” Martin says. “I did know that I wanted to play golf, and I wanted to finish my last two years while playing.”
So, he sought the guidance of one of his former Brevard teammates, Matthew Jenkinson, who had transferred from Brevard to Southeastern University, in Lakeland for his senior season, encouraged Martin to talk to coach Steve Phelps.
“After I looked into it and talked to coach Phelps, I decided that was what I wanted to do (too),” Martin says. “It’s not a Division I school, but I liked that they play year-round, and the competition is still really good.”
He did not get to play with Jenkinson again, because his old teammate had graduated, but he didn’t take long to realize he had made the right choice.
SUPER SENIOR
Martin’s first season with Southeastern, his junior year, ended on a high note: He finished third overall at The Sun Conference Championship, which helped his team win the overall title and move on to NAIA Nationals.
That gave him some good momentum going into his senior year, and he’s played well. Following a ninth-place finish at the Florida Open in July 2013, Martin was one of 312 amateur golfers chosen to compete in August’s U.S. Championships.
Although he didn’t finish quite as well in that tournament, he made up for it on Feb. 4 at the Titan Winter Invitational at Suntree Country Club. In that event, Martin closed out strong by shooting a personal-best 62 in the final round — not only setting a new school record, but also setting the new course record. That helped SEU finish in fifth-place overall but first among NAIA schools. Eight days later, he accepted the invitation to play in Switzerland.
“The U.S. Championship in August was pretty big, but this is going to be bigger,” Martin says. “I’ll be playing for the country and playing for the school, too.”
FOLLOWING FOOTSTEPS
Martin isn’t the first Plant City athlete to compete in this overseas tournament. Coincidentally, the last one to do it was one of Martin’s Brevard roommates and teammates — Spencer Baldwin — four years ago.
That year, the tournament was held in Spain. Baldwin doesn’t remember exactly how well he finished but still considered it a good experience.
“That was my first time out of the country,” Baldwin says. “It was a little shocking, too, coming from Plant City — it was a different world over there. I’ve been telling Kyle to embrace the moment, because you never know when it will happen again.”
Martin, who will be making the trip alone, has been checking out the course — the Severiano Ballesteros course, where the Omega European Masters tournament is held.
“I’ve seen pictures of the course, and it’s really cool,” Martin says. “All around the course, there are these big mountains. I want to see them.”
And that’s about as much sightseeing as Martin has planned. He’s focused on competing with Team USA, which comprises of six golfers — three NAIA, three JuCo — and coaches Greg Hutton and Paul Chavez. He has plenty of support from his friends, family and coaches, too.
“I was very excited when I heard,” Baldwin says. “I know that, when I got invited to it, it made me think about the people that helped me get there, and I know his grandfather had a big influence on him. I know he works really hard on his game, so it’s good to see him get rewarded for working so hard.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
TOURNAMENT INFO
The 15th 2014 World University Golf Championship will be held from June 21-28 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, at the Severiano Ballesteros course. The tournament is governed by the rules of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews and features a men’s and women’s championship.
Countries can enter six men and five women for individual competition, and four men and three women for team competition. The three men and two women with the best results in each day will count for the classification by team per day and, in case of a tie, “sudden death” rules apply.