Campbell Kennedy鈥檚 journey from young golfer to top-ranked South Florida commit
SAINT AUGUSTINE, Fla. — 鈥淚 love playing sports, all kinds as I was growing up and didn鈥檛 have a favorite, I just wanted to play鈥�. Campbell Kennedy, an 18 year old that lives in St Augustine had dreams of becoming a professional athlete from a young age and his athletic skills were uncovered early. 鈥淚 remember my Dad telling me I could juggle a marble like a soccer ball when I was in diapers鈥�, a feat that most people can鈥檛 do but I welcome you to try. Golf wasn鈥檛 his first choice in sports or even his 2nd or 3rd even though he grew up on the third hole of his neighborhood golf course.
Campbell first played Tee-ball at the age of 5 for two years as an outfielder and then asked to be moved to the catcher position so he could get closer to the action. He loved it and the cool jerseys that he received to wear but was in search of something faster paced. What then came was playing soccer, which he excelled at and eventually was placed as the goalie because he scored too many goals. 鈥淚 loved the offense part of sports and scoring so it was tough being the goalie鈥�.
Finally he played AAU basketball in Jacksonville. Campbell was a solid 3 point shooter and could dribble the basketball well but had not hit his growth spurt yet so was towered over by most of the other players. That鈥檚 when he started playing more golf and fell in love with the sport. 鈥淚 am studying high school virtually so I could get my classwork done early and then spend the rest of the day on the golf range鈥�. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 very good but enjoyed playing so much I kept practicing every day鈥�.
Campbell鈥檚 first competitive golf tournament was in the fall of 2016 on the North Florida Junior Tour. 鈥淚 was the new kid on this tour and didn鈥檛 know anyone but I wanted to see how I would do against more experienced players鈥�. He finished 6th out of 21 players so he was feeling pretty good about his game but his confidence didn鈥檛 last long. He finished last in his next tournament and then 2nd to last to close out the year. 鈥淚 was discouraged but wasn鈥檛 going to quit, even though at times I felt like it鈥�.
He began to make friends with the other players on the NFJG tour and kept practicing and started setting goals, one of which was to win a tournament within the next year. As the spring and summer season kicked off in 2017 Campbell was faced with the opportunity to achieve his first goal and won a junior tournament in Palatka in July. His first golf trophy was now sitting on his bedroom dresser and it was time to get better.
Campbell joined the Golf Academy of North Florida, and under the teachings of owner and founder Dale Clausen things started to change. 鈥淚 learned how to play the game of golf鈥�, so what does this mean? 鈥淚 learned golf etiquette, how to hit different types of shots, course management, and how to score better鈥�. By the end of the 2018 year Campbell won the Player of the Year on the NFJG tour along with 6 other awards, one of which was the Jack Nicklaus award for exemplifying on and off course etiquette, voted on by his peers which meant the most to him.
Next up was playing in some Florida Junior tour events, which hosts some big tournaments and showcases the top junior players in Florida. Some of the alums include Brooks Koepka, Danielle Berger, and Lexi Thompson so he wanted to see how he would fare on this tour. Similar to how his first tour started the FJT had some really good players and he finished 41st in his first tournament. More hard work was in store and he began to see a change in his game, and his height. Campbell sored up and grew 6 inches in 8 months and during his physical growth his golf game grew as well and he started getting noticed by College coaches.
In 2019 he finished in the top 10 in 9 of his 14 tournaments and started playing on the American Junior Golf Association as well as nationally top ranked tournaments and his rankings started to move up. Callaway and Adidas were also recruiting junior golfers and Campbell joined them on their junior golf program. 聽At the end of 2019 he was selected to play on the Florida Cup team which hosts the top junior Florida golfers to play in a Ryder Cup format with North Florida vs South Florida.
鈥淚 love team events and this was a highlight of my short career to date playing with soon to be top college players on both the boys and girls side鈥�. To close out his tournament schedule of 2019 was the AJGA tournament hosted by local PGA professional Billy Horschel at Eagle Harbor Golf Club. Campbell finished 7th and shot the low round in the final round with a 65. The prize that came with that was he would be the standard bearer for Horschel at the Players Championship the following March, and then Covid 19 arrived cancelling the tournament. All golf tournaments were cancelled until the middle of the year and they returned with understandably strict protocols. 鈥淐ollege coaches weren鈥檛 allowed to come and watch so I needed to show my talent through posting good scores and sending videos鈥�.
Campbell was being recruited by some of the nations top college golf programs both in Florida and nationally but regardless he kept coming back to one specific program. 鈥淚 remember playing in an event in the panhandle in the fall of 2020 and shot a 68 in the first round and telling my dad I was ready to commit鈥�. Strict NCAA rules didn鈥檛 allow coaches to communicate with prospective student athletes until June 15th of their junior year in high school so Campbell had a lot of conversations in the summer and fall of 2020.
鈥淚 went down to the parking lot of the hotel we were staying in and called the Assistant coach at The University of South Florida and told him I was ready鈥� The following week Campbell and his dad had a zoom call with the coaches, took a virtual tour of the golf facilities and verbally committed to the school. 鈥淚鈥檓 so excited to be a Bull and play for a top ranked program鈥�. He joins the team in the fall of 2022 which is currently ranked 10th in the nation. 鈥淚f you asked me back in 2016 if I thought a D1 school, let alone USF would recruit me I would say no way, but I wanted that since I started playing鈥�.
Campbell鈥檚 first goal was to win a tournament and then continue setting goals along the way and check them off as he achieved them. 鈥淕olf is a really hard & humbling sport but can be played by anyone.鈥� 鈥淚t is what I love doing and learned more off the course being involved with the sport than on the course鈥� 鈥淎t times It鈥檚 a lonely sport but you can find comfort in solidarity or companionship, it just depends on the day鈥�. Campbell lost his mother to breast cancer when he was 5 and wears a pink ribbon on his hat at every tournament and looks to the sky frequently during his rounds on the course. He doesn鈥檛 share what he says but I assume to know what that is. He is currently ranked 3rd in Florida under the Junior Golf Scorecard for his graduation class and 47th nationally. You might run into him at Marsh Creek playing with his uncle鈥檚 or Grandfather, his dad just loves watching.
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