By Kennedy Bodiford, PGA
When I was 10 years old, I had just decided to quit playing softball and was spending too much time around the house while driving my mom crazy. My dad decided to go to the driving range and practice, which he didn’t get to do very often, and my mom told him to bring me along too. I wasn’t very enthusiastic about it at first; but once I saw my dad hitting golf balls, I knew I wanted to try it. I fell in love with the game instantly and never looked back.
I started taking the game seriously when I was about 12 years old and won the U.S. Kids Golf Teen World Championship when I was 14. That really jump-started my golf career. I played in a couple of USGA Girls Juniors and got pretty heavily recruited. When I was a sophomore in high school, I committed to play golf for Clemson University. I spent 2 1/2 years at Clemson (where I met my husband, Logan), and decided to transfer to Ole Miss to start the spring of my junior year.
At the time, the idea of transferring seemed daunting. I had made a life for myself and would be leaving my boyfriend, teammates and friends behind. In hindsight, it was probably the best decision I’ve made in my life. I went on to jump from 635th in the WAGR rankings to breaking the top 50 by the time I graduated. I won two collegiate tournaments as an individual at Medinah and the East Lake Cup. I also got to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which was one of the coolest experiences of my life. I made it to the semi-finals of Match Play in the USGA Women’s Amateur. Finally, I won the national championship with my team after deciding to come back for a COVID year (my fifth year).
Two weeks after winning the national championship, I became the first female to win the Oregon Open, a Pacific Northwest PGA Section major tournament that I played in as an amateur. The field is predominantly professional men, and I was one of only four females in the field. This is what started to spark the idea of getting into the club pro side of the golf world – but more on that later. I decided to go to Q-school and try to play professionally. I breezed through Stage 1 in California and played solid at Stage 2 in Florida. Unfortunately, I missed a 3-foot putt on the 17th hole that will forever haunt me – I missed the cut by 1. Had I made the cut, I would have qualified for the final stage of Q-school to try to earn my LPGA card. Instead, I had full status on the Epson Tour and played my first full professional season in 2022.
No one can fully prepare you for the life of a tour pro, especially on the Epson Tour. There are extremely long travel days, grinding it out in all sorts of conditions, and it can get very lonely. My highest finish of the year was a top 20 in our highest-paying event of the year, and I only made $3,600. That’s barely enough to cover caddy fees, travel expenses, lodging, food and all the other costs you have to consider. Needless to say, you have to really want it, which leads me into my next stage of life.
In August of 2022, I Monday qualified for the Portland Classic LPGA event. Shortly before this, I heard the news that the current head golf professional at Tokatee Golf Club was retiring. I had been working there during the summers since 2020 and knew instantly that I wanted to put my hat in the ring for the position. After a long and grueling season on tour, I was starting to contemplate what was next for me. The timing for this position could not have been better, almost like it was meant to be. I went through several interviews with the owner of Tokatee, Mark Giustina. After all, I had found a home in Tokatee over the past couple of years and wanted to do everything in my power to continue to be a part of that family. When I got the phone call from Mark offering me the job, I couldn’t stop smiling. Now, I am about to start my 3rd season at Tokatee as the PGA of America Head Golf Professional.
In addition, my husband and I, and our 2 good friends, the Willhites, bought the restaurant at the end of 2022. Managing the golf side and the food and beverage side has definitely been a learning experience. I’ve been lucky to have a lot of people help me along the way, most of whom I could not have done this without. I think the biggest difference for me is still trying to compete in the Pacific Northwest PGA Section events and other tournaments while not having the time, or quite frankly, the desire to practice. When you spend six days a week at the golf course, you really don’t want to spend your 7th day on the range shanking your first couple of 9-irons. I was able to Monday qualify again this year for the LPGA Portland Classic, and I plan to continue to compete as much as I can throughout the year. It’s been a wild ride, to say the least, and I’m excited to continue this new chapter of my life. For my husband Logan and me to get to share Tokatee and our passion for the outdoors with our community and family has been truly amazing – I would say we’re pretty darn lucky.
