Wednesday, December 24, 2003
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Wednesday, December 24, 2003 |
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McIntosh grad hits the European PGA Tour
By MONROE
ROARK A former McIntosh golf standout is hitting the links around the world in 2004. Johan Kok (pronounced “coke”) has qualified for the European PGA Tour after three pressure-filled rounds of competition in England and Spain during October and November. He is looking forward to a 2004 schedule of about 35 tournaments on three continents as he attempts to make his way up the professional ranks. The 23-year-old native South African came to Peachtree City with his family at the age of 11. When he graduated from McIntosh in 1998, he finished a high school career that included an individual state championship as a sophomore and region titles as a junior and senior, ranking in the state’s top five. The Chiefs won their region and finished in the top five in the state as a team each of those years as well. Kok went on to the University of South Carolina, where he was an all-Southeastern Conference selection one year and made the Academic All-SEC team four years. A medical redshirt as a sophomore, he graduated in the spring of 2003. Keeping busy during the summer, he played in amateur tournaments so that he would have an opportunity to qualify for the U.S. Amateur tournament in August. He was successful in qualifying, although he missed the cut. From there, it was off to Europe for PGA qualifying school. As some players do, Kok considered going through qualifying school in Europe and the U.S. simultaneously, which is a grueling process. But he decided that if he made it through the first stage in Europe successfully, he would stay there. “I think it’s a good learning ground,” he said of the European PGA Tour. There are three stage to qualifying school, each consisting of a tournament. The final stage is six rounds. The process began in October in England, where 160 players competed and the top 29 advanced. Kok finished fifth. After a layoff of nearly a month, he played the second stage in Spain and came in 27th, as the top 33 out of 90 players moved on to the final stage. The second stage was particularly difficult, Kok said, with most of the players being experienced professionals trying to get back on the tour. The final stage was the very next week, also in Spain, and Kok finished 42nd out of 170. The top 70 received conditional European PGA Tour status and full Challenge Tour status. The Challenge Tour is just a step below the main tour in Europe, similar to the Nationwide Tour in the United States. Kok will play about seven European PGA Tour events and about 25 Challenge events. He will also try to qualify for the British Open, and could squeeze in an event or two in the United States, but he doesn’t plan to. Playing overseas about six weeks at a time, he plans to spend his off time back in Peachtree City. His parents, Amor and Andre, still live here, and he has an older sister (Leane) in Atlanta and a younger brother (Wickus) in college at Auburn. Kok leaves this week for South Africa, where he will spend some time with extended family over the holidays and gear up for the 2004 season. He is playing in the South African Open, an event cosanctioned with the European PGA Tour, in the middle of January. Not all events on this tour are in Europe, especially during the cold weather months, and Kok’s first official tour event is in February in Costa Rica. From there, his schedule includes stops in Guatemala, Mexico, Zambia, Madeira, Qatar and Morocco before actually getting back to Europe for a spring tournament in Italy. “It’s a great tour,” he said. “You get to see the whole world.” When his schedule is finalized, he plans to post it at Canongate Golf Club. If he does well, he will put up a Web site at a later date for local golf enthusiasts to follow his progress. Also, the European PGA Tour is online at www.europeantour.com. Kok has worked recently under the tutelage of Andrew Park and David Leadbetter in Orlando, but he especially notes the assistance of Mark Owen, the head pro at Flat Creek Golf Club in Peachtree City, who has been his mentor here for quite some time. Owen, who remembers seeing Kok play as a 12-year-old, said he has been more of a coach to him over the years than anything else. “He was an accomplished player already,” said Owen. “I’ve just tried to help him and build confidence in him.” Just after the U.S. Amateur, Kok and Owen went to West Virginia, where Kok finished fourth out of some 25 competitors in his first pro tournament, on a course he had only played once or twice. So far, Kok’s only sponsors have been his parents. “Without their support, none of this would be possible,” he said. He hopes to pick up other sponsors along the way. But for now, the road ahead is filled with a lot of travel and a lot of golf. “It’s going to be very busy,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.” Back
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