BASS Communications
Published September 5, 2008

KEVIN WIRTH, THE GOLFER

After a 2008 Bassmaster Elite season in which he won an event and qualified for his 10th Bassmaster Classic, Kevin Wirth of Crestwood, Ky., is working hard on his game — golf game, that is.

Last week Wirth entered an amateur golf tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the PGA Tour Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship. He did well: third overall in a five-way tie in an event that began with more than 3,600 entrants.

The golfers came from 50 states and 30 foreign countries. Billed as “the world’s largest single-site golf tournament,” the Aug. 25-29 competition was open to any amateur with a verified USGA handicap.

Wirth began with a 9 handicap. He did so well that he was down to a 7 after the event.

As in an Elite Series tournament, World Amateur contenders had to qualify for the final championship round. Up against 41 other golfers at The Dunes Golf Club, Wirth finished with a 3-under-par 69, just two strokes behind the winner.

He said he has been playing golf since he was 7 or 8 years old, about the same age at which he learned how to fish.

“But since I’ve been on tour, it’s taken away from my golf time, so it’s pretty astonishing that I finished third,” he said. “I’ve competed before in golf, but nothing of this magnitude.”

Wirth takes his games seriously, whether it’s golf or fishing or riding thoroughbred horses – being a jockey was one of his first careers. He arrived at the World Amateur site three days early to get in a practice round on each of the five courses. He spent hours each day on his swing.

He said the driving-range sessions were necessary to “educate” his hands to the golf club. The golf swing is nothing like casting a rod.

“One thing is you have to keep your wrists from rolling like you do when casting,” he said. “You’re dead in golf when you let your wrist roll.”



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