Walk-on Rhoads
emerging on top
Golfer finishes second, third in recent tourneys
By Chris Isidro
It started as a great way to get some playing time on the
overcrowded links of Los Angeles.
But when Kevin Rhoads walked onto the UCLA men’s golf team two
years ago, little did he know that he would one day find his name
on a tournament leader board. In his first opportunity to compete
regularly, the fifth-year senior is finding his niche as a
front-runner, placing third at the Nike Northwest Classic and
second last week at the Rebel Classic with a final round 69.
"It’s real fun being up there," Rhoads said. "That’s what it’s
all about."
Reaching the pinnacle is never easy, but for Rhoads, the path
was especially bumpy. His father was the head pro at the San
Francisco Golf Club and his uncle is a former pro at the Riviera.
But despite this rich golfing background, the game was never shoved
down Rhoads’ throat.
"I’ve been around golf my whole life," Rhoads said. "However,
it’s interesting because my dad never pushed it upon myself or my
brother until a late age. We just grew up playing everything
else."
In high school, Rhoads earned all-league honors in golf, but
never made the effort to take his game another notch. When Rhoads
left home for UCLA, he realized how much he really appreciated
golf.
"Growing up in a golf family made me take it for granted because
it’s always around even when I wasn’t putting a lot of time into
it," Rhoads said. "So when I got here, I knew I wanted to play and
get better at it."
During his freshman year, Rhoads took advantage of a nightmarish
parking situation to take his swipes on the links.
"I didn’t have parking my freshman year and I had to move my car
between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. everyday," Rhoads said, "so I would just
go to the golf course and work on my game then."
Eventually, the realities of the Southern California golf scene
caught up with Rhoads. His junior year, frustrated by the big
crowds and long waits at the greens, he stepped into head coach
Dave Atchison’s office and signed up for the team.
"I wanted to continue to be around golf but Los Angeles is
golf-crazy, so course availability is not very good," he said,
"unless you’re associated with something such as a team."
Just making the golf team would be an uphill climb for the
5-foot-7-inch Rhoads. Along with his small physical stature and
shortness off the tee, Rhoads also had to combat his competitive
inexperience.
"While I played a little in high school, I didn’t take it
seriously until I got to UCLA, which meant I was behind most
college players in development," Rhoads said. "Most college players
were real good junior players competing as early as junior
high."
The first thing he needed to work on was his distance off the
tee. Although he possessed pinpoint accuracy, college golfers carry
big sticks and Rhodes somehow needed to squeeze a few extra yards
from his driver.
"The game of golf is pretty much a power game nowadays so that
put Rhoads at a disadvantage," Atchison said. "I told him that he
needed to gain 20-30 yards off the tee to be competitive with the
bigger kids."
To the beat of the Rocky theme song, Rhoads took to the weights,
hit the pavement, and went to the range and pounded golf ball after
golf ball.
"He worked out hard, lifted weights, went jogging and worked on
that swing to get those extra 30 yards he needed," Atchison
said.
Rhoads attributes his massive gains less to his conditioning and
more to the mechanics of his swing. He says the extra 30 yards was
just a matter of physics at work.
"I think to a large extent, it’s just an improvement in my
technique," Rhoads said. "The better your swing is, the straighter
you will hit it and the farther it will go and I believe I’ve just
become a better ball striker."
"We call him the Robo-Golfer now because he has his swing down
so repetitively now and he understands it so well," Atchison
added.
While he did not compete regularly before this year, Rhoads
began to realize his hard work would pay off. But when he shot a
3-under-par 213 at Oregon State, he surprised even himself Â
in a way.
"As hard as I’ve worked, I like to think things like that will
happen," Rhoads said. "In fact, it’s surprised me that it’s taken
as long as it has for me to break through and I feel it’s justified
it’s happening for me."
There will be a few more tournaments ahead this season for the
senior, but soon enough, his short stint in college golf will come
to an abrupt end. While he wonders what might have been if golf
were top priority, he is happy about how things have shaped up.
"I do wish I had started a little earlier because I see my game
at the level of a good sophomore right now and I would’ve liked a
couple more years to pursue it and see how good I could become,"
Rhoads said. "I’ll qualify that in one way though, I didn’t have
the desire before so I can’t really wonder what would have happened
because it’s happening the way it should happen."