Gulf Coast High student qualifies for junior amateur golf championship

Reporter: Zach Oliveri Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published: Updated:
Noah Kent at the 2023 Southern Junior Baton Rouge CC. CREDIT: TRISHA KENT

A Gulf Coast High School student has qualified to play in the U.S. 2023 Junior Amateur Golf Championship, and he feels more than ready.

“It’s always been, like, something that’s circled on my calendar that I’ve really wanted to make really bad, and I feel like now that I did it, it just kind of just kind of awoke something else in me,” said Noah Kent.

Noah will play in the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship after sharing victory at a qualifying event in Iowa. Now that the qualifier is behind him, he said he feels he can play loose and free.

“Definitely a lot of relief,” Noah said.

His mom Trish Kent is fired up at the prospect of her son facing 264 of the top young golfers in the country.

“Just joy, happiness and just like, almost, you know,… you can take a deep breath and be like, ‘Alright, he did it, you know? Let’s go,'” Trish Kent said.

Kim Benedict was Noah’s coach at Gulf Coast High School. She’s not worried about Noah’s junior amateur preparation.

“Some kids, if they have a lot of people watching or if they feel pressure, they kind of shrink; he doesn’t,” Benedict said. “He thrives off pressure, he thrives off the attention.”

Noah said he is ready for all eyes to be on him.

“Just trying to have a good time and then, obviously, just keep putting in the work and trusting that I know what I’ve done is gonna be good enough,” Noah said. “But obviously it’s just about going out and competing and trying to do the best you can.”

When Noah is done at the junior amateur, he’s headed back to Iowa to play college golf for the Hawkeyes.

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