Oliver Kenyon

44 - ROCKLIN, CA

PERSONAL - I grew up all over the place but call Poulsbo, WA home. Most of my past 20 years have been spent in Northern California – San Jose and Sacramento. I have a son (16) named Jovani and a daughter (5) named Joslyn. I’m the Prop Shop Manager and Tournament Director at Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course.

TIE TO THE MONTEMAR - I think I mostly covered this when I wrote about why we chose the name Montemar Classic for this tournament. Instead of diving more into that, I thought I would take a quick minute to talk about what motivates me to make this the greatest buddies golf tournament in the history of the world….

My alarm goes off at 4:45am 5 days per week – Friday through Tuesday. After a quick shower I have a 40 minute commute to work. I work 8 to 10 hours and the commute home usually takes me close to an hour. Usually I’m beat-tired by the time I get home but I have kids so I pound some caffeine and try to be the best dad possible – football, soccer, gymnastics, basketball, baseball – there’s always something going on. On my days off I’ve got my daughter 100% of the time and I play single dad. She usually let’s me sleep in until 7 and then we go-go-go-go. Parks, golfing, dinner dates, hiking, movies, whatever she feels like doing for the day we typically do. Like most of you, my life is pretty much non-stop.

I love my job and kids and it’s all amazing but the one thing I really miss out on is uninterrupted time with my buddies. Before last year’s Montemar I hadn’t seen Mike in almost 4 years, Simon lives 3 minutes away yet I only see him about once a month and whenever I do one or both of us have our kids, I haven’t seen Travis Tobin in nearly 20 years, J-Hen for 6 or 7. I miss the beers and the smokes and the late nights and the headaches and the laughs with my friends.

I’m also past the mid-way point of my life. As I reflect on the first half of it, the things I regret are the things I haven’t done and the friendships that have traveled different roads.

For me, the Montemar is a once-a-year excuse to see all my friends, and for my friends to see all of theirs, to make those roads meet in one place, drink the beers, smoke the smokes, get the headaches, make the memories, and do so in some of the most amazing places on earth. The golf part is all secondary for me. When I look back I don’t want to regret not doing this with you guys. I want to be able to say we all put together the best buddies golf trip in the history of the world.

FUN FACT – Last year’s Montemar was only the second time I’ve ever played golf drunk. This year I’m adding drunk and hungover practice to the training routine.

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MONTEMAR - Booked the golf.

PRIZES DONATED FOR 2024 – I should be able to get at least 8 more foursomes to donate to the prize pool.

2023 RECAP – Some luck with my random pairings and a couple of lucky shots on the Par 3s had me sitting atop the leaderboard after our first round. Some missed Par 3s on Day 2 saw me slide a bit but I was able to stay near the top of the board due to the lights out play of a couple of my scramble partners -Michael Addison, Tim Wat, and Neil Krech- as well as a last second rule change that allowed us to pile on points in the scramble. A ten foot missed putt on the final day caused Jordan Henry and myself to halve our match and cost myself at any hope of a jacket.

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN – October 9th was the last time I swung a golf club. The day before I had bent over to put a ball on a tee and my entire back was fucked. That was three months ago, and while the pain has subsided substantially, I still haven’t taken the chance of swinging a club, as nothing would be worse than going back to square one at this point. I’m back in the gym and building up strength with a plan of getting back to playing sometime around the first of March. At this point, my only chance of winning this thing is to get lucky. Lucky with my random pairings, lucky with my scramble team, and lucky by hopefully making a lot less bogies than usual.

ODDS TO WIN – 84-1

FUN FACT – Last year I incorporated drinking into my Montemar training routine. I don’t typically drink when I play golf, rarely drink anyway, but the 2022 Montemar taught me it’s a skill I need to have. The training paid off and there were times I felt more focused and in the zone than when I play the game sober.

MONTEMARS PLAYED – 2 (2022 – Sacramento, 2023 - Scottsdale)

MONTEMAR ROUNDS PLAYED – 5 (2022 – Yoche, Darkhorse, 2023 – TPC Scottsdale, TS Piipaash, TS O’odham)

LIFETIME POINT TOTAL – 384 (5th)

JACKETS WON – 0

TOP 3 FINISHES – 0

TOP 5 FINISHES – 1 (5th in 2023)

TOP 10 FINISHES – 2 (8th in 2022, 5th in 2023)

RECORDS – 3 (Lifetime Birdies – T1 with 6/Best Dressed – 2023 as Kenny Powers/Scramble Low Round – 2024 with a 59 at TS Piipaash)

2024 TOURNAMENT HANDICAP - 19

INVITED BY – Member of the Original Ocho

PLAYERS INVITED -  13 (Brian Warren, Clancy Ryan, Drew McGhie, Ian Youngblood, Chris Holtzer, Jay Cleveland, Justin Isaacks, Nate Udy, Patrick Haley, Ryan Butler, Travis Tobin, Troy Szabo, Donny Kirkland, Bill Kirkland, Andrew Clarke, Matt Beales)

PRIZES DONATED 2024 – I should be able to get 8 more foursomes for the prize pot.