Days after turning professional on the back of reaching the semi-finals at the Amateur Championship, 17 year old Frank Kennedy begins his professional career at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
His route to his professional debut has been an impressive one.
Following a successful junior career, during which he won several competitions worldwide, the English teenager continued to make an impression on the amateur scene.
The rising star underlined his burgeoning potential earlier this year with victory at the Lytham Trophy – a prestigious amateur event which has been won by a host of future DP World Tour winners.
Now, less than a week after losing out to eventual winner Christo Lamprecht at the 128th Amateur Championship at Hillside, he embarks on his next chapter at a venue which is synonymous with European golf.
While his performance at the Amateur Championship may have accelerated his decision to progress to the professional ranks, he admits the chance to do so on home soil was too hard to turn down.
“I have been looking forward to turning pro for a while and it is cool that it has come at the British Masters,” Kennedy told the DP World Tour.
“My performances over the past few weeks have definitely favoured the decision to turn pro early.”
Despite being Florida-based, the thought of going down the college path so often followed in America was one that Kennedy didn’t believe was right for him.
“You can play college golf and with PGA TOUR University you would have to play for the full five years to be relevant for that,” he explained.
“I feel I am ready to turn pro now and get out there and start competing. I’m a 2024 graduate so I thought that would have been another 15 months until I would go to college and then potentially as much five years on top. I think that is a long time to wait.
“I thought I could go to college for a couple of years, but my game feels good and ready for the pro stage.”
Kennedy's father is the agent of six-time Major winner Sir Nick Faldo, who this week begins a new long-term agreement as host of the historic British Masters. Being able to call upon the golf great for advice is an invaluable resource for him.
“He has been great,” he said. “With his history in the game as Europe’s greatest ever golfer it is great to have been able to play with him.
“Just watching him and taking little snippets from his game is cool.”
But his ties to Faldo don’t end there, with Kennedy teaming up with legendary caddie Fanny Sunesson earlier this year, including for the Lytham Trophy.
Sunesson is best known for having formed a stellar partnership with Faldo which saw the pair win four Majors over a near decade-long spell together.
Asked whether the Swede is as much a mentor as much as a caddie, Kennedy replied: “She is both.
“Fanny has a lot of experience in the game. Hopefully she puts up with me long enough, but she is going to be on the bag certainly for the immediate future.
“I am looking forward to that and hopefully we can get a few more wins together.”
Speaking to the Challenge Tour in the Netherlands last month, Sunesson said of Kennedy: "I am very impressed with him. He has got a lot of things going for him.
"Has worked hard and it's fun, we have fun together. I try to share my experience that I have but he is an amazing player."
While this may be Kennedy’s professional debut, it is by no means his first start on the DP World Tour, having done so in the Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews at the age of 15 in 2021.
Several more starts on the DP World Tour have since followed, while he has added to his bank of experience by playing on the European Challenge Tour, most recently at last month’s B-NL Challenge Trophy.
While he may have goals in my mind for the rest of the year, Kennedy is intent on not expecting too much too soon.
“I just want to go out and play, wherever it takes me it takes me,” he said.
“I am still young, so I am looking forward to the challenge and enjoying the experience.
“Good things can happen if you play well so let’s see.”
