The ups and downs of Nathan Kimsey's ten-year pursuit of competing among the elite

When Nathan Kimsey woke up with a sore hand ahead of the third round at the Singapore Classic earlier this season his first thought was that he must have a minor niggle.

At the time, he was tied for fourth place and just two shots back, so he stretched and went through his normal practice routine. In the back of his mind though, he knew there was no escaping the slight twinge he felt when he put his hand in a certain position. It was remarkably similar to an injury he'd had a few years prior that had kept him out for a big chunk of time, but rest had eventually fixed that and the MRI he had back then hadn’t suggested anything too serious either.

This time though, things wouldn't be as straightforward. On the course, he began to notice the pain increase with every shot. By the back nine he could barely grip the club, but chose to persevere through the pain on account of his position on the leaderboard. From the outside looking in, you wouldn't have known a thing. The Englishman ended his day with a birdie on the 18th that left him in a tie for fourth heading into the final day on 12 under par, but the pain was there. And very real.

Sunday was a different story. He wanted to keep playing and persisted on the course, but this time the intensity of the pain only saw him move backwards as he carded a two over 74 to drop out of contention and end his week in a tie for 30th. When he left Singapore, it was with the knowledge he was headed straight home to get it checked out, with no guarantee on when he’d be back on the Tour he had just spent six years trying to get back to.

An MRI and a CT scan revealed the disappointing reality that Kimsey had a fracture in the bottom of his hand. The initial, optimistic option was to put it in a cast to try and let it heal on its own. For six weeks he was patient, but when the pain returned a couple of days after hitting balls and the doctor revealed there was no change, only one option remained.

Surgery. It felt like a gut punch to Kimsey who had finally made it back to the DP World Tour after a five-year absence and had the confidence that he could compete this time around.

He picked up a club as soon as he was able to, and in his second event back he finished in a tie for tenth in Denmark, and last month played his way into a play-off in the Barbasol Championship on the PGA TOUR. He ultimately lost out, but left with renewed confidence knowing that after years of patience and grinding, he finally belongs at this level of professional golf.

Here, we speak to Kimsey, who is currently ranked 33rd in the Race to Dubai Rankings, about the highs and lows of his journey as he has a second crack at the DP World Tour.

Amateur success and early years as a professional on the Challenge Tour

We catch up with Kimsey as he approaches the ten-year anniversary of his progression from amateur to professional.

That momentous step in anybody’s career followed shortly on the heels of his involvement in the Walker Cup on US soil a few months earlier.

The then 20-year-old was part of a ten-strong Great Britain & Ireland team that also featured future Major winner Matt Fitzpatrick, Callum Shinkwin and Jordan Smith who have both gone to become multiple-time winners on the DP World Tour.

On the opposing side were Max Homa and Justin Thomas, who Kimsey earned a half point against on the opening day’s singles at National Golf Links of America.

Despite it being in a losing cause, for Kimsey it represented the culmination of what had been an impressive amateur career in which he also formed part of the winning England team at the 2013 European Amateur Championship in Denmark.

So, a decade on from leaving the amateur ranks, did Kimsey think the journey to where he is now would be quite as challenging?

“No, probably not, to be honest,” he said.

“I won't say I thought it would be easy because I've always been quite a realistic person. I didn't anticipate just suddenly turning pro and winning everything in sight and that kind of thing.

“I thought it'd just be that natural progression of turn pro, play on Challenge Tour a bit, get your card, play on Tour, win on Tour and you think, oh, by the time I'm 25, I'll be playing majors."

It's almost like I am a different person, such a different player that it's almost not worth kind of looking back, other than in a general sense of going, well, look how far I've come since then.

From EuroPro Tour to DP World Tour - sharp step-up proves too quick

After two years playing on the Challenge Tour, Kimsey found himself on the EuroPro Tour in 2016.

It was a year that was to end in joy as he became only the second player in history to win Qualifying School Final Stage after navigating through all 252 holes from the first stage.

In truth, Kimsey had just hoped to get through to the final stage to earn some form of status for the Challenge Tour the following season.

Despite the momentum he took into his rookie season on the DP World Tour and top ten finishes at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and Australian PGA Championship, the Englishman was unable to retain his card.

With hindsight, Kimsey admits he was not ready for the step up. Prior to his remarkable feat at Q School, he had struggled for form on the EuroPro Tour.

“Obviously the reality hits like the weeks after and you kind of realise, well, you haven't had a big period of good golf to kind of look back on and take confidence from,” he said.

Reflecting on the period, Kimsey admits he and his support team, including long-time coach Hugh Marr, haven't spent much time looking back on that experience.

“It's almost like I am a different person, such a different player that it's almost not worth kind of looking back, other than in a general sense of going, well, look how far I've come since then,” he said.

Injury absence and Covid-19 complications

But before the good times, another setback as an injury derailed his campaign on the Challenge Tour in 2019.

“I played once and actually had a similar injury to what I had this year,” he said.

“I never fully got it diagnosed and stuff, but I had similar sort of pain and that kind of ended up keeping me out basically the entire year.

“So, sort of looking back on that now. It was like, oh, did I have a slight fracture there before? I had MRIs, but I never had CT scans like I did this time around to really check the bones.”

Then came the complications of Covid-19, bringing a premature end to the 2020 campaign after just four events in South Africa. It wouldn’t be before September that the campaign resumed,

By the end of 2020, Kimsey had played in just ten events. The pandemic also proved a trigger for him to investigate avenues outside of golf to earn money, even if he never lost belief he would continue to ply his trade in the sport he loved.

“Initially it was just little side jobs and stuff so I'd actually signed up to be an Amazon delivery driver,” he recalled.

As it transpired, he never followed through with it and was soon back playing on the Challenge Tour.

Challenge Tour glory, encouraging signs and then injury hits... again

In 2022, Kimsey would enjoy a stellar season as he won twice, including the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A to win the Road to Mallorca Rankings and seal his return to the DP World Tour.

Encouraging results would quickly follow at the outset of the 2023 season, including two top 20 finishes at the Joburg Open and Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Another would follow at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, a week before his season was thrown into doubt with a fracture in his hand at the Singapore Classic, his fourth event in as many weeks.

What followed was a four-month spell on the sidelines. Initially, Kimsey opted to keep his hand in a cast in the hope it would heal over time but there was no change after six weeks, prompting him to undergo surgery.

“There was part of me that kept thinking if everything was being snatched away from me a little bit and it was kind of ruining my season and my chance to keep my card this time around,” he said.

However, despite the unquestionable disappointment, Kimsey used the time to recharge his batteries after hardly taking a break last year. But it wasn’t long before he was itching to get back onto the course.

“As soon as the doctor gave me the all clear, I was up at the golf club pretty much every day after that until I was competing again, trying to keep myself busy,” he said.

Near miss in America as confidence returns

Perhaps understandably, Kimsey was rusty on his return to action at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, missing the cut.

But a top ten followed on his next outing in Denmark, before a trip to America for the Barbasol Championship on the PGA TOUR.

Confidence was firmly back for Kimsey by this stage, with a flawless 62 in the final round in Kentucky helping him force his way into a play-off with Vincent Norrman.

Unfortunately for Kimsey, a bogey on the first play-off hole would seem fall just short of winning a first DP World Tour and PGA TOUR title.

Another strong showing on US soil in the Barracuda Championship, which implements the Modified Stableford Scoring Format, the week helped him consolidate his standing as 33rd in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex ahead of the three-week hiatus in the schedule.

“It is obviously always going to be disappointing when you get that close and you don't win,” he said.

“But at the same time, in context it was an amazing week and that took me through into the next week where I was running out of gas a little bit at the end but played a lot of good golf still.

“I have lots of confidence and lots of comfort in my game. I'm looking forward to getting going again when we start back.”