Kyle is honored and excited to be making his return to lead the golf department and serve the members at Old Hickory. This is Kyle’s second stint at Old Hickory, as he previously worked as an Assistant Professional under now PGA Director of Instruction, (but at the time Head Professional) Ed Schwent from 2012-2013. Many members from his first stint at the club remain members today. Kyle has been in the golf business since 2008 and is a proud PGA Member since 2018. He spent 8 years managing public golf facilities “across the River” before making his return to Old Hickory. Most recently, Kyle served as PGA Director of Golf at Spencer T. Olin Golf Course, an Arnold Palmer designed-facility in Alton, IL. He is active in the Gateway PGA, sitting on the Section’s Tournament Committee and Junior Golf Committee. He also plays competitively as much as possible, qualifying for the 2022 PGA Professional National Championship in Austin, Texas as well as the Gateway PGA’s Shogren Cup Team (Top-10 players from the Section) in 2022 and 2023.
Like many in the industry, Kyle started playing golf as a kid (around age 11), tagging along with his avid-golfer Grandfather. While first and foremost a baseball player as an adolescent, he began playing competitive golf in high school, and went on to play 1 year of collegiate golf at Illinois College before returning home to finish his college career. One of Kyle’s core professional goals is to do whatever he can to continue to expand and grow the game of golf through direct introduction and invitations and programs like PGA Junior League. He believes that introduction of the game to kids at a young age is critical to its sustainability. In that regard, Kyle has run Junior Camps and coached Junior League teams since 2016. While he considers himself a golf traditionalist in many senses, he sees the growth of the game coming in a relaxation of norms, easing of “stuffiness,” and continuous and open education of new players about why things that need to remain a part of the game (such as proper etiquette), need to remain. Maintaining a welcoming atmosphere for all members at Old Hickory, while upholding policies and rules related to competition will always be the priorities in his time at Old Hickory. Kyle’s other love is retail merchandising and he has managed golf shops since 2014. He was the 2022 Gateway PGA Merchandiser of the year, and is a Callaway Certified Master Club-Fitter. If you catch Kyle sitting at his desk, there’s a good chance he’s engaged in buying, styling, planning or evaluating sales trends.
He is a husband to Rachel, and father of two boys Cooper (6) and Tucker (4). Kyle was born and raised in Alton, Illinois. He plans to relocate in the near future to St. Charles County where his boys can complete their school careers.