Kevin Geniza on the Birdie Bunch

In this episode of the Birdie Bunch Podcast, Kennedy hosts Professional Golfer Kevin Geniza to touch on his time at the University of Oregon and his transition into professional golf.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is a presentation of the College Athletes Network.
Can You dig It? Can You dig It? You digg?

(00:33):
Hey everybody, this is Kennedy Swan and you're listening to
The Bertie Bunch on the College Athletes Network. Please subscribe
to the podcast so you never miss a new episode.
This can easily be done via the I Heart Radio app. Also,
you can find me on Instagram at can You dig
It or on my website at www dot Kennedy Swan

(00:56):
dot com. Feel free to fill out my contact form
with any suggestions, questions, comments, or recommendations on content that
you may have. I like to hear from my listeners.
And uh there's any questions or any stories that you
want to hear from me, feel free to reach out.
So today I have a special guest. Uh, my buddy

(01:17):
Kevin Geneza is on air with me. Kevin, you wanna
say hi, Hey, everybody, how's the Birdie Bunch daring? Bertie
Bunch is doing good? So Kevin and I are action
in the same house right now. Uh. We met back
up in Oregon, UM about six months ago. Um he
played for the University of Oregon and he's a professional

(01:38):
golfer as well, now, so today Kevin is going to
kind of clue us in a little bit more on
what it's like to be a professional golfer. He's kind
of going through the same things that I'm going through. Um,
so we've got some good questions for him today. So Kevin,
go ahead, tell our listeners a little bit about yourself. Yeah.
So my name is Kevin Genizah. I am my first

(02:02):
year professional golfer, upcoming on my second season, and I
graduated the University of Oregon in so I played from
for the Ducks from and Kennedy I met last summer
in July, and um, we just became really good friends

(02:23):
from playing a few rounds together at Tokto with some
of your buddies. But yeah, I'm just in this new
professional journey just like she is. And as a former
D one collegiate golfer, we've related a lot on this
whole journey. So yeah, So, Kevi, I'm gonna have you

(02:45):
tell our listeners a little bit about the recruiting process
and kind of what you went through as a junior golfer.
Any tips for girls that are looking girls or guys
um that are looking to play collegiate um sports two
D one D two. Um kind of how old were
you when you started the recruiting process that type of thing. Absolutely, Um,

(03:07):
I had actually really good role models engineer golf. So
I played junior golf in Oregon for the Oregon Golf
Association the o g A, and I actually looked up
a lot to the kids in the older age groups
that were excelling in their golfing. And so you might
know the name soulmon Raza. I played on the team

(03:28):
with him at Oregon. He played with one of my
older brothers, Mark, but he was dominating junior golf and
kind of gave me a little bit of idea what
the recruiting process was like. And he started early, and
so that prompted me to kind of start looking early
and thinking about, Okay, do I want to play collegiate

(03:50):
golf or what else do I want to do in college? Um.
So I actually started looking like around eighth grade or
even like freshman year about that time beginning of high school,
and how I started was really just kind of emailing
coaches of schools that I really wanted to go to.
And so for me, that was mostly on the West

(04:13):
Coast and mainly packed twelve schools and West Coast Conference
schools and our email coaches and cold call even because
at the time, I think before junior year, we were
not allowed to get calls from any coaches unless we
reached out initiative, unless we initiated the contact. So cold

(04:36):
calling coaches and setting up like unofficial visits and um
letting them know what my schedule was for junior golf.
That way they can come like watch and recruit instead
of like just putting my name on the map while
I'm playing, Because you can only do so much, I

(04:56):
guess if you don't initiate at the first step of
putting your name out there for people to like kind
of I think, oh, this guy like had the you
had the initiative to reach out to me. So yeah,
And then that's something that I mentioned like in my

(05:16):
last podcast as well. It's super important to get your
name out there and almost like sending your coach a
schedule is like an invitation for them to come watch
you play, UM, so they kind of know. Just like
you said, getting your name out there, UM, advertising yourself
and your brand as much as possible extremely important, totally.

(05:38):
So in a way, recruiting was It's a great way
to like build your marketing skills and your business skills
because you're really marketing yourself and you are the product. UM.
Though it's also great to like understand how to be
professional and care of yourself and how to interact with

(05:59):
people who have the potential to give you the opportunity
in the future. So absolutely, and that's something that I
think recruiting helped me with a lot. UM. Having a
talk to college coaches, like you were saying, being very
professional UM and being very um not proper isn't the
right word, but just being very direct with them UM

(06:22):
has definitely helped me. And looking for sponsorships as UM.
You know, being a professional golf and my math. I
would say my master's degree is helped with that as well.
So keV tell us what was it like playing at Oregon?
You know, what was kind of like your team dynamic, UM,
your coaches, you know where you're pretty close with your
team UM. Any favorite memories anything like that. Yeah, So

(06:45):
I guess to kind of spiral from the recruiting process
to my start at Oregon. I was actually committed to
Santa clar University before I signed with the Ducks. I
didn't know that, okay. So I was committed like the
summer between junior and senior year to Santa Clara, And

(07:06):
at the time I was thinking, okay, like I want
to do business school. It's one of the best business
schools in the country. But I talked to one of
my friends who played there. He was a Eugene, Oregon native.
His name is Bobby Monico, and he was still letting
you know, like, look like this is a great school,
but I mean, with the other options you have, like Organs,

(07:30):
I'm going to give you the best shot at going
professional because there are guys who have come out of
there in the past, say Ben Crane was Peter Jacobson,
who's an organ all um out of excelled, And so
it kind of just came back to what my intentions
were for what my college golf journey was and for
my career was. And I really just wanted to give

(07:53):
myself the best chance to turn pro and play out here.
So I de committed and signed with the Ducks, and
Casey mart was just great about having me. He he
poached me from the Beavers because I was a Beater
fan growing up. Um. But yeah, so ended up going
to Oregon and come in fall one of the top

(08:15):
recruits out of Oregon, um three time state champion out
of Present Valley High School in Corvallas, And it's like
it's totally different, just making that transition from high school
junior golf to collegiate golf. Like Wyndham Clark was one
of my teammates who transferred in my freshman year from
Oaky State, and I mean he was Nicholas Ward like finalists,

(08:41):
like one of the top a ms, had a great
season and basically like I was like stuck with some
of these guys that I'm just like looking up to
who are really good. And so that's like the environment
I really wanted to put myself into. And as being
part of a team in college, like we had no

(09:02):
choice but to like mesh together if we're going to
play well. So like there is a lot of like competition,
like you always know like you've got to be like
respectful of each other, especially if we're competing all the time.
But like, um off the course to eat bond, like
go eat out or like your hang out at the house.
We had a golf house that I lived at my
freshman year, and you play a lot of video games. Um,

(09:26):
and just like talk, there's a lot of just talking
and like getting to know each other. So that was great,
great dynamic freshman year throughout all of college. UM. I
mean I think everyone, like at any stage of their
life in college, like gets like a couple really close
friends that they grow close to through college. UM. So

(09:51):
that's battle that sounds awesome. I mean, I know it's
really important to have good friends m throughout college and
especially like you and your team UM bonding. I think
having role models is definitely important and uh, learning to
not always love the people that you play with, but
you at least have to like them and at least
have to get along as teammates. So uh. In the

(10:12):
next segment, Kevin and I are going to be talking
about the biggest changes from collegiate golf to professional golf
and his experiences so far in the professional world. Again,
you're listening to the Bertie Bunch. I am Kennedy Slan
and this is the College Athletes Network. Welcome back to

(11:09):
the Bernie Bunch on the College Athletes Network. This is
Kennedy Swan. Be sure to subscribe to my podcast so
you don't miss a show or reach out to me
on social media at can you dig It or at
my website www dot Kennedy swan dot com. I love
to hear questions, comments, concerns, anything from my viewers. So

(11:30):
just in case he missed the first segment, Uh, I've
got my buddy Kevin Geneza here. He walked us through
a little bit about his time playing at the University
of Oregon and uh, turning pro now playing professional golf,
So he's gonna kind of walk us through what the
biggest change from collegiate golf to professional golf has been, keV,

(11:51):
What do you think? Yeah, I mean collegiate golf your
you have your team, you have your coaches, and everything's
taken cared of you for you, like the hotels, the logistics.
When you turn pro, especially like you know, not being
the top like one of college golfers, everything is handled

(12:15):
on your own. So basically you have to handle make
sure all your expenses are in order, your logistics workout,
and um, you have a place to stay in, places
to eat for the week, and that you have enough
budget for the entry fees and all that expenses for
each tournament and just trying to continue that throughout the

(12:36):
whole season. So yeah, yeah, I definitely feel that keeping
track of the finances are really tough, especially creating an LLC,
like all these things that people have no clue what
goes into being a professional athlete, you know. So um yeah,
I think finances would probably have to be my biggest
differential as well. Or like you mentioned, traveling without a team.

(12:58):
You know, for so long you're used to having people
around you traveling from tournament to tournament, and you end
up doing it alone. So um, and on that note,
kind of walk us through what you've done since you've
turned pro. UM, been to Q School, playing some mini
tour events, like what have you kind of done and
what's upcoming for you? Um? Actually, so the first term

(13:22):
that I've played was down in California last year around
this time. It was the band At Championship and it
was like a really quick rip the band aid Off
tournament as a professional to get ready for Canadian Q School,
which I did down here in Fort Lauderdale last year
when I was still living in Oregon. UM didn't quite
make it through. They had limited spots too because of

(13:42):
the COVID year. UM, but a great learning experience, so
I just kept kind of snowballing with mini tour events
and combined it with stayed opens all summer. So I
played in the so Call Open, in the California State Open,
I tried to qualify for the Colorado Been. But you know,
it's wherever you are, there's always good players. UM did

(14:06):
us Open qualifiers and be doing that again this year
and then last fall. So every fall for the men,
it's the corn Ferry School, which is three stages. UM
fine in Stage one and a Stage one, but basically

(14:29):
you have to make it to stage three to get
any type of conditional status or any starts on the
corn Ferry Tour. And so I'll have to do that again,
but I'm hoping here in the next couple of weeks
I can gain some starts on the PGA Tour Canada
through that Q School. So I'll be doing that again
in Fort Lauderdale. So it's just a whole cycle again
of pretty much what I went through last year. Yeah. Well,

(14:51):
and I know it's definitely a little bit more difficult
for the men than the women. You know, we've got
only one Q school, UM, which is which is kind
of tough, but you guys have so many people that
are attempting to make it through, whereas like Stage one
for us is remotely pretty easy. As long as you
play your game, um, you know, and just kind of
stay focused whole week, you're definitely gonna gonna make it

(15:15):
through pretty easily. Um. So yeah, I mean, I know
it's kind of tough, but um, I'm glad you're kind
of getting into your groove. And I know we've been
able to play some this week, and uh, I might
have beaten you a couple of times, but you might
have you might have beaten me a couple of times too,
So I was just trying to some rest off your parts. Well,

(15:36):
the rest definitely is knocked off. So uh it's okay.
A little fun story time. Tell us about your favorite
memory and professional golf so far. Oh yeah, Um, it's tough,
but I think I had to go back to my
first pro win last summer down at Centennial Golf Club
in Medford, Oregon. It was the Sasquatch Open, and I

(15:58):
didn't really know about the event until like a few
days before, and I got called by the professional running it,
um Chris Daggett, and he was like, Hey, we need
some pros for this event. Can you come play? And
I was like, yeah, right on. I love Centennial, I've
had a great track record. There, had my oldest brother
Matt on the bag, and um, we're a great team

(16:18):
that week and we got the dub. So so you
want to tell us about the warm up leading up
to that tournament. Yeah, So I happened to message Kennedy.
You hadn't known about each other for a little while.
She was national champ last year at ole Miss and
first female to win the Organ Open in the history

(16:40):
of the Organ Open, and obviously that's like a huge
deal over there, especially on the West Coast and Oregon.
And I reached out because I'm like, hey, like I
haven't met this person. She's in Oregan, Like how have
we not made this happen? So we finally like made
around happen. I came down to Tokyote and we kind
of just clicked right away. I mean, we both have

(17:02):
a super competitive side, um, and you just like love
to compete against each other and with each other. So yeah,
right before that first time meeting Kennedy and then I
go down and get my first pro dub. So we're
saying now that we get to see each other again,
We're going to have some good tournaments coming up for sure,

(17:22):
but uh, yeah it h I think that really circles
back to the point of how important it is to
have people around you, especially in the professional settings, since
you are doing it alone, to have people around you
that can still push you and that you can compete with. UM,
which is why it's so nice back up in Oregon.
I've got to group of guys that I play with
up there that are real competitive and keep me sharp.

(17:45):
And then I've got several friends down here in Florida
that it's it's nice to come play with. And Kevin
actually loops at Seminole where the Walker Cup was, so
that definitely is a good track to practice on. I
got really lucky, UM. One of the guys who's sponsored me,
Jimmy Dunn, he's the president of the club. He I

(18:06):
gave him a call last summer and asked him if
I could make this opportunity to happen because I wanted
to move down to Florida and also, UM get exposed
to more people and more players down here because it's
just super saturated with professional golfers in this area. Yeah,
so tell us kind of UM, how the struggle of

(18:26):
trying to work as well as trying to play, because
it's important to have funding and sponsorships, as we know,
are hard to come by. So making a living for
yourself and trying to do both, how has that been. Yeah,
I mean I've been living at home from til end

(18:50):
of last year at my parents house, and so, like
I I wasn't really financially like independent, and I still
am getting help from my parents, and I am working
to try and like kind of pay for some entry fees.
But yeah, and the professional ranks, Like I've learned that

(19:11):
it's good to like have like some cushion financially that
way you can focus on your playing your game. But
while I'm working right now, it's like I gotta find
like little pockets of time to like play and work
and then practice and try and work on my game. Um,
so it's really like it really is a full time

(19:31):
job doing both. Yeah, I mean I know how busy
I am just playing full time and I try to
work when I can when I'm back home, but even then,
it's just it's definitely overwhelming. So yeah, that's great. And
in the next segment, you and I will be discussing
sponsorships for professional athletes and how hard it is to

(19:55):
come by those sponsorships, how financially difficult it can be.
And we're also going to mention the Geneza Brothers golf
business called Thump Golf. We're gonna talk about that a
little bit. So you're listening to the Bertie Bunch again.
I'm Kennedy Swan and this is the College Athletes Network.

(20:16):
H and welcome back to the Bertie Bunch on the

(20:55):
College Athletes Network. This is Kennedy Swan. Be sure to
subscribe to my podcast so you don't miss a show.
Um again. Also my social media at can you dig
It or my website www dot Kennedy Swan dot com.
Make sure to fill out contacts form for me. Give
me any suggestions, questions, comments that you might have for

(21:17):
my show. I'd love to be able to answer your
questions and uh, um be entertaining for you guys. So
as a reminder, we have Kevin Genez out on uh
second year rookie professional golfer. So Kevin on this segment,
We're gonna take a little bit of time to talk
about funding and sponsorships. Uh kind of clue us into

(21:39):
how hard it really is to fund yourself on the
PGA tour. How much it takes maybe on a weekly basis,
how much your entry fees, how much are you know, hotels, food,
that kind of stuff. Yeah, So as a mini tour
pro this past year and just trying to find the
path to the PG it's for I think the majority

(22:02):
of professional golfers are in the same boat as me.
Just trying to budget for the next few mini tour
events and make a schedule to keep us sharp for
Q score whatever that might the next opportunity might be.
And so many tour events, you know, it's they get
a rep because, um, there's higher entry fees and not

(22:26):
as great of a return, especially like if you're not
winning those. So for me out here, we have some
one day events here in Florida and they range between
two hundred for the one day events, and um, the
winner will take back just over a grand, But if

(22:46):
you're outside the top ten, then you pretty much make
back just about two hundred. Like that's when you drop
off from making your money back. Um, And like many
tour grind is tough and it's just there to kind
of like snowballs and momentum into the bigger events like

(23:07):
the qualifiers for the PGA Tour, the corn Ferry and
for Q School. And that's something that my coach at Oregon,
Casey Martin, was saying, was I don't even like way
too much on the mini tour events, Like they're really
like just there is like reps to keep you sharp,
but yeah, you're not gonna make your money there, So yeah,

(23:31):
I I completely agree. I played in my first professional
golf tournament a little while ago, and actually I made
eighty three dollars and I think my total expenses for
the tea first professional check, but I think the entry
fees are four hundred and fifty dollars and the airbnbs

(23:51):
like three hundred bucks, and so that eighty three dollars
is going a little bit of a way, but definitely
not a long way. I know it would be helpful
within the next couple events I'm playing and to take
home a little bit bigger chest to proNT me for
the semetric season. So tell us, do you have any
like notable sponsors that I've helped him out so far? Um,

(24:13):
anyone that uh you know you're talking to. I know
you are partially sponsored by Nike, kind of tell us
a little bit about that. Yeah, um, so notable people.
So Jimmy Dunn. He's also the man who helped me
move out here to Florida and got me this caddy
position here in seminole Um. He's been a great friend

(24:36):
of mine and very generous. UM. And a guy down
in southern Oregon. I actually was paired with him in
the Sasquatch Open when I won my first pro win.
His name is Randy Rudy, and he's this local guy
down in southern Oregon, UM who runs Granted Mafia, a
kitchen top company over there. So he's helped me out

(24:57):
some to get through Q School. UM, and just some
local people up in Corvallis at the club. Um. The
list is endless of all the people who's like giving
me kind words and stuff and helped me out with
just like you know, a hundred two hundred, three hundred bucks,
but like just a little bit of that, like it
goes a long ways, and it goes to show like
how much they believe in you, as you well know,

(25:20):
yeah absolutely, I mean my go fund me has been
my primary primary source of income so far with this
being my rookie year. You know, and only one professional
tour event that I've played. Um so, yeah, that I
mean every little bit help us for sure. Um So,
I was gonna ask you so I mentioned earlier you
and your brothers have um Thump Golf, which is actually

(25:43):
th h v MP. Go check them out on social media.
It's a really cool golf brand. Uh. They make alignment sticks.
Um So, Kevin kind of tell us the story of
how you and your brothers got started and how sweet
the Thump gear is. Yeah, absolutely so. As you all know,
like all the college golfers who were cut short by

(26:06):
the season had the opportunity to go for a fifth
year and um come back for a COVID redshirt year.
I was one of those who did not, and during
that year I actually stayed amateur in and my brothers
and I acquired this company called Thump Golf from this
gentleman in Texas, and we got it for a great price,

(26:29):
and we were like, why don't we rebrand this company
and kind of make it as a hobby here in
Oregon up in the Pacific Northwest and established it as
a brand where we can kind of just have fun
with it, but also like make these connections and um,
I don't know get our footing in the golf industry
because we've had buddies like up at Jones Golf who

(26:50):
we played junior golf with or college golf with. UM.
Matt Lemon has done a great job up there, and
we've been pretty close with him, especially my older others,
playing a lot of golf with them during the summer. UM.
So that was one example of like one of the
friendships that we've made through the company. But it was
really a way to like kind of network and it

(27:12):
turned from just kind of painting alignment sticks in the
garage like random colors whatever we wanted to do, into
like haven't forming a system and like learning how to
you know, account for business and UM. On my side,
I was marketing and doing a lot of social media
stuff at the beginning, where I was creating content and

(27:35):
kind of just trying to spread the spread the brand
and grow the brand as much as I can and
establish us up in the Northwest where we UM reside.
So yeah, yeah, well it's uh, it's definitely worth checking out.
I've got their alignment sticks in my bag and they've
got a couple other products like a div it div

(27:56):
it tool. UM a couple of hats, but it's had. Yeah, yeah,
you can. Depending on where you are, you might be
able to find a couple of their products in your
local pro shop. There's summ at Eugene Country Club up
in Oregon, and there's some at Seminole Golf Club down
here in Florida. UM any other courses keV where they

(28:16):
can find. We've got Wildwood Golf Club up in Portland,
Whisper Rock down in Arizona, UM Centennial Golf Club, Tristan
Schrewe Golf Club. There's a there's a there's a list.
We have a list. We're trying to get in the
bandon THEO. That's our ultimate goal. UM. I believe we
can make that happen. I mean our family is literally

(28:37):
the Bandoned family because we spend like every Christmas there
for about a week. Oh that's awesome. Alright, final question
for you, what is the coolest golf course that you've
had the chance to play? Yeah? I would have to
go with Pine Valley last year, UM, or rather September two,

(29:01):
So Jimmy Dunn. I was fortunate enough to get invited
out there by him and laid my eyes on one
of the top courses in the country and in the world. Um,
and it's just it's a huge golf course, a lot
of trees, a lot of hills, and it lives up
to the hype of you know, being in the in
the top few in the country, in the world. So

(29:23):
that was that whole experience was just really crazy. Also
just having a caddy, which is funny now because I
say that as a caddy, but it's all part of
the experience and they made it that much better. So yeah, well,
for sure, I got to play Augusta National twice. I
got to play once my freshman year, and then I
got to play, uh my junior or senior year in

(29:47):
the Augusta National Women's ameter, which was a great experience.
But I think my caddy definitely made my experience for me.
You know, you always hear about the really cool caddies
that Augusta National, and I think having a good cat
you both on tour and for fun, can really make
the experience a lot more present pleasant. So yeah, well

(30:08):
thanks keV. I think that kind of wraps us up
for today. We appreciate you being on here. Uh. I
want to give Kevin a shout out on social media
it's gonna be at Kevin Geneza um and remember to
check out thumb Golf th h v MP golf um
on Instagram, and uh keep up with him and his

(30:29):
his career. He's gonna be a really fun one to
watch because when he makes it, it's gonna be cool
to be able to say that I got to have
him on a guest as a podcast. So um as always,
thanks for listening to the Bertie Bunch on the College
Athletes Network and a special thanks to Kevin for his
time today. Again, feel free to find yeah, thanks for

(30:49):
being on and uh feel free to find me on
Instagram and can you dig it or my website again,
would love to hear your feedback. Www dot Kennedy sawan
dot com. Uh, make sure to subscribe through I Heart
Radio so you don't miss nepisode. And I will see
you guys next week. We'll talk to you soon. Can
you dig it? Can you dig it? Care you digging?

(31:25):
This has been a presentation of the College Athletes Network