Next time you’re watching a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, look for Brice Garnett ’06, a Missouri Western alumnus who advanced into the PGA Tour ranks this season.
“It’s the best job in the world. I get to play the best golf courses in the world,” Garnett says. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Garnett has been playing professional golf since he graduated from Missouri Western with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Finance degree.
The Gallatin, Mo. native started on the Adams Tour in 2006, which, in Major League Baseball terms, is equivalent to the minor league. In 2010, he made his way through PGA Tour Qualifying School to get Web.com tour-playing privileges, equivalent to AAA. Garnett played four years on the Web.com tour. He finished inside the top 25 on the year-end money list, which graduated him to the majors, the PGA Tour.
“I’m very pleased with the way my rookie year has progressed,” he said. “Being a rookie presents so many challenges week to week, but I have played some consistent golf.”
Garnett began his path to a professional golf career when his father introduced him to golf at age 5. “I was always playing sports around the house and always active, but for some reason I really fell in love with golf and wanted to play nonstop,” he says. “By age 10, I was at the golf course in Gallatin all day, every day in the summer. There were six or eight of us who spent the days playing golf and then jumping in the pool to cool off. They are still some of my best friends.”
A golf scholarship brought him to Missouri Western, but a degree in finance was his main goal. “Being involved in the stock market and managing money was going to be my career,” he says.
But in the meantime, his golf game continued to improve. In the last year and a half of his collegiate career, he won 12 times, and his father suggested he consider a career as a professional golfer.
“Playing golf for a living is different than any other professional sport. It’s all performance based. Unlike other professional athletes signing major contracts, golfers play for their paycheck and job each week, which can be a major stresser.”
But he loves traveling, being his own boss and controlling his own fate. “Golf, being an individual sport takes a major toll mentally, so finding a balance of staying sharp mentally and physically is a challenge,” Garnett says. “No one on the PGA Tour takes it easy on you if you aren’t!”
Garnett was named All-America three years at Missouri Western and was the first ever MIAA Player of the Year in 2006. He was named MIAA All-Conference every year he played for Missouri Western, and MIAA Conference Champion for three years. Garnett was inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame class of 2014 this past summer, only the second Griffon to earn that honor (former men’s basketball coach Tom Smith was the first).
For now, Garnett’s goals are to improve every day, but have fun playing the game. He hopes to finish in the top 125 on FedExCup points to keep his PGA Tour card. And, of course, he has the goal of winning on the Tour.
“I feel like I have worked very hard to be where I am in my golfing career and personal life. I am very fortunate to be given this opportunity and I am enjoying the awesome ride!”