BY JASON
THOMPSON
Although his career as a professional golfer is on hiatus,
Sudbury-born Kurt Kowaluk still spends a lot of his time on the
course with the pros.
Since 2005, Kowaluk has been caddying full-time for David
Hearn, a professional golfer from Brantford who is playing on
the Nationwide Tour.
Hearn and Kowaluk first met when both were members on the
Canadian Junior golf team. When Kowaluk was accepted to the
University of Wyoming on a full golf scholarship, he was
reunited with Hearn, a fellow student.
"We ended up becoming pretty good friends," said Hearn.
"I always knew that I'd end up playing at the pro level...so
we had talked about it a little bit that after college he'd end
up working for me and it just so happened that it took me a
couple of years to get on the PGA ...it just kind of progressed
to where now I've hired him full-time.
Prior to being Hearn's right-hand man on a full-time basis,
Kowlauk had caddied for Hearn off and on since 2002 and was
carrying and cleaning the clubs when Hearn played his first PGA
(Professional Golf Association) tour event, the Air Canada
Championship in Vancouver.
Following the tournament in Vancouver, and having recently
graduated with a degree in international finance from the
University of Wyoming, Kowaluk made the decision to go pro and
try to make a livelihood out of playing golf.
"I played for about a year and a half and it was becoming a
little too frustrating, it was becoming too big a part of my
life and my play was determining my attitude," said Kowaluk,
26.
"It was really frustrating for me. I wasn't making money, I
was away on the road a lot so I decided not to give up but just
to put the clubs away for awhile."
Two weeks after shelving his clubs, and taking a job at
Savage's Play It Again Sports, Kowaluk received a phone call
that would see him back on the course.
The call was from Hearn, asking if Kowaluk would be
interested in becoming a full-time caddie.
The Sudbury boy jumped at the chance and caddied four
tournaments for Hearn to finish off the 2005 PGA tour schedule.
"There definitely is no caddy school," Kowaluk said. "I'm 26
and I'm probably one of the youngest guys out here but there
are guys here who are 65-years-old and they've been caddying
for 40 years.
"Every caddy has a different level of knowledge of the game
whether they were a player themselves growing up like myself or
whether they came into the game as a caddy and don't really
play a whole lot."
Having made the jump from the Nationwide Tour to the PGA
Tour after a successful 2004 season, Hearn suffered a setback
the next year and was delegated down to the Nationwide Tour
where he is currently ranked 43rd on the money list with
$84,218.
"The money they're playing for out here is about 10 percent
of what they're playing for out on the big tour," said Kowaluk,
who earns a base salary and then a portion of Hearn's winnings.
"A lot of guys out here on this tour used to be on the PGA
tour but lost their card so they're trying to get it back. It's
a training ground for young, up-and-coming players like David
or an older guy in his 30s who is trying to get back on the
tour after being there before."
As both Hearn's friend and caddie, Kowaluk is making it his
mission to help his boss get back on the PGA tour with Tiger
Woods, Phil Mickelson and the sports' other elite players.
"As much as these guys are confident in their abilities,
it's very easy for them to hit a few bad shots and then that's
where you come in and say 'Listen, you're fine, just keep
trusting what you're doing and you're going to get there.'
"It's nice for somebody to hear reassuring words out there
as opposed to telling somebody that they're not doing the right
things or question what they're doing.
"You're a cheerleader, you're a psychologist, you're there
to support them in whatever it is they want to do because it's
them that you work for," said Kowaluk.
"Kurt is one of the more positive people I've ever been around, he sees things the right way and he always sees things in terms of a long-term goal," Hearn said.
