Each week throughout the year we will spotlight one Epson Tour player and provide an in depth look into her life - both on and off the course. Up next in "This week is all about..." series is Katie Kempter.
Katie Kempter’s moment of truth came on the 18th green a few weeks ago in Beaumont, Calif. The sun peaked out momentarily to break a miserable final round full of rain, cold and wind as the Volvik Championship on the Epson Tour was concluding. Kempter was facing a 12-foot birdie putt to finish the round with three consecutive birdies.
“I just thought today’s the day, the sun just came out and if I make this putt, I give myself an opportunity,” Kempter said. “I can do this.”
Kempter’s birdie putt caught the right edge and fell in. In the next group, tournament leader Lee Lopez made a finishing bogey. A playoff ensued, with Kempter capturing her first professional title on the second extra hole with an up and down for par.
“I’ve done a lot of work on my mental approach with Tim Kremer in Stuart, Fla.,” Kempter said. “After the round was done, he and I talked and we agreed that a year ago in a similar situation I would probably have made a mess of it. This was a sign that I am maturing from a mental standpoint – by leaps and bounds. I had more of a feeling of excitement and peace than a bundle of nerves. It was a great place to be.”
Kempter’s journey to the upper level of professional golf has been a bit unusual. She grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., and attended college at the University of Denver where she saw an opportunity to play golf immediately (four-time all-conference performer) and also dove into a major in English Textual Studies which required reading as many as three novels at a time.
After college, Kempter had immediate success at the LPGA Qualifying Tournament, earning her card for the 2010 season. But the high echelon was too much for the rookie, as she made only two of 13 cuts and earned $7,295.
“Physically, I had the game,” Kempter said. “But mentally was a whole different ballgame. I was overwhelmed with trying to manage myself, my time, my travel. I had a lot of doubt. Do I belong or was I just lucky to be out there?”
A return to the Epson Tour in 2011 didn’t erase that uncertainty. With her father caddying for her more often – as he did two weeks ago – Kempter still couldn’t recover. In 2013, she realized that battling a golf course and herself was too much. Her father contemplated not caddying anymore for the daughter he first taught the game to at age 5. So, she began working with Kremer in south Florida, not far from her winter base in Jupiter, where she works in the bag room at The Club at Admirals Cove.
“The most important thing to me in golf is the relationship I have with my dad,” Kempter said. “Playing golf with my dad is our place together. I knew I had to make a change.”
The victory continued her return path to the LPGA, as she stands second on the Epson Tour money list, with the top 10 earning their cards for 2016. But Kempter isn’t focused on the result, just the process, and finding time during her Epson Tour travels to visit Major League Baseball parks. Thus far, she has visited 20 of the 30.
“I don’t have any control over how anybody plays but myself,” Kempter said. “I have to recognize that the moment in time I gave the best I have and move on.”
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