SE: K-State Golf Alum Gandon Ready for New Pressure as Professional on Mackenzie Tour
May 23, 2019 | Men's Golf, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Jeremy Gandon's about to take on a new kind of pressure on the golf course. The kind that affects bank accounts and life plans. The professional kind.
Gandon, less than a week after graduating from K-State with a finance degree, starts his professional career on the Mackenzie Tour — formerly known as PGA Tour Canada — on Thursday at the Canada Life Open in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"I'm very excited, that's for sure. It's going to be a little different, to play for real money and for a living," he said, before repeating himself. "It's definitely going to be different."
Different in a number of ways.
After four years of having travel and tournaments lined up for him at K-State, financially and logistically, Gandon will be in charge of getting himself from place to place in Canada. That brings a newfound weight to perform well, one Gandon feels prepared to carry.
"It's a different kind of pressure," the France native said. "When you travel with the team, you don't have to worry about anything. They pay for food, everything, and you just go out there and play. It's definitely a different kind of pressure, which worked out pretty well for me."
It worked out well for Gandon at the qualifying event he played to get into the Mackenzie Tour. It cost him $2,750 to enter, with no prize money on the line and only the top 14 finishers earning spots on PGA-sanctioned Canadian tour.
Gandon shot a 4-under par 284 and finished tied for seventh at the Q-School event that took place from March 23-26 at Carlton Oaks Country Club in Santee, California. He flew straight there right after finishing tied for 31st for the Wildcats at the Tar Heel Invitational in North Carolina.
"I was a little tired, but I was very in the zone, though. I played very well all four rounds," he said. "My game was a lot better than in North Carolina. Not that I wasn't trying at North Carolina. That kind of pressure just makes you perform better. I really felt it there. You're just more into it."
Gandon's performance earned him a few things.
First, it put his mind at ease at a time when he was uncertain what his future would look like after his last semester finished.
"That was a big relief, for sure, because I didn't really know what I was about to do after graduating, if I was going home or staying here," he said. "So, that at least set up my summer and now I can apply for a (U.S.) Visa because I'm a PGA Tour member, so that was big for me."
Second, the former Wildcat received guaranteed starts in the first six of the Mackenzie Tour's 12 events this season. Depending on how well Gandon does in those will determine his fate for the last six events. Each season, the top five money winners from the Mackenzie Tour move up to the Web.com Tour, a step below the PGA Tour.
"It's a short period. We get 12 tournaments in like three and a half months, so it's very intense," Gandon said. "We basically play every week, and it's right before the Web.com Q School. It's good preparation for that."
Gandon said his time as a Wildcat certainly equipped him for this challenge in a number of ways.
"It definitely prepared me for the next step. I improved my game a lot," Gandon, who's also played four pro-level events on the Alps Tour as an amateur the last two years and eight such events since 2014, said. "I just felt like my game stepped up when I came here because of the courses we played. Back in Europe, the courses are not as good as what we can play in college golf. They're not as tough, not as demanding.
"Colbert Hills is a good course. The weather makes you tougher. It's always a little windy, cold, so it kind of prepares your mindset, too. Technically I feel like I improved a lot, with Coach (Grant) Robbins."
Part of Robbins' first recruiting class at K-State, Gandon leaves a strong legacy behind.
His career scoring average (72.67) ranks first in school history. He's the program's only Big 12 medalist and second-ever conference medalist. He holds three of the program's top 14 single-season scoring averages and won four tournaments as a Wildcat, one shy of the program record. He also ended his career with back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances as an individual, only the second Wildcat to do so.
Still, in terms of the improvement he made at K-State, Gandon said he feels like all of those feats do not do it justice.
"I feel like I improved my game more than (my performances showed)," he said, as he looks to prove so with more on the line than ever before. "I'm ready to go."
Jeremy Gandon's about to take on a new kind of pressure on the golf course. The kind that affects bank accounts and life plans. The professional kind.
Gandon, less than a week after graduating from K-State with a finance degree, starts his professional career on the Mackenzie Tour — formerly known as PGA Tour Canada — on Thursday at the Canada Life Open in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"I'm very excited, that's for sure. It's going to be a little different, to play for real money and for a living," he said, before repeating himself. "It's definitely going to be different."
Different in a number of ways.
After four years of having travel and tournaments lined up for him at K-State, financially and logistically, Gandon will be in charge of getting himself from place to place in Canada. That brings a newfound weight to perform well, one Gandon feels prepared to carry.
"It's a different kind of pressure," the France native said. "When you travel with the team, you don't have to worry about anything. They pay for food, everything, and you just go out there and play. It's definitely a different kind of pressure, which worked out pretty well for me."
It worked out well for Gandon at the qualifying event he played to get into the Mackenzie Tour. It cost him $2,750 to enter, with no prize money on the line and only the top 14 finishers earning spots on PGA-sanctioned Canadian tour.
Gandon shot a 4-under par 284 and finished tied for seventh at the Q-School event that took place from March 23-26 at Carlton Oaks Country Club in Santee, California. He flew straight there right after finishing tied for 31st for the Wildcats at the Tar Heel Invitational in North Carolina.
"I was a little tired, but I was very in the zone, though. I played very well all four rounds," he said. "My game was a lot better than in North Carolina. Not that I wasn't trying at North Carolina. That kind of pressure just makes you perform better. I really felt it there. You're just more into it."
Gandon's performance earned him a few things.
First, it put his mind at ease at a time when he was uncertain what his future would look like after his last semester finished.
"That was a big relief, for sure, because I didn't really know what I was about to do after graduating, if I was going home or staying here," he said. "So, that at least set up my summer and now I can apply for a (U.S.) Visa because I'm a PGA Tour member, so that was big for me."
Second, the former Wildcat received guaranteed starts in the first six of the Mackenzie Tour's 12 events this season. Depending on how well Gandon does in those will determine his fate for the last six events. Each season, the top five money winners from the Mackenzie Tour move up to the Web.com Tour, a step below the PGA Tour.
"It's a short period. We get 12 tournaments in like three and a half months, so it's very intense," Gandon said. "We basically play every week, and it's right before the Web.com Q School. It's good preparation for that."
Gandon said his time as a Wildcat certainly equipped him for this challenge in a number of ways.
"It definitely prepared me for the next step. I improved my game a lot," Gandon, who's also played four pro-level events on the Alps Tour as an amateur the last two years and eight such events since 2014, said. "I just felt like my game stepped up when I came here because of the courses we played. Back in Europe, the courses are not as good as what we can play in college golf. They're not as tough, not as demanding.
"Colbert Hills is a good course. The weather makes you tougher. It's always a little windy, cold, so it kind of prepares your mindset, too. Technically I feel like I improved a lot, with Coach (Grant) Robbins."
Part of Robbins' first recruiting class at K-State, Gandon leaves a strong legacy behind.
His career scoring average (72.67) ranks first in school history. He's the program's only Big 12 medalist and second-ever conference medalist. He holds three of the program's top 14 single-season scoring averages and won four tournaments as a Wildcat, one shy of the program record. He also ended his career with back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances as an individual, only the second Wildcat to do so.
Still, in terms of the improvement he made at K-State, Gandon said he feels like all of those feats do not do it justice.
"I feel like I improved my game more than (my performances showed)," he said, as he looks to prove so with more on the line than ever before. "I'm ready to go."
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