Professional golfer Kevin Hall poses in front of an AT&T sign at the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Carmel, California. Credit: Courtesy of Kevin Hall
The world of professional golf can be a particularly brutal one, with Monday qualifiers, big cuts in the field and endless traveling, but Kevin Hall, who has been chasing his dream of being a professional golfer for 16 years now, is no stranger to adversity.
“It can get really lonely,” Hall said. “There’s not much interaction with the deaf community, although I do get to meet new people almost everywhere I go. This is what I chose to do and I love it, though.”
Hall lost his hearing at 2 years old after recovering from meningitis. Seven years later, at 9, Hall picked up a golf club.
“When you put a golf club in his hand, there was just no stopping him,” Jackie Hall, Kevin’s mother, said.
While learning how to play, Kevin Hall said being deaf required him to navigate language barriers with his instructors, who didn’t speak American Sign Language.
Despite the added hurdle to training, Hall said the help of technology and his parents have allowed him to grow his game.
“My parents help with the communication and I can lip read,” Hall said. “There are a lot of videos and it helps when I have my phone, I can type out my responses and there are texts/emails. There’s always a way to communicate.”
Hall, now a 2005 Ohio State graduate and current professional golfer, played in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am off of a sponsor exemption from Feb. 8-14 in Carmel, California.
The tournament was played at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course and Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore with 156 professional golfers in the field.
Although Hall shot a 153 (+9) over the first two days and missed the cut, he said he found the experience invaluable.
“The experience made me want to work even harder to get back out there and compete at the highest level of golf,” Hall said.
The lack of spectators and the absence of celebrities and amateurs playing in the event made this year different from his experience playing in the tournament in 2006, Hall said.
“It felt great to be back there,” Hall said. “It was still a PGA Tour event, so it was thrilling to compete with the best players up close.”
Something else that made this year different, Hall said, was the video message from fellow Buckeye and 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus that he received before the tournament wishing him luck and giving him advice.
“It was great that he took the time to do that and send me some support,” Hall said. “That’s what Buckeyes do for each other, and I was very humbled and grateful for it.”
Since graduating in 2005, Hall has played in seven PGA Tour events and 12 Korn Ferry Tour events.
Before fighting to make cuts on tour, Hall’s golf journey got an unusual start.
While playing various sports such as baseball, basketball and soccer, it was Hall’s bowling coach that asked him if he had any interest in trying golf, he said.
“The first day we went to meet him at the driving range, I picked up a driver and watched golfers up and down the range for a minute,” Hall said. “Then I teed up a ball and tried to copy what I observed. I hit the prettiest little draw out there about 125 yards. I was hooked from that point on.”
Hall went on to golf at Ohio State under head coach Jim Brown. His college career highlight was winning the Big Ten Championship, both as a team and individually, in 2004.
Hall will play a full schedule on the Advocates Pro Golf Tour, qualifiers on the Korn Ferry Tour, state opens and concludes with Korn Ferry Qualifying School at the end of the year.
“I’m most proud of Kevin because of his perseverance,” Jackie Hall said. “Kevin never gives up. And I’m most proud of his thirst for life and living life to the best of his ability.”
