Kyle Carpenter

While attending Northern Virginia Community College, Kyle Carpenter was working at a hockey rink when the roof collapsed one day due to snow.

That led to him taking a job at Dick’s Sporting Goods and striking up an interest in the management side of golf. After community college, Carpenter transferred to Mississippi State and graduated in 2015 with a degree in the school’s PGA golf management program. Most recently, he worked at the Country Club of Jackson as its first assistant golf professional.

When the head golf professional position at Northwood Country Club opened up, greens chairman Doyle Bryan reached out to his brother, Chase, who was a member at the County Club of Jackson, to inquire about Carpenter’s interest in the job. 

“Through conversations with people like John Lang and Mike Taylor, they decided to give me a shot,” Carpenter said.

In the three weeks since his last day in Jackson, he’s been getting up to speed as Northwood’s new head golf pro, and the chance to fulfill a dream that started back when he was working at Dick’s Sporting Goods has been a surreal experience, Carpenter said.

“It’s been an awesome two weeks,” he said.

Northwood General Manager Billy Pomeroy said he’s excited to have Carpenter on board, and he’s gotten plenty of positive feedback from its members since Carpenter started.

“Obviously, the Country Club of Jackson is the premier country club in the state, so to be getting their lead assistant, we feel like we got the best candidate out there,” Pomeroy said. “On top of that, he’s been here for two weeks, and we have’t heard anything negative; it’s been nothing but positives, and we continue to think it’s going to be a great fit. We’re excited to have Kyle and hope he’s here for a long time and that he’ll grow golf and build upon the tradition that all the other golf pros have started before him.”

Though he hadn’t played Northwood’s course prior to taking the job, Carpenter said the club’s good reputation made it an attractive job.

“I knew the history of Northwood from Eddie Merrins to Mike Taylor to Johnny Lang, Pam Posey, Lou Hart… the list goes on and on,” Carpenter said. “It was exciting just from that standpoint alone. I had never played the course, but I had been out here a few times to visit.”

Near constant rain the last couple of weeks has made it difficult to get out and play the course, but Carpenter said he was able to split the front nine and the back nine between two different weeks.

“Great conditions, and tough,” Carpenter said. “You have got to hit golf shots in order to play this golf course. Even though it’s a shorter course, you have to hit those shots.”

Carpenter is also Lamar’s new golf coach, and he’s already enjoying leading the Raiders even with the limited amount of time he’s gotten to interact with the team.

“We actually had a three-way playoff for our sixth spot, and it was a sixth grader versus two seniors, and the sixth grader (Gray Davis) won,” Carpenter said. “We played our first match Monday, and through 12 holes he looked pretty tired, and I went up and asked him if he was OK. Turns out, that was his first 18-hole round of golf ever — and he shot a 97, so that was really cool to see. Then of course (South Alabama signee) Eli (Mitchell) shooting 68 and coming in third in the first even was a great way to start, and Brady (Lagendyk) played very well, too.”

It’s only been two weeks, but Carpenter said he’s loved interacting with the club’s members, and they’ve all been welcoming to him as well. He hopes to provide whatever kind of golf instruction they need in order to improve their game.

“My biggest thing is I love helping people play golf the way they want to play,” Carpenter said. “If you’re the guy who wants to shoot 90 and have a good time, that’s great. If you’re the guy who wants to compete for the club championship, I want to help you get to that point as well.”