Noah Kent sinks a birdie putt on the first hole during the quarterfinals of the 2024 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (Chris Keane/USGA)
Noah Kent was going to swing as hard as he could and hope for the best.
His wedge slid beautifully underneath his golf ball, launching it softly into the air. The ball landed in the rough, tumbled into the fringe and then rolled onto the green.
The only thing to stop it was the bottom of the cup.
“All my like family standing behind the green, they’re going crazy,” Kent said. “And then I just saw it drop in. It was like an out of body experience.”
Kent’s chip-in eagle on the par-5 11th hole was a dagger on a brilliant afternoon at Hazeltine, one that saw him made six birdies and an eagle to knock off No. 64 Ethan Fang. Kent, a rising sophomore at Iowa, is playing in his first USGA championship, but he’s on a roll.
Fang played wonderfully through 16 holes. He had four birdies and one bogey. But it wasn’t enough to match Kent, who has a background in hockey and friends who play for the Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils. There’s plenty of comparisons between the two sports that have helped him succeed, even as a newer player.
“I just feel like, driver, slap shot, hit it a mile,” Kent said. “I feel like all hockey players have good fundamentals.”
Kent gets his competitiveness from hockey, too. That’s why when Fang drilled a 25 footer for birdie on the first, it ignited a fire from within. Kent responded with a birdie of his own. Then he birdied the second, the third and the fourth holes.
“I was just kind of like, oh, it’s on now,” Kent said. “You kind of have to accept the player to pull off everything in match play, but to see it go in, it was kind of like, ‘all right, like, let’s go. It’s game time.’”