Ex-Flintridge Prep Great Brett Kanda Working Way Up Golf World

Brett Kanda is just getting his feet wet as a professional golfer.

Because of that the 24-year-old who grew up in La Crescenta and attended Flintridge Prep, knows that his best days are ahead of him and there will be plenty of chances to qualify for the U.S. Open.

Last week Kanda returned to the area to play in a qualifier for the nation’s top event at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale. He finished 10^th amongst a large field by shooting 141 over 36 holes, which kept him five spots away from making the trip to Bethesda, Md. and Congressional Country Club, which will host the U.S. Open beginning this Thursday.

“I played really well and felt 100 percent prepared,” Kanda said in an email interview. “Two holes cost me early on in the day because I think my nerves got the best of me, but it was a great learning experience. My goal is always to get a little better every day.”

For Kanda, playing at Oakmont was something he relished.

“I was really close and it was great to be in contention and feel support from the entire Oakmont family,” Kanda said. “They have supported me for so long and everybody there means a lot to me.”

While knowledge of the course certainly would figure to favor a local, Kanda said it wasn’t as big of a factor as one would think.

“I've played there more times than you can imagine since the age of 4,” Kanda said. “However, the course went through a major renovation about three years ago, so I'm not quite as familiar with a couple of the holes. I would say I know that course pretty well!”

Following the qualifier, Kanda did not have much time to stay around the area as he quickly headed back to Canada to continue playing on the Canadian Tour.

He has been playing on the Canadian Tour since April after turning pro last summer following his graduation from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“He has a really good game,” UNLV coach Dwaine Knight said. “I think he has a good strong work ethic and I hope he reaches that dream.”

Knight is of course talking about the PGA Tour.

Kanda says he choose UNLV because of Knight’s success in getting players to the highest level of the professional ranks.

“I had always noticed how many tour pros UNLV seemed to produce so that caught my eye. My final schools that I was deciding between were UNLV, USC, Florida State, University of New Mexico, and the University of Colorado,” Kanda said. “The majority of my family attended USC and I grew up a huge USC football and basketball fan, so it was tough to not go to USC. I just thought that my best chance to someday be on the PGA Tour would come out of my experiences from being at UNLV. It ended up being a great decision.”

Knight said qualifying for the U.S. Open is very difficult and being close is something Kanda should be proud of.

For now, Kanda is focused on playing in Canada with the hopes of reaching make the leap up to competing with the world’s best.

“I want to have a long and successful career on the PGA Tour and have multiple majors to my name,” Kanda said. “Goals should not be easy to achieve and I truly enjoy the process of achieving goals. As a person, I try to be a role model and I believe that taking care of the small things and doing things the right way is very important. I also love the relationships that I have in my life and I think that is a big part of who I am.”

If one thing is certain it is that Brett Kanda is focused on getting making sure he has a long, lasting career in golf.