Kirk Whelan
PERSONAL – Kirk lives in Fair Oaks, California with his wife Jennifer. They have three grown children – daughter Sienna (36), son Spencer (28), and daughter Hayden (26). He works for Kaiser Health plan. Kirk started golfing in 1983 while in college at Cal Poly. A roommate took him to the Laguna 9 and he’s been hooked ever since.
TIE TO THE MONTEMAR – Kirk’s story of his tie to the Montemar is definitely a fun one and a story of how we can make buddies at any age and in the most random ways possible… and how…. golf can often help push those friendships along.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Kirk met Troy Szabo on a flight from Burbank to Sacramento. During the conversation on the flight they realized it’s a very small world and that they’d both worked for Kaiser and both their sons went to the same high school. All that stuff – working for the same company and son’s at the same school and similar type guys with similar personalities – was great but they left the flight and went on their separate ways.
It wasn’t until a number of years later when they had a little extra boost to help push their friendship along. During the Pandemic these two randomly ran into each other on the Ancil Hoffman Driving Range and golf, as it has for many of us, became that extra something to push their friendship along. They set up a time to play together and have been doing so weekly ever since. Bob Manzer, another Montemar member, is a part of their weekly game. I believe it was Troy who said they’re all cut from the same cloth.
And I’ll say that Troy is cut from the same cloth as me and most of you are as well and that’s why this tournament is so great. Kirk seems like another perfect addition to the Montemar. A great guy who loves to golf and should be a blast to get to know in Scottsdale.
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MONTEMAR – Kirk came through nicely last year.
WHAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN IN 2023 – The three wise-man (wise is a nice and friendly way of saying old) in Troy’s group – Troy, Kirk, and Bob – all strike me as sneaky picks to do some damage in this thing. Troy loves winning golf tournaments – just sent me a pic of the card that won his tournament today – and him and his boys play competitive games weekly. They’ll combine with Sean Story to make a pretty good scramble team and could and probably will fall through the cracks come draft day. If Kirk could pair up with Troy or Bob on Sunday it would make for a phenomenal team and one that could really do some damage when all the points are worth double.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN 2023 – Kirk was relying on big-hittin Troy Szabo contribute in the scramble portion of last year’s Montemar and as I look through the scorecard I’m guessing that didn’t happen. All kidding aside, Kirk showed up in Scottsdale and played with a lot of guys nearly half his age, and he did it from the same tee boxes. The man more than held his own. More importantly, he was a fun guy to talk to and I’m guessing he had some fun because we get to see him in Idaho.
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN 2024 – First, if he wants to be truly competitive, he should dump that bum Szabo and go searching for a few guys who can help him in a scramble. Second, if he really wants to create an advantage, he should approach me with the question of…. Should we have a 60 and over set of tee boxes? I’d probably say yes with the stipulation that Troy never gets to use them. Lastly, the handicap earned last year is much higher than the actual. Kirk will get the benefit of a returners handicap and should do some damage in whatever opening day division he lines up in. I expect Kirk to fly up the leaderboard in 2024 while hopefully having an amazing time.
ODDS TO WIN 38-1
FUN FACT – Kirk is able to play golf for work at lots of nice courses throughout the state. It’s been a great way for him to meet business partners and establish lasting relationships.
MONTEMARS PLAYED – 1 (Scottsdale – 2023)
MONTEMAR ROUNDS PLAYED – 3 (TPC Scottsdale, TS-Piipaash, TS-O’odhaam)
LIFETIME POINT TOTAL – 247.5
JACKETS WON – 0
TOP 3 FINISHES – 0
TOP 5 FINISHES – 0
TOP 10 FINISHES – 0
RECORDS – 0
TOURNAMENT HANDICAP – 25
INVITED BY – Troy Szabo
PLAYERS INVITED - 1 (Bob Manzer – 2023)
PRIZES DONATED – Hoping Kirk comes through with another great gift card!
