‘Where are my clubs?’ This pro once made a grave mistake on the mini tours

Patton Kizzire isn’t shy about all the “dumb stuff” he did while he was a fledgling mini-tour pro.

On this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar, Kizzire, now a 37-year-old pro with two PGA Tour wins to his name, recounted his stint on the mini tours with co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stolz.

“I played the mini tours for seven years,” Kizzire said. “I think I played [PGA Tour] Q-School seven or eight times. Man, a lot of memories on the mini tour, a lot of good friends made, a lot of dumb decisions made living in Auburn playing the mini tours.”

Some dumb decisions were more forgivable than others, of course. However, there was one that Kizzire will likely admit wasn’t.

He recalled driving from Auburn, Ala., to Charlotte, N.C., for an eGolf Tour event there.

Zach Johnson at the 2004 Ford Championship.
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“I opened the back of my Tahoe and I looked at my buddy Andrew Medley and I said, ‘Where are my clubs?'” Kizzire remembered. “I drove six and a half hours to Charlotte, North Carolina, and didn’t have my clubs in my Tahoe.”

You can see this was not one of the more forgivable dumb moves, especially for a professional golfer. Kizzire still ended up competing in the tournament, but it was a true mish-mosh in his golf bag. He had clubs in his car, they just weren’t his normal gamers.

“I had like five irons in this little moon bag and I had a driver, a 2-iron and a putter,” he said. “I had a 60˚, a 9 through 4[-iron], a 2-iron and a putter… just this set of extras tucked into my Tahoe.”

So how did Kizzire end up that week? He finished ninth. Perhaps that was a sign that he would eventually make it to the PGA Tour and collect more than $11 million in his career thus far.

For more from Kizzire, including why a mini tour still owes him money and his memory from his Sony Open win, check out the full episode of GOLF Subpar below.

Jack Hirsh

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.