Rhodes hard work pays off with state golf bid

Kobe Rhodes first picked up a golf club when he was 4 years old.

As a youngster, he played in some youth tournaments, hit the ball around the links and never putting much time or effort into his time on the course.

At age 14, Rhodes got serious – and his game seriously improved.

Four years later, Rhodes is a four-year Glenwood golf varsity letter winner and one of the Rams’ most decorated golfers ever. On Saturday, Rhodes placed 22nd at the Iowa State Golf Tournament in Livermore. Rhodes is the fifth the Ram all-time and first in nearly a decade to qualify for the state meet.

So how does a casual golfer go on to become one of Glenwood Community High School’s most decorated golfers?

“I’ve always had a good work ethic but from a golf standpoint, I didn’t really start working hard until high school,” he said. “My junior year and this year, this whole season, I’ve been doing a lot of running and yoga so I wasn’t tired down the stretch and letting myself down. So these last two years I’ve tried extra hard on the range, on different courses, getting my swing right. I thinks it’s paid off so far.”

Swing coach Jaime Stogdill at GolfTec in Omaha has helped Rhodes refine his game. And yoga has helped his overall conditioning.

“It’s a huge part of my game,” Rhodes said of his yoga training. “Flexibility to be able to turn and being loose on the course at all times is huge. I’ll stretch between holes and its very beneficial.”

Rhodes started his senior season off strong, then had a mid-season lull before “peaking” at the right time late in the season, he said.

“I feel like I played my best golf at the end of the year,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes late season surge landed him ninth at the Hawkeye 10 Conference meet – one of four Rams, including overall champion Ryan Leith, to place in the top 10 – third at sectionals and culminating with his 4-over-par 76 at Majestic Hills Golf Course in Denison Friday to earn his state bid.

Leading up to state and being out of school, Rhodes delved into practice, playing on four very different courses in Omaha and Council Bluffs to acclimate his game to the conditions he expected to see at state.

This on top of the extra running and yoga he did “to be as prepared as I could be,” he said.

His approach for state didn’t vary all the much from his regular season prep: work hard and let your muscle memory take over.

“You can’t put any more pressure on yourself you’ll psyche yourself out and bad things happen,” Rhodes said. “I just go out there and have fun. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

Glenwood coach Michael Joyner said he agrees Rhodes always looks like he’s having fun on the course – but underneath that quick smile is a competitor whose talent is only matched by his leadership on a young Ram squad.

“His leadership has been invaluable in setting up a culture of winning and getting better,” Joyner said. “Him trusting me and doing the things Coach (Marty) Stavas and I ask of the kids set a tone of hard work and got the other golfers to trust what we were doing.”

In his four years Rhodes has been part team that owns three  Glenwood records: best front nine and back nine at Atlantic’s Nishna Hills Country Club and best front nine at the Clarinda Country Club. He was also a part of the team that has the second and third best scores at the Glenwood Golf Club course (144 and 145) in school history. Individually he owns three school records: Low round at Nishna Hills (1-over-par 37), low round back nine at Majestic Hills (even-par 35) and the Rams’ home course (3-under-par 32).

“There aren’t many people that would out work Kobe,” Joyner said. “He has talent, but he also has the desire to be great. He wasn’t satisfied with tying the school record for lowest score in nine holes he wanted to beat it.”

Tyler Thompson was the Rams’ last individual state qualifier, back in 2007. Thompson just happens to have been a bit of a mentor to Rhodes. Rhodes came up in the Glenwood Optimist youth golf program, like Thompson, who often volunteered to assist the younger players.

“He was always someone I looked up to,” Rhodes said. “I always wanted to be like Tyler. He was a great influence on me and he always wanted me to do my best and set aside time to help me out.”

The state tournament isn’t the end of the road for Rhodes’ competitive golf career. In April Rhodes he signed a letter-of-intent to join the Central College golf team next season.

“My sophomore year I started to realize that was what I wanted to do in college,” Rhodes said. “I started working with (swing coach) Jaime (Stogdill) on my swing and saw all he benefits I got out of it, I saw it was something I really wanted to do.”