Palm Beach Gardens Golfer Takes Juniors Tour by Storm
Photo and quotes courtesy of The Palm Beach Post
Andrew Kozan’s first love was baseball. The Palm Beach Gardens resident started on the diamond at the age of four. A year later, something happened that very well could be life changing for the 14 year old: he discovered the game of golf.
Not wanting to play a team sport anymore, the freshman at King’s Academy in West Palm Beach took up golf and has not looked back since.
“I decided I didn’t want to play a team sport like that,” Kozan said, “where you have to depend so much on everyone else’s performance. I wanted to play a game with more independence, and my mom took me out to play golf one day and I loved it.”
That decision by his mom has proven to be a good one as Andrew has already won three times on the South Florida PGA Junior Tour this year and will be starting his second year on the varsity team at Kings Academy despite only being a freshman.
His wins this year include a six shot win at a PGA National event and another win at Eastpointe, both in Palm Beach Gardens. In addition to competing on the South Florida Junior tour, Kozan also plays on the American Junior Golf Association Tour where he had an impressive runner up finish two weeks ago at an event held in New Jersey. He came in second by two strokes, outshooting players from Canada, Costa Rica, and the United States.
Despite only being a freshman, Kozan has already started entertaining thoughts of a college scholarship and possibly even playing professionally.
“I have a coach from the University of Virginia who’s looked at me,” he said, “and friends who’ve put in a good word for me at the University of Florida. I’d probably study math and science, but it would be great to eventually play professionally.”
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