Caption: Leseur has averaged a score of 77.1 in his 13 rounds of play at Butler. Photo by Jonathan Wang.
DAVID JACOBS | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | drjacobs@butler.edu
From the moment he was born, junior golfer Kenny Leseur was raised through the game of golf on the small islands of Bermuda. Following in the footsteps of his father — a junior golf champion of his own — Leseur held his first golf club at a young age.
“I learned from my dad growing up,” Leseur said. “He played in college and throughout his life, he was actually still working on the golf course when I was born.”
As Leseur rose in the world amateur rankings, he knew moving to the United States would help him fulfill his golf dreams.
After he arrived at Montverde Academy — a boarding school in Florida known for its athletics — he would later end up qualifying for the 2019 Bermuda Championship at just 15 years old, becoming the second-youngest golfer to ever compete in a PGA event.
“I think it was a great experience that I got to be able to play and see what it was like at such a young age,” Leseur said. “[I] met a bunch of people that have done it for years, and just asked them all the questions in the world of what I can do to get better. ”
While a teenage Leseur missed the cut with a score of 10-over-par through two rounds, the 2019 Bermuda Championship field included multiple current top-100 golfers such as Scottie Scheffler and Brendon Todd.
Following his Bermuda Championship appearance, Leseur picked up wins at several International Junior Golf Tour events during his time in high school.
His first came at the 2019 Faldo Series Grand Finale by a whopping 19 strokes, followed by a 2020 Illinois Junior Golf Association Open victory by a single stroke.
Stacking these impressive wins, the Warwick native rose to fourth in the world for the 2022 amateur recruiting class, and 16th overall in the overall amateur rankings.
With such a high ranking attached to his name, head coach Colby Huffman is glad he was able to get Leseur on the roster.
“[His] coach in Florida is a good friend of mine,” Huffman said. “So, we would call every six months and just ask, ‘Who do you have that’s a great player?’ Since I knew the system that he was under and that kind of stuff, it made for an easy transition. [We] had him up on a visit, and the rest is history, so it was just a small world — knowing the right people at the right time.”
Getting such a highly touted recruit to come to Butler may have helped the program in more ways than Huffman could have imagined. Fellow junior golfer Leo Zurovak was swayed heavily to Butler because of the commitment of Leseur.
“Seeing Kenny join [the team] before me was a big reason why I also joined Butler,” Zurovak said. “I didn’t know him personally, but I knew him from his golfing scores. I knew he was going to be a good fit and asset to this team, and off the golf course, he’s a great guy. [After meeting], we clicked instantly. We’re both outgoing and love to have fun when we’re allowed to, and we like to grind when we need to grind.”
This past summer, Leseur added a Bermuda Amateur Championship win via playoff to his golf resume. This gave himself and his team an indication of full health after an intense injury journey.
The lengthy health battle started after a moped accident left him injured and off the course for his sophomore campaign. However, seven injury-free months have Leseur ready for the upcoming season.
“I struggled with my hip for a while,” Leseur said. “I ended up just taking a break and focusing on that until it was fully better. [Being] injury-free and starting to see the progress from that has been good. [The Bermuda Amateur Championship] was my first big win in a while, so it felt good, I think everything I did this summer is going to help this year for me and the school.”
Outside of the Amateur Championship victory, Leseur added a tied finish for the top spot in the Moongate Tour with a final score of one-under.
While the low scores and championship wins will be taking the highlights, it is the work behind the scenes that propel Leseur to the international golf spotlight.
“He hasn’t had the smoothest college career for now,” Zurovak said. “He’s struggled with some injuries and it hasn’t been easy, but he’s here today practicing harder than ever before. [His] mentality is something that we should all have on the team, and it’s something that spreads positivity within all of us. He is one of the most resilient guys I know, and he couldn’t be a better teammate.”
Going from one of the youngest PGA competitors in history to an uber-successful prep-school career and then struggling initially at the collegiate level is not for the faint of heart.
“It’s fantastic to see him playing well again,” Huffman said. “Just knowing that he is back and trending in the right direction. As a natural-born leader, he’s got high goals for himself and the team. He’s a guy that brings great energy to practice and to have him around is really valuable.”
