Before Steve Flesch was commentating on FOX and winning on the PGA Tour, he was a Kentucky Amateur champion two out of three years in the 1980s. Flesch was born in Cincinnati but raised in Northern Kentucky where he would attend Covington Catholic High School. He then went an hour south for college where he became a Wildcat and played golf for the University of Kentucky. During the summers of 1986 and 1988, Flesch made it apparent how much talent he possessed by winning Kentucky’s flagship amateur golf tournament.

1986 brought the event west to Country Club of Paducah, last year’s host site of the Kentucky Amateur. Flesch was 19 at this point and making his first trip to the city in any form. Going into the final round, Flesch was five shots back of the leader but took advantage of a hot start on a windy final day to capture the clubhouse lead. Flesch’s score of 289 (+1) held up to prevail by a stroke as he notched the biggest victory of his career to date.

Two years later, Audubon Country Club in Louisville was the host venue of what would be Flesch’s second triumph in the event. Conditions were much easier this time as Flesch posted 281 (-7) to join a distinguished group of players to win the event multiple times. As Flesch told One Bearded Golfer, the Kentucky Amateur wins were pivotal in developing his confidence for the future success he would go on to have.

“I always had more success in the individual amateur events I played, whether they were the national amateur events or the state amateur where it was outside of school during the summertime.  I always seemed to play better. Maybe it was because being in school wasn’t a distraction, maybe it was because it wasn’t being on a team, which wasn’t necessarily a distraction, but as part of a team, you had people counting and depending on you to play well.  Maybe I didn’t handle that pressure very well.  I always thought the summertime was when I thrived, a lot more just playing events then than during the school year. So, I think I gained a lot more confidence by winning the State Amateur, and a couple of years later winning the State Amateur at Audubon, than I ever did playing college golf. I really don’t think I played very well in college, but always played a lot better in the summer times.”

Flesch would turn professional in 1990 and won the Kentucky Open at Keene Trace – Champions in 1991 along with the 1993 edition at Andover Golf & Country Club. Four PGA Tour wins came for Flesch in the mid-2000s; a stretch that also featured five top-10 finishes in major championships. Flesch now competes on the PGA Tour Champions along with the role on FOX commentating the USGA’s championships. Elected to the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame in 2007, he remains one of the top golfers Kentucky has ever produced.