Tom Whitney (born May 16, 1989) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Amateur career

Whitney was born in South Lake Tahoe, California and lives in

Little Elm, Texas Little Elm is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States, and a part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is an extended suburb of Denton; its population was 46,453 as of the 2020 census. In 2000, the census population was at 3,646. By the ...

. He attended La Quinta High School in

La Quinta, California La Quinta (Spanish for "The Fifth") is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States. Located between Indian Wells and Indio, it is one of the nine cities of the Coachella Valley. The population was 37,467 at the 2010 c ...

. After high school, he attended the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Un ...

. Whitney won four collegiate tournaments and set four low-scoring school records in his college career. Whitney also competed in the 2009

U.S. Amateur Public Links The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a men's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the United States Golf Association. The USGA typically c ...

and the 2009

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

. Whitney completed his college career as a two-time GCAA All-America Scholar and a finalist for the Byron Nelson Award.

Military service

Whitney is a 2010 graduate of the

where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Sciences. After his graduation from the academy he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

in 2010 and rose to the rank of First Lieutenant while assigned to the

319th Missile Squadron The 319th Missile Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 90th Operations Group at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. The squadron is equipped with the LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, with ...

F.E. Warren Air Force Base Francis E. Warren Air Force Base , shortened as F.E. Warren AFB is a United States Air Force base (AFB) located approximately west of Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is one of three strategic-missile bases in the U.S. It was named in honor of Francis E. ...

in Wyoming. As an Air Force officer he served as a nuclear missile operator. After a four-year term of active duty in the Air Force, he left in May 2014 to pursue a career in professional golf.

Military wins

Whitney won the Air Force Golf Championship four times, the Armed Forces Golf Championship three times and was the 2012 winner of the CISM World Military Golf Championship, making him one of the most successful golfers in the United States Air Force.

Professional career

Having turned professional after graduating from the

US Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

, Whitney's first tournament was by means of a sponsor exemption at the 2010 Colorado Open. He made the cut and finished T32. In 2015 he made his first start on the

Web.com Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

at the

Utah Championship The Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank is a professional golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour, played at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah. One of the original tournaments of the 1990 Ben Hogan Tour as the Utah Classic, the t ...

, where he made the cut and finished T63 having made the field via Monday qualifying. In 2016 he qualified for the

PGA Tour Latinoamérica PGA Tour Latinoamérica is a third level professional golf tour formed in 2012 and operated by the PGA Tour. It was formed in concert with the now defunct Tour de las Américas. Executives from the Tour de las Américas became employees of the ne ...

having missed out at the Web.com Tour qualifying school; he finished 11th on the money list to graduate to the Web.com Tour for 2017. In 2017, Whitney gained his first start on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

by winning the Monday qualifier for the

Shriners Hospitals for Children Open The Shriners Children's Open is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Nevada. Founded in 1983, it is the fourth event of the Tour's 2019–20 wrap-around season and is played annually in October in Las Vegas. It is currently held at the TPC Summ ...

. He finished the season ranked 89th on the Web.com Tour money list. In 2018, having received a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour's

CareerBuilder Challenge The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express for sponsorship reasons; previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, Palm Springs Golf Classic, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and the Humana Challen ...

, he made his first cut at the highest level and went on to finish T67. In 2019, Whitney won the Abierto OSDE del Centro on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica; he finished the season in second place on the tours Order of Merit to regain his place on the Korn Ferry Tour for the following season. Whitney has also won ten tournaments on various mini-tours.

Professional wins (11)

PGA Tour Latinoamérica wins (1)

Other wins (10)

*2011 Pepsi Tour Event at Cimarron Golf Resort *2014 Avondale Open (eGolf/Gateway Tour), Oregon Trail Pro-Am Tournament *2015

Waterloo Open Golf Classic The Waterloo Jaycees Greater Waterloo Open Golf Classic is the oldest and largest golf tournament in the state of Iowa. It has been played annually since 1934, and celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2008. It is traditionally played over the course ...

, Western North Dakota Charity Pro-Am, Nevada Open, zTrip Classic (OnCore Gateway Tour) *2016 Swing Thought Tour 54 @ Sun ‘N Lake Golf Club,

*2017 Sand Hollow Open

Professional records

*Low first-round record at the Colorado Open with an opening round 64 on July 26, 2012 . *Course record 64 at Jacksonville Naval Air Station (Red & White Course) on October 8, 2012

Team appearances

Aruba Cup The Aruba Cup was an annual team golf competition between teams representing PGA Tour Latinoamérica and PGA Tour Canada. It was founded in 2016 and took place in December. The 2016 and 2017 events were held at the Tierra del Sol Resort, Spa & Co ...

(representing

): 2016 (winners)

External links

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Tom American male golfers Golfers from California Golfers from Colorado Golfers from Texas People from La Quinta, California Sportspeople from Fort Collins, Colorado People from Little Elm, Texas Sportspeople from Denton County, Texas 1989 births Living people