Will Davenport and Mike Smith sat outside at Philadelphia Cricket Club, reminiscing about the day. They had come just short of making the final of the 2024 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, losing their semifinal match on the last hole. The result was disappointing, but the two laughed and shared a Guinness. To Davenport, this was what golf is all about.
“To not be in the office and instead be enjoying ourselves playing the game we love, that element is much more important than the outcome,” Davenport said.
A 32-year-old Boynton Beach, Florida, resident, Davenport works full time as a principal for Boston Consulting Group. He’s also the reigning Florida State Golf Association amateur and mid-amateur player of the year, recording eight top-10s in 12 starts in 2024. Davenport loves to compete, and says the competitiveness level of mid-amateur golf isn’t any lower than when he played as a junior or even in college. However, he believes mid-amateur golf is more about enjoyment of the game and the company.
“Competing in mid-amateur golf is such a big part of my identity that no matter what happens I know I’m going to have fun,” Davenport said.
Davenport didn’t start out as a golfer; it was actually his third sport behind tennis and baseball. He started playing at 8 years old when his family’s country club in Palm City offered free golf classes.
“I just went as an outlet so that I wasn’t so single-minded about tennis and I loved it,” Davenport said. “I enjoyed how multifaceted the game was.”
“It set me up for success in a life beyond golf. I never really suffered any delusions that I was good enough to make golf my career.”
Will Davenport
Soon, Davenport started to compete in junior tournaments. In high school, he played all four years for the varsity golf and tennis teams, captaining both during his junior and senior years.
However, as a junior, it came time for Davenport to decide which sport to pursue in college. While it was a tough choice, Davenport decided on golf.
“I decided that my enjoyment on the golf course was so high,” Davenport said. “It’s a more frustrating game to be sure, but I wanted to keep playing golf.”
While Davenport stuck with golf, he says he never thought he’d be good enough to turn pro. With this in mind, he chose to go to Yale University with academics as his main priority.
“It set me up for success in a life beyond golf,” Davenport said. “I never really suffered any delusions that I was good enough to make golf my career.”
As a freshman at Yale in 2011, Davenport was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year. However, he did so much more off the course. For example, he was the CFO of the Entrepreneurial Society. Davenport says his ability to balance golf, academics and extracurriculars prepared him for the balancing act of mid-amateur golf.
“I really enjoyed being plugged in,” Davenport said. “I probably generated bad sleeping habits for the years to follow but I didn’t want to do less.”
After having already accepted a full-time job with Boston Consulting Group out of college, Davenport tried his hand at European tour Q-School, where he barely missed qualifying for the second stage. Davenport says if anything, the result justified his decision to pursue a career outside of golf.
“I played pretty well and missed qualifying by a shot,” Davenport said. “The guy who medaled was like 20 shots ahead of me.”
For two years out of college, Davenport didn’t play a lot of golf while he focused on his career. While working in Australia in 2017, he decided to play in an 18-hole qualifier for the Australian Open and just missed qualifying. Especially after the long break, Davenport says the result gave him confidence.
“Maybe I should accelerate my return to competitive golf,” Davenport thought at the time.
In 2018, Davenport returned to the United States to get his MBA at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He says he had more time to play golf, and fell in love with the game again. He once again had to balance his career and golf.
“I’m definitely a weekend warrior in the truest definition,” Davenport said.
“I’d love to be on the wall of champions of the USGA one day.”
Davenport, who is engaged to be married next February, says he works 70-80 hour weeks and then spends 6-7 hours a day on the course on the weekend. While this means his game can never be as polished as he wants it to be, he says he’s embraced that aspect of mid-amateur golf.
“There’s no part of my game that anybody watches on the range or the short game area and says, ‘Oh my gosh that guy is so good,’” Davenport said. “But somehow it has come together so that I feel like I can get the ball in the hole and score.”
Davenport says the greater understanding of his game has led to his recent good form, which has included a top-10 at the Crump Cup at Pine Valley last September and a runner-up finish at the Gasparilla Invitational in February.
Despite his recent performances, Davenport hopes his best golf is still ahead of him. He says a big goal of his is to win the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship.
“Ultimately I have my sights on making it as deep as possible in a USGA championship,” Davenport said. “I’d love to be on the wall of champions of the USGA one day.”
Davenport’s next start comes Thursday in the Azalea Invitational at South Carolina’s Country Club of Charleston. In typical Davenport fashion, the golfer is looking forward to so much more than the golf.
“A buddy of mine is going to host a mid-am happy hour that week,” Davenport said. “We’re going to get as many of the guys we’re familiar with over there for drinks. That’s a great majority of the reason I play the events.”
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Top: Will Davenport, here playing in the 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur, is hoping his best golf is still ahead of him.
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