TAMPA, Fla. - You could say Carl Santos-Ocampo knows a thing or two about golf. You could also say that Santos-Ocampo knows a thing or two about golf with the FSGA.
He is the only FSGA member to be a part of the Junior Florida Cup team and then continue to become a member of the Florida Cup team years later. His journey with the FSGA has been filled with great memories, lifelong friendships, and golf. A lot of golf.
Santos-Ocampo started playing the game when he was still living in the Philippines at six years old and he instantly fell in love with the sport. When he moved to the United States with his family at fourteen years old, the first thing he did was play in a Florida Junior Tour event. Only a week after arriving in the United States, Santos-Ocampo entered into his first FSGA event, the Boys' Junior Championship at LPGA International in Daytona Beach. Amidst culture shock and rain delays, Santos-Ocampo survived a playoff to win his first FSGA championship. He describes this experience as helping to kick-start his junior career. Santos-Ocampo continued playing Florida Junior Tour events and was a member of the first Junior Florida Cup Team Championship held at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club. Santos-Ocampo had some notable teammates including Brooks Koepka, Madison Pressel and Lexi Thompson.
“The Florida Junior Tour was the premiere junior tour and they played at the best courses,” Santos-Ocampo said. “From the moment the junior tour was established, and I started playing in events, it helped me to get recruited in college and I ended up playing at The University of Notre Dame. The Florida Junior Tour was a big part of the recruiting process for me.”
During college, Santos-Ocampo would return to Florida for the summers and play in FSGA championships. In fact, he has qualified for 25 FSGA championships between the Boys’ Junior, Mid-Amateur, Four-Ball, Florida Open, Amateur, and the Amateur Match Play. He has an excel spreadsheet of every tournament that he has ever played complete with his scores at each event to prove it.
Upon graduation from Notre Dame, Santos-Ocampo played professionally for four years. He earned Korn Ferry Tour status through final stage of Qualifying School, but he mainly played in Asia with the Chinese and Filipino tours.
Santos-Ocampo describes his time playing golf professionally as a wonderful experience but he eventually knew that he needed to start his career in business, so he moved back to Naples in 2015. He immediately applied to regain his amateur status and he describes entering back into amateur golf once again with the FSGA as a great welcome.
Ultimately, the FSGA events are more than just competition. It is about reconnecting with friends and creating new relationships.
“As a player, the opportunity to hone your game and test yourself against the best is great. But we are also able to create really close connections with friends and we use the FSGA as a reunion. Since we live all over the state, we use these tournaments as a way to get together periodically throughout the year. And as a result, even if we do not live in the same town then we still can remain extremely close friends.”
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Santos-Ocampo just finished playing in the Mid-Amateur Championship at Royal Poinciana Golf Club in Naples and he will compete in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with partner, Marc France, this week. The championship will take place May 20-24 at the Kiawah Island Club in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. The pair have teamed up for events since 2016. They certainly make a powerful pair as they have placed in the top five in four out of five Four-Ball Championships and also captured a victory in the 2020 Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Championship. In addition, this is the second time they have paired up and competed in a U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
“If you get along with your partner on a personal level then it is so much fun to play with and for your partner.”
In addition, he explains that it is a different type of pressure when playing in team events. In some ways, it feels easier to have a partner to rely on, but at the same time, that aspect can add more pressure when the team score falls on your shoulders and you need to make a birdie or save a par on a hole. Santos-Ocampo feels that the FSGA does a great job with having a variety of Four-Ball events throughout the year, which helps prepare him for tournaments like the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball.
He further explains how the FSGA has helped him prepare for tournaments on a larger stage, like USGA events. He expresses that as a player preparing for tournaments, it is important to get competitive repetitions of tournament play. The FSGA allows that sort of preparation by having a large calendar of events that are conducted up to the standards of a USGA event. For example, he states the Florida Amateur as being his favorite and one of the most prestigious tournaments.
“There is so much history that goes along with that tournament and it provides players the opportunity to play the best courses against the best players in the state. Last year playing at The Bears Club and Lost Tree, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Santos-Ocampo dreams of seeing his name etched in history forever on the Amateur trophy one day. While he realizes that the ever-increasing rise in talent level makes this dream more challenging each year, Santos-Ocampo still maintains hope and finds inspiration in the possibility of one day being a Florida Amateur Champion.
Big golf dreams and a career in business aside, ultimately, family comes first for Santos-Ocampo who is married with a two-year-old son. His wife is a former professional golfer and has recently received her amateur status back. Santos-Ocampo looks forward to playing in the Summer-Mixed championship with his wife and encourages her to compete in FSGA women’s events with her friends. Perhaps one day, Santos-Ocampo will be back on the Florida Junior Tour watching his son play in the tournaments that once brought him so much joy as a child. His memories playing golf remain unmatched.
“There is no better organization that runs tournaments the way the FSGA does. The culture of the FSGA is amazing with staff and players all sharing the same goal of love for the game of golf and love for pushing each other in the spirit of competition.”
One thing is for sure, the FSGA is thankful to have loyal members like Carl Santos-Ocampo who has spent the majority of his golf career with the organization. The FSGA would not be able to conduct as many tournaments without all of the dedicated players and supporters like Carl Santos-Ocampo and his family.
