From being interested in ice hockey to becoming Southwest Florida Player of the Year in golf, Noah Kent’s journey has been a good one. His personal life also revolves around golf, but that alone doesn’t explain everything about Kent.

There’s more to this golfer’s new sensation’s story and his decision to pursue golf. He also has a partner and a father who supports him during challenging times. So, what kind of person is Kent?

What does the personal life of Noah Kent look like?

Kent is an amateur golf athlete with more than 2000 followers on Instagram. As per reports from Golf Monthly, he was born in 2005 and is currently 19 years old. Kent is a resident of Naples, Florida, and spent his childhood at Gulf Coast High School. As of August 2024, he is studying Sports and Recreation Management at the University of Iowa while playing amateur golf.

The golfer’s father, David, was also an amateur golfer and competed in the 1990 US Junior Amateur. He also has a stepfather named Dana Fry, who is a golf architect and is part of the design team at Erin Hills. Although Kent hasn’t talked about his mother so far, after he won the semifinal at the 2024 U.S. Amateur, his mom and stepdad were there to celebrate with him.

The golfer seems to have a love for waterfalls and serene views. Noah Kent is currently dating Livi Shafer, who is a member of Iowa’s dance team. The couple met at the university of Iowa and have been dating for around six months now. Livi is a social and outgoing person and likes to post about it on her public Instagram account, @livishafer. 

During his time in high school, the golfer had four top-12 finishes at the state level and has already won regionals in golf. Not only that, while studying in class 3A, Kent was named Southwest Florida Player of the Year, making a name for himself in high school golf. Witnessing this success, you might think that golf was his childhood dream, but that’s now the case for this 19-year-old.

Rory McIlroy motivated Noah Kent to play golf.

While growing up, Kent had an interest in ice hockey, but that changed later in high school. Two factors led him to choose golf. First, he was afraid of getting hurt and said, “Hockey was getting to the point where you could hit people, and I was like, I didn’t want to be in a wheelchair,” as revealed on Golf Digest. After leaving ice hockey, Noah Kent met Rory McIlroy, and the meeting sparked his interest in golf.

Talking about his transition to golf, he said, “I quit hockey at 14. I played golf like my whole family was around it, but I didn’t start taking it seriously until my freshman year of high school.” Despite Kent’s life being deeply connected to golf, with his father competing in the US Junior Amateur and his stepdad working as a golf architect, it took some external influence for him to decide to pursue golf as his path.