BVA grad Manown nearing PGA certification

By JEFF OLIVER

MVI Sports

Kirby Manown III returned last month from competing in a golf mini-tour in Texas and Oklahoma last month with mixed results.

After a top 10 finish in the first event he played in, the former Belle Vernon Area and California University golfer failed to improve on that showing in the next three tournaments.

“I played in the Fairway Golf Tour and I guess I did OK,” Manown shrugged. “My game is always a work in progress.”

While the 26-year-old Belle Vernon native has returned to his job as assistant golf pro at Laurel Valley Country Club in Ligonier, he plans to resume competing again on the Tri-State PGA Tour.

Manown, who now resides in Greensburg, has been playing on the Tri-State Tour since 2019 when he was named Associate Player of the Year.

In 2019, Manown played in 11 Tri-State events with six top 10 finishes. He placed second once and third in two other events. He had nine top 25 finishes.

He is in the final stages of earning his PGA certification. Once that happens, Manown says he will look for the best job opportunity that suits him.

“I expect to be either the head professional of an upscale golf facility or the director of instruction,” he said. “And where that opportunity takes me, I can’t say right now. But I expect to have earned my certification by the end of December this year.”

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