Golf & Tourism Magazine July - September 2014 | Page 26

Cover Story
“It was a good experience, and I tell all
the kids now that if you don’t go to college you don’t learn a very important
thing: losing,” he says. “In this sport
you lose 98 percent of the time, and
you have to learn how to do it.”
The structured, rigorous nature of
NCAA golf also provided lessons on
the more practical aspects of being a
golfer; the little things away from the
course that can end up being the difference between birdie and bogey on the
fairways and greens.
“I learned a little bit more about how
you have to prepare; I learned a lot
about how to travel,” says Campos. “In
college, we might be traveling for three
weeks, so you learn to pack, to take
care of yourself.” Those lessons would
come in handy soon enough.
He felt ready to become a professional
golfer before finishing school, but he
was determined to get his diploma.
“That’s something that my family and I
were very clear on: I was going to graduate and at least have my Bachelor’s
degree,” says Campos, who majored in
Business. As soon as he achieved that
goal, he began the next chapter in his
career by turning pro.

A Consistent
Contender
Campos spent the next year and a half
playing primarily in the now defunct
Tour de las Américas, where he had
multiple top-10 finishes and, in 2012,
finished third on the money list. That
earned him full membership status on
the newly formed Latin American circuit
under the PGA TOUR umbrell K