Jason Hnat trades corporate life for the golf course

EAST MANATEE -- His office overlooked a golf course.

And even though it was a sport he didn't pursue collegiately, the feeling from watching the game on a daily basis kept gnawing at Jason Hnat.

So Hnat decided to quit his job of three years, relocate from Charlotte, N.C., to Bradenton and enter the world of professional golf, where purses at the mini-tour levels are astronomically smaller than what's on the PGA Tour.

"I knew I needed to dedicate 100 percent of my time to really get this thing going," the 26-year-old Hnat said.

Hnat is using the West Florida Golf Tour and other developmental circuits to test his skill before deciding if Qualifying School in the fall is a viable option.

To get into the professional mindset, Hnat played a little when he could back in North Carolina.

Working for MetLife the past three years, the itch to return to competitive golf festered until his decision in December to drop everything and move to Bradenton.

His parents, Drew and Kathy, moved to Bradenton in July 2013.

"I had to sit there and watch people play all day, knowing that I had a little bit of talent, and maybe see what I had with it," Hnat said.

So Hnat finally arrived in January and immersed himself with practice sessions at River Strand Golf and Country Club's aqua driving range.

That led to Hnat making his WFGT debut at the Bobby Jones Open, where he secured a tie for fourth place following a scorching 65 in the final round.

"He took us all by surprise by shooting (65), I remember that," WFGT tournament coordinator Ross Hanson said. "He kind of came in under the radar, because his rounds before that

didn't really catch your eye. They were very respectable, but nothing eye catching. So that was the first time I noticed him personally. ... It just goes to show that if a guy's naturally talented with a little bit of practice, they can compete at this level."

Hnat's talent level was good enough to play collegiately, but he opted to take an academic route to the University of South Carolina, where he studied biology and psychology.

When he wrapped up his degree, Hnat still had a thirst for knowledge. He wanted to go to medical school, but then made the decision that medical school wasn't for him and he went into the business world.

Golf, he said, was something he knew would still be there.

And it's how he's ended up in Manatee County. In addition to his debut, he also finished runner-up, dropping a playoff to Lakewood Ranch's Chris Kennedy, in a WFGT event at Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club earlier this month.

But to get on that track, Hnat needed to groove his swing into a competition-ready mode through hours and hours at the River Strand driving range.

"It was mainly just ball striking," Hnat said. "Trying to get the swing and the feel of getting that club to hit the ball again. Not really working on too much with the swing. More or less going through the rhythm of let's just hit some balls."

That meant beating 500 to 600 balls each day. That, in conjunction with feedback from his swing coach in Charlotte, N.C., Randy Joyner, brought Hnat's swing into focus.

While he said it's still a work in progress, there's also no long-term plan in place for where he'll end up.

But Q-School could become the option next fall.

"If I continue to play and progress with where I'm at now, then we'll obviously be looking at some qualifying schools and things like that," Hnat said.

Jason Dill, sports reporter, can be reached at 745-7017 or via email at jdill@bradenton.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason__Dill and like his Facebook page at Jason Dill Bradenton Herald.

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Jason Hnat trades corporate life for the golf course ."