Jeff Kern

Inducted in 2025

Jeff Kern got a late start at golf. He was a tennis player his first two years at Amphitheater High School before turning to a sport — golf — that would define his career.
“I had a passion for it,’’ he said. “My uncle gave me a 5-iron and I was hooked.’’
It didn’t take long for Kern to rise to the top of what was then an historic group of amateur golfers in Tucson, from Larry Pagel and Armen Dirtadian to Cory Crowell and Dale Faulkner and more. Kern won four consecutive Tucson City Amateurs in the late 1970s and then won the big one, the Arizona Amateur, in 1977. Only four Tucsonans have won the Arizona Amateur since ‘77, and one was Ben Kern, Jeff’s son, in 2004.
As a teaching pro at many Tucson golf facilities, Kern has proven to be as good a teacher as he is a golfer.
Over a 50-year golfing career, Kern has played in 11 PGA Tour events, finished second in the U.S. Public Linx championships. He has a record nine Tucson City Amateur titles.
Kern competed in the PGA Tour Qualifying School five times and barely missed getting his tour card, but that didn’t stop him. He overcame adversity of the worst kind in 1978 when he severed two fingers in a construction accident, laying cement. Another of the fingers on his right hand was badly damaged.
“Some said I’d never play golf again, but I didn’t listen to them,’’ said Kern. “I was back playing in four months. I just kept working at it and it all came together.’’
One of the highlights of Kern’s career came in 1998 when he entered the Monday Qualifying event for the PGA Tour Tucson Open. There were about 200 golfers in the field and four would advance to the PGA Tour event that began on Thursday at Tucson National. Kern, who had to wait for one of the 200 golfers to withdraw just to get a spot in the field, won the event, shooting 66. On Thursday, he was fourth after the first round, trailing only big-name PGA Tour golfers Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard and David Duval by shooting a 68. He finished 29th overall, but beat big-name golfers Curtis Strange and Nick Faldo.
In 1977, the Arizona Daily Star named Kern Tucson’s “Athlete of the Year,’’ which was quite a feat. He was chosen over future NBA All-Star Fat Lever of Pueblo High, who led the Warriors to the state championship, as well as getting the nod over Arizona basketball star Bob Elliott, who had finished the season as the school’s career scoring leader, and he was also chosen over Amphi classmate Riki Ellison, a future NBA and USC star, who had helped Amphi win the state championship and became a Parade All-American.