Hokie ClubFollowing his PGA Tour debut at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, Trevor Cone joined Evan Hughes on the Hokie Sports Insider Podcast to talk about his rise from a Virginia Tech Hokie to a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. Cone was a two-time All-American at Virginia Tech, earning third team in 2014 and honorable mention in 2015, while also sharing tri-medalist honors at the 2015 ACC Men's Golf Championship.
Cone started at Virginia Tech in 2012 and earned three victories, as well as 20 top-10 finishes. Upon graduation in 2015 with a degree in marketing, he turned pro. His career at Tech leads to no surprise that he was bound to gain national recognition soon. The Charlotte, North Carolina native gave us an inside look of a long and amazing career that seems to just be getting started.
Interview Highlights:
Trevor on what the past month has been like: It's been kind of wild. It didn't really hit me until last week when I was actually at my first PGA Tour event in Napa. It's something I've worked so hard for, so my expectations are a little higher. Now that I've been playing for a while, it's really nice to see all the hard work pay off for sure.
Trevor reflecting on his early golf memories: I had time to think about it during the ceremony in Omaha after the final round and everything started to hit once I was able to see my dad and my girlfriend after that final round. All those memories started to come back of all the time both my parents had given up and everything they had sacrificed for me and especially going out of state to Virginia Tech.
Trevor on his journey of turning pro and where that took him: When I turned pro in 2015, you could not just go straight into the PGA Tour. You had to go through the Korn Ferry Tour and Q-School. So, first after going through Q-School in Latin America, I did not get through that, but then I was able to get status on PGA Tour Canada and was able to travel for two summers up there (2016 and 2017), which was awesome. Finally, I got on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2018 but had limited starts though. And then I happened to win one at the very end of the season – it was the second-to-last event of the season. I had a chance to get my PGA Tour card then, but I did not play well enough in the final event. Then there were some lean years from 2019-21. I made some changes coaching-wise, got my butt in gear and the results followed.
Trevor on his PGA Tour debut at the Fortinet Championship: Monday-Wednesday was a pretty normal week, nothing out of the ordinary. It was a similar setup to a Korn Ferry event. Thursday came along, and I got to that 10th tee, my first hole of the day and everything was kind of just a blur for the first six or seven holes, which I somehow ended up playing pretty well – I think I was 3-under through seven holes. Nothing would slow down. I don't know that I was nervous, but it was just a weird hour and a half. Then I settled in and played a decent first round. The second round was not my best, but plenty of time to practice this week and get back at it next week.
Trevor on the upcoming schedule for the Tour: Right now, there are a couple invitationals that I won't get into but there are around eight tournaments in the fall, and I should be able to get into about four or five of those. We go to Jackson, Mississippi next week for the Sanderson Farms Championship. There's a reshuffle later this year, so if I play well this fall, I will be able to play in a lot more tournaments in the spring that I'll be able to hear a lot of people yelling, "Let's Go Hokies" at.
Trevor on his time at Tech preparing him for his pro career: The team when I was there was pretty good, and we challenged each other a lot. Honestly, the structure that we went about things helps me now, practice wise, to get better. I gradually got better each year I was at Tech. Those last two years were probably my best years and just watching the other guys I played with have success always made me want to be better. And even still, Scott Vincent is also playing professional golf. I'm sure he's like me. I see his results, he sees mine, and we cheer each other on and want to continue to get better.
Trevor reflecting on his tri-medalist feat at the 2015 ACC Championship: I remember most not being able to play it off and win like a true champion, but I'll take the tie. It was great, especially being my senior year. I did not think I was going to win because I was not playing so well on the final day, but in the end it all worked out. I don't think about it too much, but it was one of my better accomplishments.
Trevor on his relationship with Coach Sharp: We keep in touch a little bit because I know he's busy and we are on the road so much. Coach Sharp and Coach Hardwick congratulated me on the season and on my win back in May. I do keep up with some of the guys on the team through Instagram and stuff like that. I need to be a little better in keeping in touch with those guys, and hopefully I can get back up there for a football game soon.