Jhonattan Vegas honors his 'guardian angel' at Match Play

Jhonattan Vegas made his debut in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play last year. Astute observers would have noticed a small set of initials inscribed on Vegas’ Nike cap as he toured the familiar grounds of Austin Country Club.

Vegas expects to write ‘DK’ on his hat again this year. Every visit to Austin is a chance to reminisce about his college days at the University of Texas. More importantly, it is an opportunity to honor the man whom Vegas refers to as his “American dad.”

Dick Kemp was a fourth-generation Austin resident, a longtime member of Austin Country Club and a former University of Texas basketball player. He found success in real estate, but more importantly, he was a man always looking to bestow on others the same kindness that he had been shown earlier in life.

Dick Kemp died of a heart attack nearly four years ago, on Good Friday, at the age of 72. His death was unexpected, but the fact that it fell on a holiday defined by self-sacrifice is fitting to those who knew him. That’s what he will be remembered for.

“He made a lot of money and spent a lot of it helping other people,” said Vegas’ swing coach, Kevin Kirk. “If there's no Dick Kemp, there's no Jhonattan Vegas.”

And so, Vegas will honor Kemp again this week for the integral part he played in his success. Fourteen years ago, Vegas arrived in Austin with little more than the clothes on his back. Now, the 33-year-old is a three-time PGA TOUR winner and one of the world’s top 50 players. He made his Presidents Cup debut last year after finishing a career-best 23rd in last season’s FedExCup.

“He gave me that confidence to keep going forward, knowing that I had someone looking after me,” Vegas said. “If I didn’t have that person helping me shape that path, it would have been a lot harder for me to be successful.”

Vegas brought only a suitcase and a set of well-worn clubs to the University of Texas. The transition was tough for a teenager who’d arrived in the United States less than two years earlier knowing 10 words of English.

He had to ask teammates for rides to and from the golf course. He didn't have a car, cell phone or computer. His parents were a continent away, in Venezuela, and struggling financially after having their business taken away for signing a recall petition against Hugo Chavez.

Vegas is the second-oldest of four boys born to Carlos and Maritza Vegas. The Vegases are a large, affectionate family, but now Jhonattan was alone on the sprawling campus in Austin.

Enter the Kemps. Dick and his wife, Melisa, offered the parental affection that Jhonattan needed to thrive at Texas. If not for the Kemps, a lonely Jhonattan likely would've left the University of Texas to return to more familiar territory, Kirk said. Several people used phrases like "guardian angel" and "divine intervention" to describe the Kemps' influence in Jhonattan's life.

Dick and Melisa had mutual friends with the Venezuelan ex-pat Franci Betancourt, with whom Jhonattan had lived when he arrived in Houston at age 17.

Dick’s life had been changed by a group of men who mentored him in college and he was always seeking opportunities to offer the same assistance to others. He coordinated the construction of the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center in Austin and was a key member of the movement to save Austin’s historic Lions Municipal Golf Course. His obituary said that Dick was survived by his wife, brother and “many young men and women who were mentored and guided by Dick.”

Jhonattan became one of those men after Dick and Melisa visited his dorm room. They saw that Vegas had just one towel and one set of sheets. There wasn’t even a pillowcase.

“Times were tough,” Dick Kemp said in a 2011 interview. “His scholarship didn’t cover everything. It was very obvious, the need. He didn’t have the bare essentials.”

The NCAA can be quick to levy penalties for the slightest infraction, so the Kemps had to be careful about their interactions with Jhonattan. There was one way to solve that, though. They quickly became his legal guardians in the United States. That allowed them to provide for his needs and spend time with him. Vegas needed six root canals during his freshman year. They bought him a well-used Chevy Cavalier for transportation. Vegas called Kemp repeatedly when he got his first cell phone.

When asked what he needed, Vegas replied, “I just wanted to know where you were,” according to Kemp.

“I finally realized how much this kid needed our love,” Kemp said in a Sports Illustrated article.

Jhonattan and his family will stay with Melisa Kemp, whom he refers to as his “American mom”, during the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. He’ll sleep in the same home where he came to for meals and companionship during his college days.

Dick was a mid-handicap golfer, but he got to know Jhonattan’s swing well enough to offer advice when he was struggling. Dick passed along his love of fishing, as well. Jhonattan and Dick fished together when the Kemps visited the Vegases in Venezuela. Dick purchased a Rosetta Stone to better communicate with Vegas’ parents. Both Carlos Vegas and Dick Kemp were large, gregarious men who shared a love for Jhonattan. The Kemps also became the legal guardians for Jhonattan’s younger brothers, Julio and Billy. Julio Vegas was one of the starting members of Texas’ 2012 NCAA title team.

“He didn’t have any kids, so I became his son,” Jhonattan said. “I would describe him as a man of principle. He took a lot of pride in doing things the right way.”

Even among today’s oversized PGA TOUR players, Jhonattan’s 6-foot-2, 230-pound frame stands out. Dick was several inches taller than Jhonattan, though. Many describe Dick as a gentle giant, a man whose large frame fit a gregarious, but caring, personality. Jhonattan affectionately referred to him as "big boy."

“Dick was larger than life,” said Dale Morgan, Austin Country Club’s head golf professional. “When he walked in the room, it lit up.”

Jhonattan said Dick possessed a “huge aura.”

“Everything he touched turned to gold,” Jhonattan said.

Including the golf career of a kid from Venezuela who needed a helping hand.