Kip Henley (center, in olive green shirt) is surrounded by family and friends at Creeks Bend for Thursday night’s “Big Break” viewing party
photo by Paul Payne
Kip Henley has a well-earned reputation of being a talker, always armed with a comment or funny quip about anything that pops into his mind. The nickname of “Kip the Lip” didn’t come about by accident.
But Henley was as tight-lipped as someone under the witness protection program recently when it came to giving away any clues as to the outcome of his recent rematch of the “Big Break II” finale from 2004, a nine-hole showdown with Don Donatello that was aired on GolfPass.com Thursday night.
None of the 60 friends and family members that gathered at the Creeks Bend Golf Club clubhouse for a viewing party had a clue as to the result, including his brother, Brent. Henley was poker-faced throughout the broadcast as he offered commentary, finally breaking into a huge grin when Donatello missed a short birdie try on the final hole to give Henley the victory and the $5,000 prize that accompanied it.
The last time Henley and Donatello met 21 years ago in Las Vegas, the epic match was one of the most widely viewed shows in Golf Channel history. At the time, both golfers shared aspirations of using the four Nationwide Tour (now Korn Ferry) exemptions awarded to the winner plus the $10,000 in prize money to launch their dreams of someday landing on the PGA Tour.
This time around, there was a different vibe about the rematch that took place at Horseshoe Bay Resort outside of Austin, Texas. Golf Channel is reviving “The Big Break” next year after ending production after 23 seasons in 2015, and it seemed fitting to kick off its return by reuniting the finalists from one of their most popular seasons.
Henley was a 44-year-old club professional at the time who was living in Crossville near the end of his rope in slogging through mini-tour events. Donatello, then 35, was a talented golfer in central Florida who was six years deep into his 27-year career as a PGA Tour caddie.
Henley won the original match in 20 holes, leaving Donatello with a longing hunger to one day even the score and gain a measure of revenge. Thanks to the efforts of Golf Channel executives, it all came together in early October. They flew to Texas for a practice round, then spent the next day filming the contest before returning home that evening.
Surrounded by well-wishers congratulating him for taking down Donatello for a second time, Henley was reflective on being able to return to the golf spotlight on a national stage.
“It means a little less this time because of where I was in my life back in 2004,” Henley said “This was more of an exhibition than then because of all the exemptions that went with winning the first time around. But it was still important for me to win.
“It’s fun to get back on television again, and being with Double D again was a lot of fun. He hasn’t changed a bit in 21 years. My mom and dad would have been over the moon to have been here tonight, and that makes me proud.”
Henley, now 65, was also able to share the moment of victory with his local supporters that he missed in 2004. He was in Orlando at the Golf Channel studios when the finals of “Big Break II” was aired, making this time around even more special.
“This has been so cool to share this evening with my family and golfing buddies,” Henley said. “It’s been an unbelievable experience.”
Henley and Donatello were informed on the first tee that it would be a nine-hole stroke-play match, with $5,000 going to the winner and $2,500 to the runner-up. But with all the necessary delays setting up cameras for filming each shot, it took close to three hours to complete the nine holes.
“There were plenty of nerves, but it was compounded because of the delays between shots,” Henley said. “We warmed up, and it was an hour later before I hit that first tee ball.”
Henley’s quest got off to an inauspicious start after yanking his opening tee shot out of bounds, leading to a double-bogey as Donatello took a one-shot lead. But another bogey from Donatello at the second brought the match back even as Henley managed to make par.
A birdie from Henley at the par-3 third led to a raucous cheer to put him the lead, and he led by two after Donatello bogeyed the fourth.
After both golfers parred the fifth, the next two holes resulted in trouble that put Henley’s defense in peril. He bogeyed No. 6 and doubled No. 7 while Donatello parred both holes, surrendering three shots to trail Donatello by one shot with two holes remaining.
But Donatello caught an unfortunate lie with his tee shot at the par-3 eighth. His ball buried beneath the lip of the bunker that required three attempts to escape, walking off with a double bogey while Henley’s two-putt par gave him a one-shot advantage heading to the final hole.
Henley finished with a tap-in par at the last, then Donatello misfired on his four-foot birdie try to extend the match, bringing about a celebration inside the Creeks Bend clubhouse.
Donatello watched with family members from his home outside of Orlando. Once again, he was foiled by his old nemesis in their head-to-head matchup wondering what might have been.
“I caught an awful break (with his buried ball) but I hit the wrong club,” Donatello said via text. “If I hit a 7-iron it would have been signed, sealed and delivered.”
With his latest conquest, Henley can now come out from under his shroud of secrecy and celebrate his latest “Big Break” victory where he shot 4-over par across nine holes to Donatello’s 5-over.
“I was lucky to get out on top there at the end,” Henley said. “It was ugly at times, but being back with Double D was awesome. He’s just such a sweet person and I’m glad we were able to share this moment again. We really didn’t get to converse much afterwards because we were trying to get to the airport.”
The match is scheduled to be aired again on Golf Channel on Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. EST.
Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com
Supporters of Kip Henley react to a missed putt that provided the victory.
photo by Paul Payne
