Only hours after being named South Africa's number one amateur for the second year running at the 2005 BMW Golf Digest Awards, the 17-year old from Cape Town confirmed his decision to join the stable of Andrew "Chubby" Chandler at International Sports Management.
ISM also manages Ryder Cup stars Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, David Howell and Paul McGinley, alongside South African professionals Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Richard Sterne and James Kingston.
Among the many highlights in Kent's impressive amateur career was representing South Africa in the winning 2004 World Cup team and the Eisenhower Trophy. He closed off his 2004 season with a record 18-under-par victory in the World Junior Golf Championships held at The Bears Paw in Osaka, Japan.
"I am very excited to start my professional career. I have always wanted to play professional golf and my greatest ambition is to compete at the highest level," said Kent.
“I want to thank Ernie Els for all his support during my amateur career through the Ernie Els foundation, he remains one of my greatest inspirations,” concluded Kent
Managing Director of ISM South Africa, Mark Bell said: "We all look forward to help Matthew realize his dreams. He is a fine young man and a tremendous prospect."
Kent's first appearance as a professional at the Dimension Data Pro-Am will be alongside Southern Africa greats Nick Price, David Frost and Fulton Allem.