Raising Young Golfers

My little dudes Taj (left) and Sevy (right) joined me at a Linksoul photoshoot for a special project in celebration of legendary golfer Lee Elder, the first Black man to compete in the Masters.

If you read my previous blog, then you know I didn’t grow up in a golfing household. My kids won’t be so lucky. (Or perhaps unlucky??)

I named my first son Sevy (after the late-great Seve Ballestoros). His namesake had a short game that made the Golfing Gods look to the sky and shake their fist. Meanwhile, his old man has the hands of a snake a.ka. My short game is trash.

Here’s to Sevy having an ounce of Seve’s green grass wizardry. I know having such a name could apply pressure (hence why he’d be unlucky, having the burden of a father’s dreams), and I’ve resigned to the fact that he’s either going to love golf or hate golf. Either way, I have a 50/50 chance that he’s into the game; and I’m OK with that.

I wanted to name our second son Sifford — after the first black man to earn his PGA TOUR card and win on that grand stage, Charlie Sifford. How dope of a name would that have been? Sifford Starks? That just screams success. However, my wife put a stop to that. I suppose one golfing name is enough. Although I do know someone who named their kids Justin and Rory — they’re both doing pretty well as junior golfers, Ammannndda. I’m just saying 😏.

What could have been. “Sifford Starks” would have been the dopest golf-inspired name of all time.

Being in the industry for so long and in so many varying capacities has given me the fortune of meeting many a talented junior golfer, and the opportunity to befriend some of their parents – who have all KINDS of different philosophies.

I know a father who left his 9-to-5 when his kids were super young but extremely promising. His family began to home school them and scrounged for a club membership so that his kids could play and practice every day. They treated golf like a job from the start.  And it paid off, as both kids played collegiately and the oldest is on the path to a TOUR card.

Then there are others who say they never pushed it, just kind of let their kids fall in love with the game and then nurtured their passion to play. Then there were yet others who took the multi-sport approach to ensure their kid wouldn’t burn out on golf before becoming a teen.

There’s a million other philosophies in between. I think sometimes, knowledge is a burden. Paralysis by analysis, kind of like having 37 swing thoughts as you stand over the golf ball versus having two clear thoughts and swinging your swing.

I can’t lie, I did bribe Sevy to come to the golf course with me early on. When it comes to currency, Skittles to kids is like Bitcoin to a crypto fiend. 

But over time, he’s now 6, he’s come to enjoy it. He likes to be on the range with me, and even though he gets overly excited sometimes and I have to remind him to stay inside his stall for his own personal safety, it’s incredibly fun and fulfilling to see his reaction when he gets the ball airborne. 

The “Nice job, son,” that instinctually pours out of me must be one of those proud dad moments people are always talking about. While on the subject, another one happened over the summer: We were on the range one evening at our local spot, and he’d had a particularly good session – you know, just getting the ball in the air on consecutive swings kinda deal. He turns to me and says, “Dad, let’s go play a few holes.”

My heart damn near melted. The guy in the shop knows us, so he said go for it and we walked three holes together. He’d hit from where my drive ended and finished out each of the holes at his own pace.

Sevy’s excited to start his afterschool weekly golf clinics this year, he’ll be with a group of kids his own age. I’m hopeful this is where a love for the game begins.

Taj is still a cool name for a golfer…

Doing what I do for a profession, I’m so thankful for the opportunity to expose my kids to a game that’s given me so much. And as golf evolves, becoming more accessible and laid back, I’m optimistic that their generation will embrace the game in an entirely new way to make it their own.

Where does my philosophy fall? I’m somewhere in the middle. My kids will have access to golf should they so desire. They could play soccer, basketball, choose to skateboard, swim or play lacrosse for all I care. Or no sports at all. I want them to have the choices that weren’t necessarily presented to me as a kid.

But when I leaned into something, my mom damn sure leaned in with me. That’s the parent I’ll be when raising my young golfers. Here’s the opportunity – you have to choose to seize it. Or do something else, and I’ll support that, too.