TIGER’S RISE

Recounting his early struggles to the World Golf Hall of Fame

“By the time I was six I was getting hooked on golf. My dad was playing and was a member at the Navy Golf Club in Long Beach. In order to play as a dependant you had to be aged 10 or older. Obviously, I did not fit that criteria. So, in order for me to play we found a par-3 course at Heartwell Golf Park in Long Beach. My mom took me there and said, ‘Hey, can my son play here and practice here a little bit?’ One of the pros, Rudy, said, ‘Okay, let me see him hit a few shots’. Well, I hit a few shots, and he says, ‘Okay, he’s got unlimited balls.’

“One of the things that drove me was my dad’s passion to play the game of golf. I loved it. And I had this burning desire to be able to express myself in the game. One of the things that Dad had instilled in me was that he grew up in the same era as Charlie Sifford, which is why my son is named after Charlie. In that era you had to be twice as good to be given half a chance. So that understanding and that drive, it was all train hard, fight easy. I made practising so difficult, it hurt so much, because I wanted to make sure that I was ready come game time. I hit thousands of balls, hands bleeding, aching, just so that I could play in a tournament.

“Some of these golf courses we played in tournaments, I was not allowed in the clubhouses where all the other juniors were. The colour of my skin dictated that. As I got older, that drove me even more. So as I was denied access into the clubhouses, that’s fine. I’ll put my shoes on here in the parking lot. I only ever asked them two questions: Where’s the 1st tee? And what’s the course record? It wasn’t complicated.”