Warriors’ Curry taking swing at getting more kids on golf courses
By now, Stephen Curry’s passion for golf is wellknown, from celebrity tournaments to two starts on the thenWeb.com Tour to friendly rounds with former President Barack Obama.
But Curry also has steered his involvement down a fresh path this offseason. He has become more active in promoting the game, as Monday’s inaugural Stephen Curry Charity Classic illustrated.
Curry hosted the event at Harding Park, in alliance with the PGA of America. The purpose was to raise money for PGA Reach, the organization’s charitable arm, and the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation that Curry and his wife, Ayesha, founded in July.
Curry serves as an ambassador for PGA Junior League, an initiative to bring kids into the game. He played in Monday’s event, joining former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, exteammate Andre Iguodala, PGA Tour pro Brandt Snedeker and Warriors coowner Joe Lacob, among others. San Francisco Mayor London Breed and LPGA pro Michelle Wie also were on hand at Harding.
“I think we’ve got to make golf cool,” PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said. “I feel like we’ve been protecting our grandparents’ game, as opposed to making it a game for our grandkids. For Steph to be ambassador at Junior League has been a big deal for us. He loves the game.”
Curry took an uncommon
step last month, pledging $1 million to fund the men’s and women’s golf programs at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He also has held talks with the PGA Tour about hosting a new event in the Bay Area; that could happen at Harding, though probably not until 2021.
Curry’s central mission, golfwise: introducing kids to the game. That’s one reason he wants a public course as the venue for any tour event he hosts.
“There are a lot of different ways people are going about growing the game, in terms of someone outside the normal golf voice lending time, resources and opportunities,” Curry said Monday. “So to share how much the game means to me, the people you get to play with, the places it takes you, the things it teaches you about yourself, reaching out to underrepresented communities and people looking for access to the game …
“Get them introduced to it early, then hopefully through their competitive experiences, if that’s what they want to do, find opportunities for that. The game plan is kind of forming as we go. I just get so excited about the game; hopefully, other people will, too.”
PGA of America officials were eager to partner with Curry on Monday’s event, especially given its location. Harding Park will host the PGA Championship in May, the first major in the course’s long history and the second consecutive year the PGA will be held on a public layout (Brooks Koepka won this year at Bethpage Park in New York).
The United States Golf Association launched the movement, essentially, by taking the U.S. Open to Torrey Pines in San Diego in 2008 and Bethpage in ’09. That marked a striking contrast to golf ’s affinity for holding its marquee events at private country clubs or crazyexpensive resorts.
“I think we’ve spent a lot of time over the last couple of decades not trying to kill golf, but doing some things that might kill it,” Waugh said. “Making it harder, more complicated, harder to access, expensive, not very welcoming — all those things we’re trying to reverse.” Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick