It was 1994 when Tiger Woods joined Stanford under a golfing scholarship. Though he was majoring in economics, his passion for golf was clear as he put his entire energy into it and this resulted in him tying 11 tournaments which included 8 wins in 13 starts in 1996. In 1995, he was named Stanford’s Male Freshman of the Year player, while the next year saw him crowned as the NCAA individual champion and the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year. But Tiger Woods had a weakness!

Well, Casey Martin— Woods’s teammate at Stanford— once shared that Woods simply couldn’t dance. They were both a part of the Sigma Chi fraternity and at some of their parties, while many would crowd at the big mosh pit to dance, others would entertain themselves by watching a young Tiger dance. “You’ve got to look for his weakness and really expose it. I think we found it: dancing. It’s a bad deal,” Martin once shared.

It is clear Woods enjoyed his time at Stanford throughout the years. He has gone back to his alma mater’s campus to attend events several times and was even inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. So his son, Charlie Woods, going to Stanford would be a huge thing. But would he want to attend college where he would potentially be under his father’s shadow?

Woods Jr. already said no! Back in December 2023, Toby Harbeck, the golf head coach and an English teacher for almost 40 years at the Benjamin School, shared that the kid did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps at Stanford. Instead, he was interested in schools in the Southeast.

Charlie Woods has the time to make his final decision and currently, it seems his college plans are shrouded in mystery. But one thing is clear: Charlie Woods is poised to write his own story, separate from his father’s illustrious legacy. “Our biggest thing that we’ve tried to teach him is that we want Charlie to be Charlie. We don’t want Charlie to be Tiger,” said the Benjamin High School coach in 2023 while speaking to Golf.com.

That being said, even the HC couldn’t help but discuss the father-son’s similarities. “The mannerisms are just unmistakable. The way he walks, the way he stands, everything.”

And one such similarity is the competitiveness. “He wants to outhit Dad on every hole, he wants to hit it inside Dad on every green and he wants to make every putt. It’s a little competition with them. Charlie’s very competitive, even outside of golf. If you were fishing or playing checkers or whatever, he wants to win. He doesn’t want to finish second. We all know where that came from,” Harbeck had opined.

Well, unlike Tiger Woods, Charlie has had a fanbase since a young age and that’s something his coach has had to deal with too. Harbeck had shared an anecdote about finding letters addressing Charlie in his mailbox after returning to school after the state championship last year. Fans wanted Woods Jr. to sign their stuff and send it back. But the kid has his father by his side to help him navigate not just the sport but also the fame that comes along.

Balancing legacy and parenthood: Tiger Woods’s supportive stance

Tiger Woods‘s parenting philosophy takes a refreshing turn when it comes to his 15-year-old son. Rather than leveraging his golf expertise, Woods deliberately stepped back from coaching his son. That mindful approach stems from his own experiences with his father, Earl Woods. It was his father’s intense coaching and mentorship that shaped the 48-year-old’s golfing career. But their relationship was also marred by criticism for being overly demanding. 

Back in 2021, he shared his thoughts on how he tried to avoid replicating that dynamic. Hence, Woods prioritizes his son’s enjoyment and autonomy. “I don’t want him to fall into that trap,” he said in a conversation with Jada Pinkett Smith, highlighting his desire to strike a healthier balance between guidance and freedom, as he didn’t want to pressurize his son. And this is something Harbeck understood well. 

Last year, as Charlie Woods’ golf career gained momentum, coach Harbeck recalled an exchange with the 82-times PGA Tour champ. During one of Woods Jr.’s games, Woods Sr approached him, seeking guidance on how to support his son. “He came up to me and said, ‘Coach, what can I do? What can I not do?'”

Harbeck advised, “You can talk to him between holes,” and Woods asked once again, “How close can I get?”
Harbeck replied, “As close as you want, just don’t step into the fairway.”

This lighthearted conversation revealed Tiger Woods’s humility and willingness to navigate the fine line between being supportive and overbearing as a golfing parent.