Charlie Woods son of golf legend Tiger Woods, has decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps. Tiger Woods attended Stanford from 1994 to 1996 before turning pro. The 15x major winner joined Stanford University on a golf scholarship and majored in economics. Charlie Woods has already ruled out Stanford. And his coach, Mark Harbeck, revealed Woods Jr. is opting for schools in the Southeast instead.

The fans have heard quite some stories from the GOAT’s college days. Woods’s teammate Casey Martin shared that Woods had one weakness: dancing. So it’s pretty safe to say that Woods enjoyed his time at Stanford. The golfer remarked his time at Stanford was great. So, what does Harbeck think of Charlie’s decision? He agrees with it as he once said Charlie needs to be Charlie; “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.” 

Harbeck previously expressed his thoughts on how Charlie Woods is as a person when he not playing on the greens. “Off the course, Charlie is calm and reserved. Smart, too”, he said. As per Harbeck, Charlie is the kind of kid that listens to you every time and you don’t have to repeat yourself.  “He’s the kind of kid that when you tell him something one time, you don’t have to tell him again,” said the coach as per Golf.com.

Harbeck once also highlighted that Charlie has great humility and teamwork qualities. And his team returns the feeling. During a tournament in Benjamin School, there were a lot of reporters around Charlie but the team handled it very well. “They were like shooing people away… Hey, leave him alone. We’re talking to him right now, or we’re doing something—the boys are very protective of him because he’s part of our team. He’s not Charlie Woods. He’s part of the Benjamin School team,” he said.

There is no doubt that Charlie is a decent golfer for his age, but were his skills enough to get him a place on the team during the finals? Well, it was a tough decision for Harbeck, we can tell you that much.

Harbeck’s decision to put Charlie Woods on the Benjamin Golf Team

While deciding who he should put for the fifth spot on the Benjamin School’s golf team. Harbeck recalled saying, “So I got to thinking about it; here’s a kid who is not afraid of this golf course.” Charlie has a good track record at the challenging El Campeon course at Mission Resort and Club. He has demonstrated his comfort and confidence with impressive results by shooting 71-66 in September’s qualifier and 80-68 as a 13-year-old in the same event the previous year.

He has also boasted three sub-par rounds in four attempts on the notoriously tough, tight, and hilly layout. Harbeck noted Charlie’s unique ability to handle pressure and said, “The fact that he’s got three or four rounds below par, I said, ‘You know what? I got to play him in the state finals.”

But there was a roadblock in this decision; other players on the team didn’t agree with Harbeck’s decision as Charlie hadn’t played in either the district or regional events in the prelude to state, but the coach decided to just go along with it, and ‘trust his gut feeling’. The decision turned out to be a good one, as the team won and Harbeck was exceptionally pleased with Charlie’s performance. “I couldn’t have been happier with the way it all turned out,” he said.

So what do you think about Charlie’s character on and off the greens? Let us know in the comment section below!