Tiger Woods, the GOAT in the golf world, caused stirs in the sports world when he dominated a game that was full of whites. It has been three decades since Woods was responsible for diversifying golf by inspiring kids from different neighborhoods. Though the movement suffered a dip in 2018, the number of people of color has increased. Their count has risen by more than a million in the golf world. However, credit for the sudden rise in the last decade can be given to Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry. After Tiger, Curry is the one who wants to make golf full of people from different communities.
To achieve his aim of diversifying the sport, Curry started the Underrated Golf Tour in 2022. It was inspired by his idea of the Underrated Tour in 2019, aimed at basketball prospects who might not have attained the scouting and guidance by college coaches. Similarly, the golf program is focused on providing equity, access, and opportunity to young golfers from different communities. This aim is achieved through paying the young golfers’ way to national events during the summer and exposing them to top courses and college coaches. Curry also helps the players with the expenses of the extravagant national junior circuit.
Curry’s efforts with his initiative will balance the diversity of the society in the sport. Moreover, the change is aimed at both the on-course and off-course levels. The Warriors player even has LPGA Tour professional and KPMG ambassador Mariah Stackhouse as an ambassador for Underrated Golf. Curry is taking his off-court passion to a whole different level through his program. Nevertheless, it is not just talks; the former NBA Champion has also gotten results with his golf initiative.
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Diving Deep into Stephen Curry’s Underrated Golf’s beneficiaries and its future
The initiative that Curry took two years ago is now heading for Europe, starting in Surrey between May 29-31. The 35-year-old is quite serious about helping the young talents as he told Sky Sports, “[We Wanted] to make golf resemble what our society looks like, create a much more impactful pipeline for kids who have the talent and drive but have not had the ability to pursue that.” Curry wants to eliminate the hurdle of financial resources, equipment, course access, and coaching for kids from different sections of society.
Continuing the good work in the sport, Curry has given some great talent to the sport. He started playing at the age of 10. One of them is Soong. Soong almost locked the spot to become the youngest player ever to reach golf’s U.S. national championship. This happened in June last year. However, it could not happen. Yet it was a great effort from the young prospect. The benefits of Curry’s program also include all travel, entry fees, and accommodations. Moreover, the participants are provided with Underrated logo hats, travel bags, sports bags, and shirts.
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Soong even revealed that the program covers the expense of one parent as well, all thanks to KPMG’s sponsorship of the program. Overall, Curry is on his way to achieving something that Woods started and fell short in the middle. How do you all see the future of this program and its result? Let us know in the comments. Watch out for what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say. He speaks about the marketing genius in this video.
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