Sports have played a myriad of roles in the development of Black youth. Now, over time and due to a lack of resources, Black youth mainly focus on sports that can be self-taught and require minimal equipment or space. Sports such as baseball, basketball, football, softball, and track have prominently become the sports of choice because of the structure and success it has already presented to kids. Golf is one sport attempting to overcome an outdated stigma.
Golf is notoriously known as a “White man’s sport” or “rich man sport” because of how expensive golf clubs and other equipment is. With high equipment expenses, most Black children tend to not have the ability to play golf, unlike other sports.
“So I got into golf by accident. I was playing other sports at the time, and my parents wanted to play in our church’s fundraising tournament,” said Aaron Grimes, a professional golfer, in discussing his journey into the sport. “They enjoyed it. They got my sister and me in it. The very next week, we started taking family lessons.”
At eight years old, Grimes started his weekly lessons, and after a few years, he competed in tournaments. He joined junior programs in South Los Angeles that eased the financial burden on his parents as they made it affordable for him and his family to go to golf courses. During his training, Grimes drew inspiration from Tiger Woods while watching him with his family every weekend. Once Grimes reached high school, he realized he could do something special with golf. “I was going to St. John Bosco and competed against kids that were nationally ranked Division 1 prospects and beat them,” Grimes said as he talked about the moment he realized golf could open collegiate doors for him. “I was like, maybe I could play at a division one program. I went to a junior college, then played my way into a scholarship.”
While in college, Grimes understood he had to raise his level of play to compete with everybody else. “I’ve always had to compare myself based on my competition. I’ve always been a little slow to win at each level, but I’ve always done it.” Grimes said. “You can blame it on not having access to resources, to higher quality ones like my competition did, but that didn’t discourage or stop me. It motivated me to take my skill to another level, and that mindset led me to become a professional.” Grimes beat the number one ranked amateur, Lee McCoy, in Hawaii at a college tournament. He went pro in 2016.
Grimes started competing in tournaments all over the world, winning and losing some but always being grateful for the opportunity to compete in a sport he loves and make money from it. He recently placed 10th in the Advocates Professional Golf Association (APGA) Tour’s Farmers Insurance Fall Series Finale and was invited to another tournament in Bermuda.
Grimes and APGA have also worked together to inspire the youth and help them understand that golf is a sport available to them regardless of assumption.” APGA hosts children’s golf clinics where we talk and practice golfing with the kids, and it’s always funny because the kids always mention how I’m the first Black professional golfer they’ve seen.”
