Charlie Woods was just trying to play golf this past February in an effort to cement his dream and qualify for his first-ever PGA Tour event.
But a swarm of fans had other ideas. The 15-year-old experienced something few other teenaged athletes are subjected to.
“People were walking in the fairway with him, talking to him while he’s trying to play and he didn’t play well at all,” Toby Harbeck, Charlie’s high school golf coach at the Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, told the Free Press on Wednesday.
“Some of the things that happened to this poor kid, sometimes it’s just unfair.”
Charlie on that day shot 16-over 86 in a qualifying event in Hobe Sound, Florida, for the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic. The ordeal was another learning experience as he prepared for a big test in the summer that’s now here.
The one person who can relate best? That would be Charlie’s dad: 15-time major-winning golfer Tiger Woods — one of the most well-recognized athletes in the world.
This has forced Charlie to grow up quickly as he further embarks into the public eye starting Monday, when he makes his first United States Golf Association championship appearance in the U.S. Junior Amateur at historic Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township.
Charlie Woods’ sudden rise as Tiger Woods’ son
Charlie secured his spot in the U.S. Junior Am field by surprising with a first-place finish at a Florida qualifying event in June.
Even more impressive was how he did it, overcoming a bogey, double-bogey start to win the qualifier at 1-under-par 71, beating out 86 other players competing for three spots.
“It feels amazing to qualify for my first USGA championship,” Charlie told reporters afterward. “The USGA means a lot to me. I want to win USGA championships and hopefully one day the U.S. Open.”
While Charlie is relatively new on the golf scene, he has quickly captured fans’ fascination, showing the same mannerisms and posture as his dad. He swooped into public view as a 12-year-old in 2021, playing with his father in the PNC Championship, which pairs pros with family members in a two-day, 36-hole tournament.
He helped his high school team win a state title last year as a freshman, with four senior teammates picking him to be their fifth player.
Now, Charlie is beginning to experience similar ordeals to Tiger, albeit on a far smaller scale, with more and more people following his every move.
“We kind of got our first real taste of it last season and that was when I took the team to Naples,” Harbeck said. “If you’ve watched Tiger play, you know the throngs of people that follow him. If you were standing on a tall porch or deck, and you could see the whole golf course, you can always tell where Tiger was exactly by the amount of people. Charlie’s the exact same way. You can tell where Charlie is because he’ll have 30 or 40 people following him.”
That number should grow exponentially beginning Monday, with USGA and Oakland Hills officials preparing for spectators in the thousands for the free, ticketless event that will span five days to find the best among the 264 participants who are all under 19 years old.
It will provide another test for Charlie to show his mental fortitude, as he is expected to again have the largest following, with fans set to have a “minimal ropes experience.”
Another distraction? To no surprise, Tiger is expected to roam the familiar Oakland Hills grounds to watch his son compete. (Tiger last played in competition at the club during the 2004 Ryder Cup on the South Course.)
“I’m sure Tiger is gonna be there,” Harbeck said. “He’s gonna fly I’m sure straight from England from the British Open over there to be with him. I know he can’t caddie for him, because parents aren’t allowed to caddie (at this event), but his caddie is another one of my players, Luke Wise.”
READ MORE: Tiger Woods has every reason to watch son Charlie play Oakland Hills
Charlie has high expectations: Tiger made the U.S. Junior Am semifinals at 14 in 1990, then won an unprecedented six consecutive USGA titles, with three U.S. Junior Am championships and three straight wins in the U.S. Amateur.
The pressure of parents in coaching youth sports is already high, but in the case of celebrity parents like Tiger, Harbeck has the least amount of trouble. And he has experience coaching high-profile young golfers over his 40 years as varsity golf coach at the Benjamin School, including teaching Jack Nicklaus’ sons and Greg Norman’s son.
“Getting to know Tiger a little bit last year like I did,” Harbeck said. “He is very non-pressured with Charlie, if Charlie wants to learn how to do something or play better or whatever. He goes to dad and says, ‘Hey, you know, I want to do this or I want to do that,’ and then Tiger absolutely takes him under his wing, to help him become better. Tiger is not Tiger Woods. Tiger is ‘Dad’ and that’s the way we treat him when he’s out watching, he just wants to be a parent. Elin (Nordegren, Charlie’s mom) and Tiger have been a great support for Charlie.”
The Benjamin School varsity golf team is a difficult one to make. But Charlie impressed Harbeck even before he tried…
