Putting with the Pros.

Talented teen golfers are realizing their hopes of playing against the best the sport has to offer.

Over the past five years, the game of golf has fueled the athletic aspirations of thousands of children and teenagers across the country and around the globe. A large part of the phenomenon is due to the success of Tiger Woods, a brilliant golfer who first captured the attention of sports enthusiasts as a child prodigy and later while still in high school. Tiger's accomplishments, and the current interest among youth in the game, has spawned a number of golf clinics, tournaments, and organizations dedicated to developing the skills of young, would-be golf pros. Among one of those would-be pros is Tiger's 10-year-old niece Cheyenne Woods, and two such organizations are Teens on the Green, located in Miami, and the National Minority Junior Golf Scholarship Association, which is based in Phoenix. Both groups aid students with training, college scholarships, and exposure to national youth competitions. In fact, Cheyenne has won about 30 times since she started participating in the tournament five years ago. Here are four other success stories arising from these programs:

Stephen Reed

Stephen Reed, a 19-year-old golfer from Houston, knows firsthand about the immeasurable influence Tiger Woods has had on aspiring young players.

When he was 15, Stephen met Woods at a golf classic he attended under the banner of the National Minority Junior Golf Scholarship Association (NMJGSA). In 1999 he played for the Tiger Woods Foundation as part of a team that competed against golfers from Japan, Australia, and South America. Although they didn't place, the young golfer felt that it was the start of big things to come. Currently attending Texas A&M, and with an average this year of 74, Stephen first learned to play golf at age 5. His father, who runs the Gus Wortham Golf Course in Houston and is also a professional golfer, taught Stephen and his younger brother, Jeremy, how to play. It wasn't long before they began taking the game seriously. "Golf is like any other sport," he says. "After you get past playing it for fun, you want to play competitively."

Stephen's thirst for competition was evident throughout his high school years, and during that time he was state champion for the Texas Interscholastic League golfing competitions for three consecutive years.

Presently a college sophomore, he received an NMJGSA/Tiger Woods Foundation Scholarship for the 2000-2001 school year. Last year, he also won the inaugural Bill Dickey Invitational Junior Golf Championship, a tournament for junior minority players sponsored by the NMJGSA. And he became the first African American to win the AJGA national tournament since Tiger Woods did so in 1992. Stephen's current goal is to become an all-American in college. "Right after I graduate, though, I want to go pro," he says. "I know it's going to take hard work, time, and maturity."

Jeremy Reed 

When it comes to the game of golf, practice makes perfect. That couldn't be more true for 16-year-old Jeremy Reed of Houston. To keep his game in tip-top shape, Jeremy practices four days a week with his dad at the Gus Wortham Golf Course. "I grew up on the golf course," says Jeremy, who begun playing at age 6.

Currently a junior at Houston's Westfield High School. Jeremy is a member of the school's golf team, which competes against other high schools in several Texas districts. Intent on keeping busy and trying to perfect his golfing skills, Jeremy also plays summer league golf through the Houston Golf Association. Last year, he won two first place trophies at the association's weekly competitions. With an average this year of 78, Jeremy says the best part of his game is his short game. "I'm pretty good at getting around the green," he notes. "Most of the time I'll get it within five feet." Jeremy recently became involved with the NMJGSA, an organization which did a great deal to help develop his older brother's game. Through NMJGSA, Jeremy got the opportunity to compete in American Junior Golf Association events in Florida and Kansas this past summer. Jeremy plans to continue to play golf throughout college and beyond. "Hopefully, I'll get a scholarship into Texas A&M. I see all the pros out there and I like the excitement of the game. I plan to be a part of that."

Nathaniel Popps

"The game of golf has helped me grow as a person," says 14-year-old Nathaniel Popps. "It has opened doors that I never knew existed." Nathaniel's interest was sparked at age 12 when a neighbor entered him in a contest to meet Tiger Woods at a golf clinic. From there, he was hooked.

Nathaniel became a part of the Miami-based Teens on the Green early last year. Renny Roker, the organization's CEO, spotted him at a local practice event and got him involved. Nathaniel, whose average is 80, has been competing ever since.

In 2000, he played against adult golfers in Miami's Paul Everett Tournament, where he took second place. Playing in the 13- to 14-year-old division, he also won first place in the Christian Hills Golf Championship, the state's inner-city tournament. "I also finished first in the Billy Rolle Goombay Tournament in Miami," says an ecstatic Nathaniel of the junior event that took place this past May.

Also a member of the Joe Roach Foundation, a local minority golf foundation for junior golfers, Nathaniel has hopes of getting a scholarship to Stanford University and becoming a doctor. "For now, I plan on playing as much as I can, putting with the pros" says the Northwestern Senior High School student. "I want to play through high school and maybe college. I like the challenge that comes with the game."

Andia Winslow

Eighteen-year-old Andia Winslow doesn't like to be pigeonholed. A sophomore at Yale University, she's keeping stereotypes--about being a minority in a game formerly dominated by whites--at bay. "Oftentimes people think of Yale as a white school and golf as a white sport," she says. "But it's obvious that the change is present. I put my game first."

Andia began developing her game at the First State Golf Club in Seattle when she was just 9 years old. Since her high school (The University Preparatory Academy in Seattle) didn't have a golf team, she played for Roosevelt High School. During her sophomore year, she met Bill Dickey, president and founder of the NMJGSA. The meeting was to have a big impact on her golf game and her college education. While a high school junior, she participated in the American Junior Golf Association's McDonald's/Betsey Rawls National Tournament, where she placed in the top 30 (out of 100 participants) and shot an average of 74. Sidelined after breaking a joint in her pinkie during her senior year, Andia is now playing stronger than ever. This past May, her college golf team took second place in the Ivy League Championship tournament.

In support of Andia's potential, the NMJGSA/Jackie Robinson Foundation recently selected her as one of four students to receive a four-year scholarship. And she doesn't plan to let them down. "I have aspirations of playing on the LPGA tour," she asserts. "Going pro is a definite possibility."