I wanted to be an animator for Disney when I grew up, but your dreams as youngsters rarely come to fruition. However, junior golfers seem to have their heads screwed on these days about where they see themselves heading in the world of golf. They’re aware of the options that the golf industry holds and they are focused on taking one of those on as their career.
I spoke to some super talented players about the path they are forging in their sport and what lies ahead. Is there a perfect approach to schoolwork when you want a career in golf? As with the journey of life, the route one young golfer might take may not suit another.
Take England’s Lily May Humphreys, her bid to turn professional and play on tour was achieved through homeschooling and her main focus being golf, golf and more golf. Did it work? Yes, she has already won on tour and is enjoying her third season on the Ladies European Tour.
Tessa Samuels is a homeschooler
(Image credit: Ian Samuels)
Some would argue there are downsides to home schooling. Yes maybe it can affect a player’s social skills, but I would argue that everyone is different and if you are a naturally sociable person chances are you’ll be unhindered by a homeschooled journey.
For 14-year-old Tessa Samuels, based at The Caversham-Reading, her route was inspired by another homeschooler Charley Hull… “I went to the AIG Women’s Open last year and watched all the pros play. I watched Charley Hull and read about how she was homeschooled from the age of 13 and thought maybe that is something we can try. Even if I don’t play like her (yet), it’s still worth doing. It works for me.”
It’s clear homeschooling has benefits. You choose your timetable and it has golf on it every day. There is more freedom to play in competitions that may be outside of school holidays. You have far more flexibility to work on what you need to work on within your game and your studies. You can say ‘yes’ to most things and this includes getting out when the weather is good.
Tessa Samuels can base her golf practice schedule around the weather
(Image credit: Ian Samuels)
For Samuels, the UK climate was a huge factor in her choice to be homeschooled. “The reason we started homeschooling is to have the flexibility every day to choose when to do schoolwork. Some days it rains in the afternoon so we can practice in the morning and vice versa. I do schoolwork around the weather.”
School wasn’t panning out for Samuels as she’d like, so that decision to take control of her studies has actually worked in her favour. Her grades are up and she’s happier. Working with The Caversham’s head pro Joe Templer, Samuels’ handicap has plummeted to 5 since making the switch in September 2023. She has a bright future ahead of her and is happy she can hang out with golfers now because nobody else at her school played golf except the head teacher. She’s in her environment and is thriving.
l-r: Mimi and Patience Rhodes took the US route to study and play golf
(Image credit: Mimi Rhodes)
In contrast, sisters Mimi and Patience Rhodes, who will represent England in this month’s European Ladies’ Team Championship, are on a journey through golf that is education focused to the nth degree. As youngsters and living in Spain, the warm climate and golf facilities helped them initially. They then both attended boarding school at Millfield in Somerset and played much of their golf at Burnham & Berrow Golf Club with their grandmother.
Mimi and Patience Rhodes, sisters together as a team
(Image credit: Mimi Rhodes)
Mimi recalls there not being many girls golfing, so she played most of her golf against the boys. When Patience arrived from Spain two years later to attend the same senior school, they relished spending their time competitively challenging each other and their drive to progress their golf grew.
“We’d have set periods in school when we could practice, and we took our Spanish GCSEs early so we could play more in the summer,” Mimi recalls. Commenting on her good friend Lily May Humphreys, she adds, “We didn’t have as much time to practice as someone who was homeschooled such as Lily May. You could tell that she hadn’t gone to school, socially, but it wasn’t massive. Her golf was flying mind you.”
Mimi Rhodes represented Wake Forest, National Champions 2023
(Image credit: Wake Forest University)
Do some girls rush in at the risk of completing their education? Perhaps. “I don’t understand what the rush is to turn pro,” says Mimi, who has just majored in Business Communications at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
A core member of the golf team that were National Champions in 2023, she’s experienced the best four years of her life and is now mulling over where she wants to be next. Turning pro is high up on her list for September and her options are laid out in front of her, but she’s taken her time to get there.
Mimi and Patience Rhodes represent England
(Image credit: Mimi Rhodes)
It’s rare that you find two sisters travelling down the same pathway and I wonder if this is what makes these girls shine so brightly. It strikes me that this pair have so far been on a journey that is perfect for them. Having lived in Spain during their formative years, they didn’t take the usual route that British juniors might assume they have to take to gain a placement in their preferred college or make it on tour.
That route is not defined by making national teams. Your right to be the golfer and enter the area of golf that fits you is in fact defined by you and you alone. Factors such as financial restraints and physical limitations play a part, but Mimi and Patience’s route feels like a really healthy one to me. The sisters don’t think that the county route is necessary to see your dreams of playing pro golf become reality.
“We’d recommend county and country golf to gain experience playing with girls your age, but if you want to make it in golf, get yourself over to a university in America. They are set up for competitive golf and in the US there isn’t this rush to turn pro early,” says Patience who is in her 2nd year at Arizona State University following a year of injury. She is heading towards a major in Sports Business and minoring in Spanish and Fashion.
Mimi Rhodes in action for the Wake Forest team
(Image credit: Mimi Rhodes)
Both Mimi and Patience have clearly thought long and hard about their career routes and for them it’s not all about making it on tour – they have a definitive plan B. Mimi’s advice is, “If you’re already outgoing and decide not to go to university and just turn pro then maybe that’s the route for you. If you’re more of an introvert then I’d 100% go to the States and learn all the social lessons and push yourself out of your comfort zone.”
The sisters agree that a golf scholarship in the US provides an amazing networking opportunity and sponsorship opportunities are plentiful. Patience adds, “Players are made to feel like a professional golfer at college level. I’d describe it as a trial run at professional golf.“
Tessa is at the beginning of her golf journey, but she is already dreaming of an American University. The Rhodes’ sisters advice for her is to write to all the universities and then visit the top three that offer her a place. The coach has to click with the player and the whole vibe has to fit. It seems that the route to get there needs to be customised to the individual, but the end goal is the same.