Beyond the green: Youth golfers see PGA careers at Cognizant Classic

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Tristen Willis loves to hit the driver, a skill he honed with years of long practice on the tee boxes of Lone Pine Golf Club along Military Trail.

The 13-year-old from Riviera Beach hasn’t been able to play as much recently, in part due to Lone Pine’s closure in 2023, but he nonetheless loves the concentration, details and practice required to excel in golf.

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Willis was one of a few dozen young golfers attending the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches at PGA National Resort on Saturday, Feb. 28 as part of the Inner City Youth Golfers’ “Back of the House” Tour.

The tour focused on pulling back the curtain of the PGA Tour for young golfers from the inner city. The youngsters toured the driving range, caddy area, media center and more of the course, walking by the first tee as 36-hole leader Austin Smotherman teed off in the third round.

“I think that not a lot of people like me or us have a chance like this,” Willis said. “Because you don’t really get to go out like that [at PGA National]. I’m happy to be here because I get to be with all of my friends.”

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Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, best photos of the third round

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Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, best photos of the third round

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Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, best photos of the third round

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Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, best photos of the third round

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Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, best photos of the third round

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The “Back of the House” tour is the brainchild of Malachi Knowles, a Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Famer who got his start in golf as a “shag boy” at the Everglades Country Club in Palm Beach.

Knowles later helped found the golf program at Morgan State, an HBCU in Maryland, before returning home to Riviera Beach to develop numerous youth golf ventures, including the Inner City Young Golfers.

With each stop on Saturday’s tour, Knowles emphasized to the young golfers that they too could do the jobs they saw at PGA National.

“My idea a long time ago was simple: You don’t just have to be a pro,” Knowles said. “You can be engaged in the sport of golf with all the other industries and the other things that are going on. … What I want to do is make sure the kids understand that there’s more to golf than just putting a club in your hand.

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“Some of [the kids] get so tied up into basketball and football. Let’s turn the corner a little bit and have one more sport with exposure.”

It’s exactly the type of opportunity more children in Palm Beach County need according to C. Ron Allen, whose work as CEO of KOP Mentoring aims to empower the youth of South Florida.

“For these young people, there’s so many options that are not healthy for them,” said C. Ron Allen, CEO of KOP Mentoring. “So when you have opportunities like this that can help keep them away from drugs or other illicit activities, you have to take advantage of it.”

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Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Youth golfers explore PGA careers at Cognizant Classic