If you were watching Olympic golf, you know that the U.S. won gold in Men’s and Women’s Golf.  Xander Schauffele, 27 and Nelly Korda, 23 won gold by sticking to their game even after facing adversity on the course.  It is really inspiring to see young golfers exhibiting these traits on a world stage.  Highlight videos of their final rounds are posted at the very end for your reference. 

After watching them both win golds, I was curious about when they started playing golf.  Xander started at the age of 9 but did not start playing seriously until he was 12.  His family, however, could not afford the travel expenses associated with competitive play that could rank him nationally, so he played college golf and then worked his way onto the PGA tour by playing the Web.com Tour (now called Korn Ferry Tour). 

Nelly started playing golf at the age of 6 when her older sister, Jessica (also an LPGA tour player) started becoming serious about the sport.  When she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open 2013 and made the cut, one month before her 15th birthday, a desire to play on tour awakened.  She would eventually join the LPGA 4 years later after a tough year on the Symetra Tour. 

Two very different and difficult paths towards becoming a professional golfer.  Both remained committed to their goal, never giving up and I believe it is that same grit that carried them through to win gold.