- September 16, 2024
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Jordan Brown's golf game is impressive.
Listen to him talk about his game, however, and one would get the impression that Brown is not satisfied.
"I usually don't start well, and I usually don't end well," Brown said. "The middle of the round is my best time. Maybe it's a nerves thing or a momentum thing."
Brown went on to say that he's not used to winning events, often finding himself in the top-10 or top-five of national events, but failing to clinch a victory.
If his recent string of performances is any indication, he has figured out how to change his fate. Brown, a junior at IMG Academy who was raised in Lakewood Ranch, won two national junior golf events in August that will likely open people's eyes to his game.
The first was the San Antonio stop of the 2024 Underrated Tour, a tour founded by NBA superstar and noted golf fan Stephen Curry in 2022 as a way to increase the sport's participation in diverse communities.
Brown shot 3 under par at the Oaks course at TPC San Antonio to win the event, held Aug. 7-9. Brown, who has played on the Underrated Tour since its inception, said the tour's events stand out because of their supportive atmosphere. Everyone is trying to win, he said, but the golfers get to spend more time together off the course, allowing them to become friends.
Brown said he's even had the chance to meet Curry twice, with Curry telling him that having laser-like focus is the skill most conducive to success. Brown has worked on his focus ever since, as well as other mental skills like course management. Brown said it is those skills that helped him get the win in San Antonio.
"I stuck to the basics — hit fairways and greens and try to limit mistakes," Brown said. "That course, it doesn't seem tricky when you first look at it, but the ball sometimes sits there in the rough. It's hard to get out of it. So I avoided that. It was a great feeling (to win). It's one of the bigger wins I've had, for sure."
It can sound modest when a successful golfer talks about his struggles with finishing rounds, but Brown insists it is true. Up until this year, he said, he used to get nervous on the back nine. He's trying to take Curry's advice and not think about anything other than his next swing, putting all anxieties out of his mind. It seems to be working.
The Underrated Tour win qualified him for the Curry Cup, the tour's championship event, held Sept. 2-4 at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey.
Between the San Antonio event and the Curry Cup, Brown made another stop at the American Junior Golf Association's Atlanta Classic, held Aug. 16-18 at Planterra Club in Peachtree City, Georgia. Again, Brown won the 54-hole event, tying Texas' Nicholas Logis at 8 under par before taking the victory in a one-hole playoff.
Even after the Underrated Tour win, Brown said, he did not enter the Atlanta event thinking of himself as a favorite, or even necessarily trying to win. That's not how Brown approaches tournaments, he said. Instead, he used the same formula he used in San Antonio — one shot at a time, never getting too high or too low based on the result.
Brown said he was used to the tournament's heat coming off his effort in San Antonio, and the course played to his strengths. Even so, Brown was not happy with his start in the first round, when he had two double-bogeys and one bogey. He used the rest of the round to get momentum and finished with a 1-over-par 73. The next two days, he shot 66 and 69.
Brown is at the beginning of his junior year at IMG, which means as of June 15, college coaches can start contacting him. As one would expect, Brown has had several conversations with coaches, and his recruitment is wide open. Brown said he will be looking for a school with both a competitive golf program and solid academics. Nice practice facilities would not hurt either, Brown said.
His decision is likely a ways away. In the meantime, Brown will keep playing national events, and he hopes to always be improving. Right now, he said, his putter has been his friend, after thinking of it as a foe in 2023. Keeping it that way will be a boon, he said. More than anything else, Brown will keep doing things his way — one day at a time, one swing at a time. He advises other junior golfers to find what works for them and stick with it, as he has.
"Focus on your own path," Brown said. "Get better every day, but know that everyone gets better in different ways and at different rates. Figure out what you need to improve on that day."
