Golfweek: Tiger Woods on amateur series, education

“I think it’s important for amateurs to play golf courses they normally won’t have access to,” Tiger Woods said Monday at Isleworth in Windermere, Florida, after a news conference. “They will be able to contribute dollars to our foundation, and meanwhile, have a great experience of playing Merion, Congressional, some great golf courses around our country, and for them to basically partner up with some of their buddies. I remember back when I was younger, we played in the old Oldsmobile Scramble. We had just an absolute blast we didn’t do worth a darn, but we had a blast.”

Woods said his satisfaction comes from the students who attend schools such as Harvard and Stanford, working at places such as NASA. Many return as mentors, he said.

“The impact we’ve made with a lot of these kids, here in the United States, most of the kids are first-time their generation is ever going to college. To me that’s unacceptable, and I see it not just as a domestic issue but as an international issue.”

That kind of growth is already beginning to place, he said.

“I thought we could grow certainly to an extent, but this certainly has exceeded my expectations,” Woods said, citing how numerous the foundation’s events are as well as its learning centers. And he said going outside the U.S. is a step that’s on the way as shown by having an international company, Hero, sponsor his World Challenge tournament.

“Right now, we’re here domestically, but in the foreseeable future I see us definitely going around the world.”

Reposted with permission from GolfWeek.