What’s Charlie Woods’ golf game like? We asked his high school coach

In the lead-up to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 1A golf state championship last month, Toby Harbeck had a decision to make.

Harbeck, the head boys’ golf coach and an English teacher for nearly 40 years at the Benjamin School, a private institution in Palm Beach Gardens, needed to determine which of his 12 players would take the fifth and final spot on the squad bound for states. Harbeck had a reserve of eager players from which to choose, including a 14-year-old freshman named Charlie Woods.

Charlie, perhaps you’ve heard, is the son of 15-time major winner Tiger Woods and a considerable talent in his own right. You’ve likely seen Charlie competing alongside Tiger in recent years at the PNC Championship, where father and son are back in the mix again this week at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, in Orlando. Charlie has all the tools — power, touch, club twirls, cheeky quips — but to give you an idea of the kind of competition he’s up against at his school, his 74.3 scoring average last season was bettered by four of his teammates and quite a way behind the 70.4 pace of the team leader.

Still, Charlie had something going for him that had nothing to do with his last name: experience and success at the state championship host site, the El Campeon course at Mission Resort and Club, just outside Orlando. In September, Charlie had shot 71-66 at El Campeon in qualifying for another event. A year before that, as a 13-year-old, he had shot 80-68 in the same qualifier on the same course. With three sub-par rounds in four attempts, Charlie already had proven he could handle what is a tough, tight and, for Florida, uncharacteristically hilly layout.

“So I got to thinking about it,” Harbeck, who is 66, told me the other day. “Here’s a kid who is not afraid of this golf course. I mean, for you to break 72 on this golf course is saying something. That’s how hard it is. The fact that he’s got three or four rounds below par, I said, ‘You know what? I got to play him in the state finals.’”

It was a bold move given Charlie hadn’t played in either the district or regional events in the prelude to state, and the decision wasn’t universally lauded. As Harbeck said, it “kind of upset the cart a little bit with some of my other guys. But sometimes I got to go with a gut feeling.”

As the fifth player in a format that counts only the four best of each team’s scores in each round, Charlie had a specific charge: play well but don’t go flag-hunting. “The number five guy’s job is if one of the four in front goes south on me, I got to be able to use his score,” Harbeck said.

As a safety net, Charlie shot an unflashy 78-76 in the 36-hole event, with both of his scores counting toward his team’s total. He finished 26th overall among 98 players, but his individual standing was moot because his team accomplished its mission, storming back from a six-shot deficit late in the second round to win by one. For the fourth time — and the third under Harbeck’s watch — the Benjamin School were state champs.

“I know the numbers weren’t terrific,” Harbeck said of Charlie’s scores. “But Charlie did exactly what I asked him to do. I couldn’t have been happier with the way it all turned out.”

HARBECK WAS REFERRING TO the state tournament but, when you listen to the coach talk, it’s clear the sentiment could also apply to the entirety of Charlie’s rookie season as a high school golfer. Trying to blaze a trail in the same pursuit that made your father a global superstar can’t be easy, but Harbeck will tell you Charlie is doing a commendable job in that quest.

Charlie and his big sister, Sam, have attended the Benjamin School since they were tykes. He began playing junior golf at an early age but didn’t come into the public eye until the 2020 PNC Championship, when, as an 11-year-old, his spirited play and uncanny Tiger-like mannerisms captured the golf world’s imagination. A year later at the PNC, Team Woods ran off a tournament-record 11 straight birdies and finished second. Tiger & Charlie Fever was fully on.