It wasn’t very difficult to spot Charlie Woods on the course at Oakland Hills Country Club on Saturday. His was the group that saw many more people than just the players and caddies walking down the fairway.
Woods, the 15-year-old son of golf legend Tiger Woods, played his first practice round ahead of a United States Golf Association tournament Dad won three consecutive times back in the day, the U.S. Junior Amateur, which gets under way Monday. Woods played the North Course on Saturday, finishing just after noon. He will play another practice round, on the storied South Course, on Sunday morning.
Woods isn’t necessarily the best golfer in the 264-player field at Oakland Hills, but he’s easily the most-recognizable, and drew a modest crowd of fans, tournament workers, and even fellow participants in the tournament, just for a practice round. The group finishing ahead of Woods lingered at the back at the 18th green to catch a glimpse of a soon-to-be sophomore who’s bringing significant buzz to a tournament that doesn’t lack prestige, but can lack pizzazz.
Not this week, with Tiger Woods, who missed the cut at the British Open on Friday, expected to be in the gallery, as he often has been as Charlie has made the rounds on the junior golf circuit. Tiger Woods wasn’t spotted on the course during Charlie’s practice round Saturday — the two were seen together later in the day, on the range and putting green — though he still had a presence, with Charlie’s golf bag featuring a tiger-striped head cover, and Charlie wearing Dad’s new clothing line, Sun Day Red. Charlie was wearing an off-red polo; he has Tiger’s gait; he kept his head down while briskly walking off the finishing green, whisked to a waiting cart, surrounded by two security guards.
Charlie didn’t speak with the media Saturday, and isn’t expected to Sunday, either, at the request of his family, according to the USGA.
“I mean, if you didn’t know it was Charlie Woods, he just seemed like any normal kid,” said Jaxon Bandelier, a Texas junior who played alongside Woods with California native Logan Kim. “He’s got a really nice swing, just didn’t really strike the ball too well today. But, I mean, obviously, you’ve got a ton of people out here watching him, even in the practice round. It was a good experience. I enjoyed it.”
Woods qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur last month back home in Florida, and immediately gave the tournament a jolt. Fan interest spiked immensely, so much that club personnel had to add off-site parking lots and place last-minute orders for additional merchandise. The clubhouse phone has been ringing off the hook with golf fans wanting logistical details. For those who don’t know: Admission is free all week, with the tournament running Monday through next Saturday’s 36-hole championship match, and so is parking, in three off-site lots. There are free shuttles.
Woods tees off at 8:28 a.m. Monday on No. 1 on the North Course, and at 1:48 p.m. Tuesday on No. 10 on the South Course. The top 64 players will make match play, starting Wednesday.
“It’s cool. He’s definitely going to have a big crowd following his group,” said Connor Fox, a senior-to-be at Lake Orion High School who got into the field by winning the Michigan Junior Amateur this month. “Maybe it’s a good thing, just kind of take the spotlight off some other people, take a little pressure off me.”
If not for Woods, Fox, as the most-local player in the field, would’ve had the biggest galleries, at least early in the tournament, before the cutdown to match play.
“Yeah, that’s definitely an interesting way to think about it,” Fox, who will play for Michigan State, said with a smile. “So maybe we’ve got to thank him.”
Bandelier will be playing Monday and Tuesday in the group right behind Woods, so he’s looking forward to playing in front of the spillover crowds — larger than he’s accustomed to playing in front of home in Texas.
As for a scouting report on Woods’ game Saturday, Bandelier said he struck it well off the tee, at least early in the round, before he seemed to be playing through some back pain. Bandelier called Woods’ short game “amazing.”
“If he can just get his irons tightened up, then he can do some damage out here,” Bandelier said.
“It’s really cool to have him out here.”
Charlie Woods had no issues traveling to Metro Detroit, despite the global cyber outage that left travelers grounded all over the world Friday. Several U.S. Junior Amateur participants had their travel delayed to Oakland Hills, but none are expected to miss the tournament, USGA officials said.
