DETROIT — As a fan, Shaun Horne is all about Detroit’s professional sports teams. But when it comes to playing, the high school junior has his eyes on one game.
“I only play golf,” Horne said after taking his turn on a simulator inside a gym on Detroit’s westside.
Embracing golf makes the 16-year-old a rarity among his Detroit peers — particularly Black high schoolers.
Coaches and community groups in the city are taking ambitious steps to spread the game’s popularity among students — noting that only about 50 of more than 14,000 high school students in Detroit’s school district play golf on school teams.
In Detroit, the biggest challenge is exposing Black youth to the game, said Jesse Hawkins, who is Black and coaches Horne’s team at Renaissance High School. Backing from local corporations and nonprofits, providing access to equipment and even college scholarships is helping.
“When you go into high schools and you go into elementary schools often times we’ll hear narratives around basketball players, football games, those things,” Hawkins said. “And golf is really not as propagated as much for our community.”
In Detroit, advocates of increasing play among Black young people have partnered with some of the city’s largest businesses and community organizations. At least two nonprofits offer programs that teach kids how to play golf.
The Rocket Classic has steered nearly $10 million from the annual PGA event held in Detroit to local charitable organizations. Of that, $800,000 has been given to programs that teach kids how to play the game. One program provides access to college scholarships to high school seniors, while upward of 700 children and teens take part each year in programs put on by First Tee of Greater Detroit.
“Golf is the why we get them there, but while we have them there we’re teaching them life skills,” said Carl Bentley, chief executive of First Tee of Greater Detroit, which has donated a golf simulator to the school district. “Learning how to say ‘yes sir, yes ma’am’ — shake a hand properly, how to start a conversation. We’re teaching them life skills and then we get to putting and swinging and things like that.”
Among the 28.1 million Americans who played golf on a course in 2024, about 25% were Black, Asian or Hispanic, according to the National Golf Foundation. Interest is wider when considering those who played or followed professional golf coverage on TV, in writing or via podcasts.
But Hawkins said his experience as a coach suggests Black high schoolers aren’t among that audience.
“You don’t hear kids talking about the latest golf shoes or the cool golf apparel,” Hawkins said. “You’re not necessarily going to get a badge of honor walking into your high school and you’ve got the newest golf shirt.”
Golf and equipment can be pricey, sometimes too pricey for families struggling just to make ends meet.
Detroit, which is just under 80% Black, had a median income of about $39,500 in 2023 compared to $69,100 statewide, according to the census. The city’s poverty level was about 32%. Statewide, that figure was about 13.5%.
A set of good golf clubs can cost a few hundred dollars or more. It’s $28 for juniors to play 18 holes and use a cart weekdays at the two public golf courses in Detroit.
The PGA brought its first event to Detroit in 2019, and city native Dan Gilbert’s Rocket Companies has been its sponsor. The company works with partners to bring the game to Detroit’s youth and cover some of the costs, said Trina Scott, vice president of Civic and Community Affairs at Detroit-based Rock, which is Gilbert’s family office.
“How do we attract Black and brown youth into seeing (golf) as a possibility?” said Scott. “One way of doing that is by making it accessible (and) also eliminating the barriers — being able to have the right clothing to go on a golf course, being able to have the clubs that you need, being able to have the skillset to be confident on the course.”
Mike Schuchard has about a dozen players on his Detroit Cass Tech golf team. That’s about double the number from last season, but only two are considered “varsity level.”
That’s not enough to compete against some suburban schools with strong golf programs.
The first-year golf coach says he’s trying to recruit students who are already interested in others sports.
“These schools are loaded with great athletes, but they just haven’t been introduced to this game, yet,” Schuchard said.
Ahmari Flowers, the senior captain on Cass Tech’s golf team, agrees. He started playing the sport after his freshman year.
“I’m an athletic guy and golf like came easy to me,” said Flowers, 17. “For an athletic person, it’s still a sport, a lot of body movement and all you got to do is control that athleticism and use it to your advantage.”