Brandon Fobbs

Actor

Back when i was in high school my mother was always putting into my head that golf was the field on which most executive decisions were made. I didn’t want to do basketball or football; I was always fighting the typical thing so a year into high school I joined the golf team as did one of my best friends. At first I thought, how hard could it be? But it wasn’t until I started connecting the club with ball that it was okay. My uncle is a pretty good golfer, and he gave me pointers and I started going to tournaments. In my 11th grade year Tiger Woods started getting famous and everyone was thinking Black people were starting to get into golf because of him. You know, for me I never wanted to seem as though I was on a bandwagon, so when the local channel came and did a story on us as Black golfers I had to make sure I got it out hat I was playing the year before Tiger won the Masters.

Robin Dale Country Club was where I first played and started getting into it. When I graduated high school I was thinking about getting a golf scholarship, but what I started hearing from people going to college to play sports is that they get in there and wind up not liking the sport because of the demanding practice schedule. I went to Hampton University, which had a nice body of water near the school. I never got on the team, but I would go to the beach with friends and we started testing to see who could hit ball farthest into the water. That started a competitive edge as soon as we started, and I was killing them. We continued to go to local golf courses and play on and off throughout college.

There was a point when I was drifting off from playing, because I was acting and started a business but overall it was still a necessity. My mother’s words were true, and I ended up getting a job with Frito Lay and was relocated to Fort Myers, FL living on a golf course. My dad would come out to stay with me and we would play golf. I did that for a year after I graduated and then went into acting, which was my plan. One of the reasons I like golf is that it’s a calm sport, so you don’t have to worry about injuries or it taking you away from your work.

One of my worst moments was at my first golf tournament in high school—it was the funniest thing. The pressure was on at the first tee, given that not everyone chooses to walk with you through whole tournament but they are there for the first tee. I was standing up to hit, got ready and the next thing you know I hit that ball, looked back and that ball fell right back in front of me. It went straight up and almost landed right back on the tee! It was so embarrassing.

My best moment was in another tournament at Enterprise Golf Course in Maryland. There was a tree line that came up onto the fairway. What I had learned from one of the golf pros I worked with is that if you open your clubface and your stance you can pop the ball vertically and do a sand wedge thing. He told me I could do it with any iron. I could have done it with a sand wedge, but they are not for distance so I did it with a 7-iron. I walked up to ball, opened up my clubface, hit the ball, scooped it right up and it landed a couple of inches from the pin. That felt good.

There is a golf pro who lives right around the corner from me and I have been out with him a couple of times. I have also played with Malik Yoba, who was crazy with it. The funny thing is that he would calculate each shot in his head, walking back and forth to figure it out. At first I was like, ‘what he is doing? Just hit the ball!’ but then I saw he was hitting them pretty straight. My dream foursome would include him, Samuel Jackson, Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. I definitely want to improve going forward. I love hitting far—I don’t know if it’s a testosterone thing—but my short game is usually more consistent. I would get like to get input and advice on how to straighten out my long game. I want to impress myself with it and get to the point when you just do it and don’t think too hard.