Brentwood Academy sophomore Blades Brown impresses in PGA Tour debut

Brentwood Academy sophomore Blades Brown didn’t look like a 16-year-old kid when he made his PGA Tour debut at the Myrtle Beach Classic last week.

He looked like he belonged.

Brown shot a 10-under-par 274 over four rounds, finishing in a tie for 26th place.

“Just to be, like, inside the ropes with those guys made me feel a way I’ve never felt before,” Brown said. “The shot on the first hole on Thursday for the first round, that was a feeling I’ve never felt before. It was a mixture between nervousness, excitement and every other feeling known to man.”

Then he hit the fairway, setting the tone for his first four days in a pro tournament.

Brown went 1-over-par 72 the first day, 4-under 67 during the second round, 5-under 66 on Saturday, before finishing with a 2-under 69 during Sunday’s final round at Dunes Golf and Beach Club in South Carolina.

Competing against the pros was an invaluable experience for the BA golfer.

“Just their course management and stuff like that,” Brown said when asked what impressed him most. “The way that that they think about golf is what, I guess, makes me astonished. I’ve noticed that the higher up you get in golf, the less skill difference there is and more mental difference there is.”

Brown said in junior golf the guy who shoots 5-under-par all three days is going to win, but at the pro level all the golfers are good.

“It’s just a matter of who can handle the pressure and stuff outside of golf,” Brown said. “Tiger Woods is one of the most mentally tough guys that has ever been able to play golf and his results showed.”

One of the big keys to playing well at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club was keeping the ball in the fairway because the grass in the rough was so high. That’s typical of most PGA Tour courses.

“The first day, I think I missed, like, eight fairways,” Brown said. “But then the last day I hit all the fairways. I was 14 for 14.”

Brown’s best shot of the tournament came on the 552-yard, par-5 fourth hole named Temptation during the second round on Friday.

After hitting his second shot into the water, Brown saved par by chipping in from 15 yards off the green.

“And at that point, I was, like, ‘Oh, man, here we go,’ ” Brown said. “So, I would say the chip-in on No. 4 for par was probably the most crucial point of the week.”

Brown earned a spot in the new PGA Tour event on a sponsor exemption after a strong showing at the U.S. Amateur in August.

He broke Bobby Jones’ record when he became the youngest co-medalist in U.S. Amateur history when he tied for first during stroke play.

The record had stood since 1920 when Jones was 18, two years older than Brown.

The BA golfer fired an 8-under 64 at Colorado Golf Club that day, tying a course record.

“To have your name in the same sentence as Bobby Jones is mind-boggling,” Brown said of the first golfer to win the Grand Slam in a single year in 1930. “But when I was over that putt at hole 18, I actually didn’t know that was a record. I was told by the press … and I was like, ‘No way,’ ”

The big galleries at Myrtle Beach surprised Brown.

“I’ve never had that many people follow my group before,” Brown said. “I’ve never signed that many autographs. I signed a forehead. When was the last time you signed a forehead?”

Brown’s dad, Parke, has been battling a rare form of leukemia and in 2022 doctors told him he had one year to live, but his prognosis has improved.

“Actually, he beat it. He’s good now,” Brown said. “He’s been in remission for six months to a year now. Oh my gosh, it’s a huge weight off our shoulders.”

Brown has already won three Division II-AA state titles at BA as an eighth-grader, freshman and sophomore.

“There are three days that matter in high school golf and that is regional and the state tournament, and I’m happy to be able to convert those days,” Brown said.

Brown’s mom, Rhonda — a former top pick in the WNBA Expansion Draft who made the first 3-pointer in league history and ex-BA girls basketball coach who led the program to five state titles — gave her son some calming advice before his debut.

“She kind of gave me a mental pep talk,” Brown said. “She said the golf that I play whenever I’m practicing with my friends is no different than the golf that I’m playing at the PGA Tour. That was kind of the mindset that I had.”

Blades’ first name is his mom’s maiden name. She started at point guard at Vanderbilt for four years from 1992-95. 

The best part of her son’s golf game is putting.

“In order to be a really great putter you have to believe that you’re the best to ever do it, and so that’s the mindset that I have,” Brown said.

He tries to practice every day, but still keep the game fun.

The five golfers Brown tied for 26th place each won $29,800, but he didn’t earn any money since he competed as an amateur.

Brown, 176th in the World Amateur Golf rankings, is keeping a blank slate for future goals.

“All my goals now are to be determined,” Brown said. “I need to revisit that.”