A Sit Down with UNDERRATED Golf Tour Golfer Lucky Cruz
(Editors note: Lucky shot rounds of 72 and 75 to finish T15 in the boy's division in the opening event of the UNDERRATED Golf Tour season at The Park in West Palm Beach, FL)
The UNDERRATED Golf Tour, founded by Steph Curry, kicked off its 2nd season June 25-27 at The Park in West Palm Beach, FL. I was invited to attend a panel discussion at the host hotel for the event and sit down with one of the golfers competing, 15-year-old Lucky Cruz of Magnolia, Texas.
Dan: “Ok, so you just gave me the lay of the land here at the hotel. Tell me a little bit about the tour and your experience with it so far. Is this your first year playing?”
Lucky: “This is my 2nd year playing. They had their first year last year and this tour is amazing. This tour is about equity, access, and opportunity. It’s about experiencing what Tour professionals experience with a more fun vibe to it. I live in Texas and the competition in Texas is incredible but some of the tournaments are a little too uptight sometimes. With the UNDERRATED Tour, I feel like it’s more friendly while maintaining that competitive edge. We are all rooting for each other out here but still competing.
Dan: “With this being the 1st tournament of the season, what’s the vibe been like so far? You all pretty much have this whole hotel almost rented out. You have the Players Lounge upstairs, a full dinner spread, what’s that all been like?”
Lucky: “I feel very welcomed and comfortable here. Like I said, with some of these other tournaments it’s very nerve-wracking and when you first arrive you get those nerves as well but once you see the hotel is being paid for, they bought out the course for us, we have the players lounge and food and drinks, it makes you feel very comfortable.”
Dan: “You had a chance to check out The Park yesterday during your practice round. It recently opened back up after a complete makeover. What were your initial thoughts on the course as a whole?”
Lucky: “Oh it’s incredible. They finished it in April and it is just pristine. I’m so glad they decided to have the tournament here because I’ve played in Florida a lot and this is like a Bermuda type of course. The greens are amazing the fairways are nice and it’s very wide open. I’m not used to that playing in Texas everything is very tight and narrow there.
Dan: “So back to you and your story, you’re 15, how long have you been playing golf?”
Lucky: “I’ve been playing for 10 years.”
Dan: “And how did you get into golf?”
Lucky: “My dad bought me the Tiger Woods 2K13 video game on the Xbox 360. They have the little camera on top and I would copy the swing. My dad bought me like a Charlie Brown plastic set of clubs and I would swing into the controller.”
Dan: “How old were you when you went out and played on an actual golf course?”
Lucky: “About 3 months after I got that game my dad took me out onto the course because he started to notice my interest. He played golf as well and at first, he took me out just to practice and then he got me into some tournaments. I think I played a full 18 holes for the first time at the age of 8.”
Dan: “At what point did you go from golf just being something fun to something you realized you were not only good at but could compete at a high level doing?”
Lucky: “That’s a good question. My dad said I started to take it seriously at age 12 but personally once I found out about golf I wanted to be great at it immediately.”
Dan: “How far do you see golf taking you? Do you see yourself trying to turn pro one day?”
Lucky: “I’ve committed to the University of Houston and ultimately yes, I want to play on Tour that is one of my main goals.
Dan: “So you are playing on the UNDERRATED Tour, but there are only 6 events for the season so how do you stay sharp not only between events but the remainder of the year?”
Lucky: “It’s funny you mentioned that. So we bought a couple of acres where we live in Magnolia, Texas and there’s a little gate, and behind the gate used to be a car shop. So we emptied out that car shop area and put a training facility in there. So I have a hitting bay, some weights, and everything I need so when it’s raining or in the winter when it gets cold I can go in there and train. I train in there maybe 4 days a week.”
Dan: “Obviously you mentioned you are a Tiger fan but who is your favorite out on Tour currently?”
Lucky: “Rory. I’ve always been a big fan of his too mostly because I love his swing.”
Dan: “Dream foursome? You and any 3 other guys.”
Lucky: “Ben Hogan, Tiger, and Rory.”
Dan: “You get invited to play in a PGA Tour Pro-Am, other than Rory who would you pick to play with if you had your choice of anyone on the tee sheet?”
Lucky: “Scottie Scheffler.”
Dan: “Why?”
Lucky: “Because of the Texas connection also just a very good and humble guy. He’s also been blessed to hit the center of the ball every single time. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know how he does it with that footwork so I just kind of want to witness it and get some tips from him. That would be cool.”