NEW YORK – There was a moment after Steph Curry rang the opening bell at Nasdaq when he stepped back from the mic and crowd and brought both hands to his face in a look of gratitude and disbelief. Curry, standing on a floor of confetti with an Olympic gold medal draped around his neck, soaked in the scene.
A few seconds later, a junior from his Underrated Golf Tour walked over to give him a hug.
Curry has lived a life of defying expectations, which is why the NBA superstar’s golf tour and documentary are titled “Underrated.” The three-star recruit put three stars in the tour’s logo, serving as a visual reminder of what’s possible.
After the bell-ringing ceremony, Curry Cup participants walked outside onto Times Square to watch themselves on the seven-story MarketSite Tower. There was even a congratulatory text for Curry Cup winners Jaden Soong and Izzie Kelly.
“This tour is obviously amazing and brings me a lot of joy and happiness,” said Soong the day prior in his victory speech, “and you don’t get this type of experience on any other tour.”
Soong couldn’t have possibly put it better.
There is no tour in the world like Underrated, an all-expense-paid junior circuit that gives those who are underrepresented in this game an opportunity to be exposed to courses and conditions and college coaches they’d likely otherwise not see. Every aspect of the season-ending Curry Cup is first-class, from the event’s signage to the high-quality golf course to the sushi bar.
There’s a goal, of course, of increasing the number of black and brown athletes in the upper echelon of competitive golf. But that’s not the only measure of success. For Curry, golf is the vehicle that opened the door to Nasdaq. It’s what led that same group of kids to a Q&A later that morning with KPMG CEO Paul Knopp, where they learned his story of growing up in a family of seven kids and becoming the first to go to college. Knopp now oversees a firm that does $12 billion in revenue annually in the U.S.
Ken Stackhouse sat in the back of the room as Knopp talked to the junior golfers and marveled at the opportunity. It was Stackhouse’s daughter Mariah, the only black woman with any kind of LPGA status, who connected Curry’s tour with her personal sponsor, KPMG. She immediately felt their missions aligned, and KPMG reached out to Curry’s team to get involved as presenting sponsor.
Following the golf competition, juniors took part in a KPMG Leadership Development Day in New York City which, after the bell-ringing festivities, included a packed day of panels that began with a session on leadership with Curry and Mariah. Even the parents of those who qualified for the Curry Cup were invited to attend their own sessions, including one led by Ken Stackhouse and Curry’s father Dell, a former NBA player.
“To see what it’s become is beyond my wildest imagination,” said Curry, who told parents and players at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey, that he was committed to Underrated Golf for life.
Basketball might be his job and his greatest gift, but golf is undoubtedly his passion.
Stephen Curry poses with junior golfers at Stephen Curry and UNDERRATED Golf Present The 2024 Curry Cup at Ridgewood Country Club on September 04, 2024, in Paramus, New Jersey. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for UNDERRATED Golf)
Will Lowery, a former professional player who first gained notoriety on Golf Channel’s reality show “Big Break,” first pitched the idea of an all-expense-paid junior tour to Curry several years ago.
“I built this triangle to show where the overall golf ecosystem is when it comes to participation numbers,” said Lowery. “It was saying that 17 percent – and this is according to the National Golf Foundation – 17 percent of black and brown kids are involved in the game of golf, but when we get to competitive golf … it dropped down to less than 2 percent.”
This, Lowery told Curry, is the sweet spot. This is where Curry could create systemic change in real time.
“We’re trying to break the mold here,” said Lowery.
A panel takes place during Stephen Curry and UNDERRATED Golf Present The 2024 Curry Cup at Ridgewood Country Club on September 04, 2024, in Paramus, New Jersey. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for UNDERRATED Golf)
For Stackhouse, the idea of a tour that had its own points system and season finale was an ideal learning ground for juniors trying to make it to the next level. Soong’s parents said learning how to navigate different types of championship courses, grasses and even time zones has been eye-opening for their son.
The tour’s third season featured four U.S. regional stops in South Carolina, Indiana, Oregon and Texas. There was also an international event held this year in England. A total of 26 junior boys and girls then advanced to Ridgewood, former host of the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust, The Barclays and the 2022 U.S. Amateur.
Winners of the Curry Cup receive exemptions into prestigious events such as the Annika Invitational, the Under Armour / Jordan Spieth AJGA Championship, the Junior PGA Championship, the Western Junior, and the Porter Cup. They’re also fully exempt on the AJGA for the 2025 season.
“That’s what junior golf is,” said Stackhouse, “it’s navigating different tours and systems and climbing those points rankings to get even bigger opportunities.”
One of the happy byproducts of Curry’s tour is the family-like atmosphere. At regional events, players and their chaperones ride buses together, eat meals together and stay at the same hotel.
When Ashley Shaw of Arizona played in a junior tournament in Florida, a couple friends from Underrated came out to watch.
“Underrated is more than just golf,” said 15-year-old Shaw. “When they say we’re a family, we’re a legit family. They teach us everything.”
Stephen Curry and junior golfers attend Stephen Curry and UNDERRATED Golf Present The 2024 Curry Cup at Ridgewood Country Club on September 04, 2024, in Paramus, New Jersey. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for UNDERRATED Golf)
Jenny Bethune, who retired from the LA Sheriffs Department, has poured into the junior program of the Tee Divas and Tee Dudes Golf Club in Los Angeles. This year, seven of their nine high school graduates went on to receive college golf scholarships. Four who played on the Underrated Tour are now at Southern University.
“That was the main thing that we were hearing from college coaches,” said Bethune. “We need kids that are tournament tough.”
Bethune tells juniors in their program that golf is a billion-dollar industry that hires more employees than McDonald’s and Starbucks. There’s a job in the golf industry can fits nearly any kind of passion.
For Lowery, it’s less about playing tour golf and more about how the game can help these teens professionally.
“The higher you go in the game of golf,” he noted, “the more opportunities you have to meet the CEOs.”
On the first tee at Ridgewood, a DJ kept the scene light as Curry showed off his dance moves. Juniors chatted with the four-time NBA champion before they teed off, and he videoed their swings. Everyone looked unusually relaxed, the silence and tension that typically envelops most golf tournaments was noticeably absent.
The camaraderie at the trophy presentation between parents and juniors was aspirational.
“It’s dynamic, isn’t it?” said Ken Stackhouse of what Curry has created with the help of partners like KPMG, who share his vision.
“It has its own personage. It’s alive. The whole thing is magical, I think.”
That tone starts at the top, with the gracious and grounded man who pays attention to every detail of Underrated Golf and treats each selfie request as his personal mission.
“Joy is where all of my gifts come from,” said Curry, when asked by a junior about how to push through when things get tough.
“That’s why you see me smile and do all those stupid dances, because I’m trying to force the joy to show itself. If I tap into that energy, then I get lost in the game again, and it becomes more pure that way.”
What Curry teaches these young players and the path he provides is nothing short of priceless.
And he’s just getting warmed up.