Nearly 100 deep on its roster, Belen Jesuit golf teaches players a ‘lifetime game’

Belen Jesuit School president Guillermo Garcia-Tuñon, also known as Father Willie, learned the game of golf at the age of 12 by way of his grandfather, who played until he was 95.

Now 52, he still sets time aside to hit the links, often running into students on the school’s golf team, which he helped launch in 1986 after tearing his knee playing football in the fall. He and a handful of other students convinced the varsity football coach to serve as the teacher, sponsor and moderator of their infant golf program (it was a spring sport back then). They didn’t have a home course or uniforms, but they found a way to make it work.

“We used to sneak onto the Riviera golf course and then run away when they wanted to kick us out when they saw us,” Garcia-Tuñon said, “and played different tournaments and the Dade County Youth Fair Invitational and traveled around with other schools. So that’s how we got this whole thing started.”

There was no assurance the team would survive the founding members’ graduation. But it’s still standing nearly 30 years later and has grown 16-fold. The program – made up of 96 players – is believed to be the largest golf team in Florida, if not the country.

Carlos Rodriguez, a lawyer by day and fifth-year Belen Jesuit golf coach on the side, is on a mission to expose as many students as possible to the sport. He’s gotten creative with the practice setup, as public golf courses in Miami-Dade County are on the verge of extinction – the latest casualty being Melreese golf course at the hands of David Beckham and the Mas brothers’ recently approved Miami Freedom Park project. But it’s worth it, Rodriguez said, if he’s able to introduce young men to what he refers to as a “lifetime game.”

Growing the program

When Rodriguez first took over, Belen Jesuit golf was a cut sport with about 18 to 20 students on the roster including middle and high school players, he said. He decided to do away with tryouts to expand the program’s reach during his third year. Rodriguez even encourages students who have conflicting schedules with practices to come out just so they can “leave the school at least with a seed planted that they know the fundamentals of golf.”

“They might not be able to play college golf, they might not be able to even line up and play against another school,” Rodriguez said. “But we provide a platform for them to learn the fundamentals that they can take on and hopefully fall in love with the game of golf.”

He views it as an extension of the students’ academic training. As a lawyer, Rodriguez has found truth in the “business deals are made on the golf course” cliché. According to a 2016 Forbes article, 90% of Fourtune 500 CEOs play golf, and 80% of business executives said golf allows them to build new business relationships. All the more reason a foundational understanding of golf’s basics is important, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez became head coach of Belen Jesuit’s golf team five years ago after serving as a volunteer assistant when his sons, now 15 and 17, started at the school.

The program plays at Killian Greens and has a relationship with Topgolf in Doral, where they bus students four times a week for practices, Rodriguez said.

Belen Jesuit’s 96 golfers make up five different squads – three high school and two middle school.

High school consists of a varsity team, where students engage in inter school competition and often compete at the state level (Rodriguez has sent students to the state championship tournament three of his four completed seasons at Belen Jesuit). Just beneath that team is “varsity gold,” which functions as a junior varsity team, Rodriguez said. Then comes “varsity blue,” which serves as a developmental program to teach students the basics.

Middle school has a “gold team,” which competes against other schools, and a “blue team,” the middle school equivalent of “varsity blue.”

Unwinding with ‘lifelong friends’

Gabriel Marrero joined the Belen golf team during his sophomore year. One of his best friends introduced him to the sport when they were in middle school, and Marrero decided to pursue it at the high school level despite very little, very lax experience.

When he graduated earlier this year, Marrero had a group of “lifelong friends” thanks to three seasons on the golf team. The individuality of the sport taught him a kind of mental toughness and resiliency that bleeds into other areas of his life. Working on his swing showed him what persistence looks like.

Now a freshman at the University of Florida studying political science, he continues to play. It offers a welcomed escape from the stresses of college.

“It’s honestly the biggest de-stressor that I have in my life,” he said. “Whether you play for two hours or four hours, it’s a time where you’re not thinking of anything else, because golf requires you to think so much while you’re playing. …And at the same time [I’m] bonding with friends that I made on the course.”

A lasting impression

About 11 years ago Rodriguez was shopping at Publix with his 6- and 4-year-old sons. While in the checkout line, he spotted an older man – who looked suspiciously familiar – buying lottery tickets. By the time Rodriguez’s groceries were all bagged up, he’d figured it out.

“Excuse me, sir,” Rodriguez said to the man. “I know this is gonna be kind of weird, but 35 years ago, you were my coach in basketball at Tamiami.”

The man, named Leo Fernandez, was floored, Rodriguez said. He remembered Fernandez as someone who poured his soul into his players. That’s how Rodriguez hopes to be remembered by his Belen golfers.

“Hopefully I leave a lasting impression on them,” he said. “That they were given an opportunity, even though maybe they didn’t have the skill set to play in competitive tournaments during high school, that they were able to be introduced to the game. It’s a lifetime game, and they’ll remember me and hopefully one day they’ll buy me a Cuban coffee when they see me or something.”