Black Women in Sports
These Young Siblings Could Be The Williams Sisters Of Golf
We have a sneaking suspicion they’re headed to athletic eminence.
Roxy and Layla Phillips are only four and six years old, but they are giving us some serious Williams sisters vibes. The sisters from Harbor City, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, have demonstrated some exceptional skills on the golf courses of Compton ― and people are beginning to take notice.
It all began when golfballs from the Maggie Hathaway Golf Course were regularly flying into the Phillips family’s backyard a couple of years ago. After their mother Jasimen Phillips’ called in a complaint, the course offered the family free golf lessons.
Since then, she’s been taking Layla and Roxy to Help Youth Through Golf, a nonprofit devoted to teaching golf to children. And just look at them now.
Last week, Layla who is six years old, won the Southern California PGA drive, chip and putt competition. She’ll soon be heading to San Diego to compete against other young golfers from around the globe for the Junior World Golf Championships.
At four years old, Roxy is busy fine-tuning her skills. Just like her sister, she began learning golf before she turned three years old. Although Roxy is young, Phillips thinks her younger daughter’s photographic memory gives her an advantage in the sport.
“She sees swings [and] can mimic them right away,” Phillips told HuffPost.
Roxy won’t be playing competitively until the end of the summer, when she turns five. And …