Ever since LSU golfer Curtis Thompson picked up a club at the age of 5, he knew golfing was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
Growing up in Coral Springs, Fla., Thompson was the middle child of three in a family already much involved in the game of golf.
Older brother, Nicholas Thompson, is 10 years older than Curtis and started golfing around the age of 12. His younger sister Alexis Thompson was the former No. 1-ranked junior women’s golfer in the nation and is now on the LPGA Tour.
Nicholas, a former Georgia Tech golfer now on the PGA Tour, has influenced Curtis ever since he was a kid. Seeing his brother make strides in his golf career gave Curtis the motivation to become a golfer.
Curtis, who also played baseball, wasn’t sure which sport he wanted to continue until he was 10, when he decided to shadow his brother and sister.
“My brother was playing [golf], so I thought ‘Why not play golf?’” Curtis said. “So I just decided to stop playing baseball and just dedicate it all toward golf.”
Curtis’s choice to play golf paid off in the coming years as he became one of the most highly recruited golfers in the class of 2011. He was the No. 3 recruit in Florida in 2011 as well as one of the top 25 recruits in the nation.
Curtis, who was home schooled through high school, won numerous medals in his junior golf career, most notably when he made it to the round of 32 at the 2010 United States Junior Amateur Championships.
The junior has since garnered many accolades in his career at LSU, including being named to the Southeastern Conference First Team and an Honorable Mention All-American by Golfweek in 2013.
As he wraps up his junior season for the Tigers, Curtis has focused on following his siblings’ footsteps to the professional world, but the process isn’t easy.
After he graduates from LSU next season and ends his collegiate career, he will go on to the PGA-sponsored Web.com Tour.
The tour allows striving professional golfers to get a taste of professional tournament play, and the top 25 golfers at the end of the season move on to the PGA Tour.
Curtis said while he knows golf is his No. 1 career choice, he understands how much work goes into making the tour and that not everyone has a happy ending.
Only time will tell if Curtis will make the PGA Tour and follow in the footsteps of his two siblings, but no matter the circumstances, Curtis will continue to work on his craft.
“It’s a game of time,” Curtis said. “You aren’t going to go out there and kill it immediately. You just got to wait for it because if you’re good enough and you have the skillset, there’s no way you don’t make it.”